We received a postcard in the mail this week from Zingerman's mail order company. I know receiving a postcard from a mail order company does not usually merit blogability, but stay with me. One side of the card had a Zingerman's signature hand-drawn thank you cartoon; the other side was this hand-addressed handwritten note:
"Hi there! It was a pleasure speaking with you today. I know Brandon and Hannah enjoyed the thoughtful gift box. Thank you for ordering with me! Best, Lukas at Zingerman's Mail Order."
Zingerman's, Ann Arbor, MI, has built its reputation selling quality food products in colorful boxes (you'll want to keep the boxes -- trust me on that) backed by world-class customer service from Lukas and his associates. The postcard followed a routine sale when we ordered the Midnight Feeding Box for our niece and nephew, first-time parents of a brand new baby girl (sourcream coffeecake, hot cocoa cake, black magic brownies and such). Lukas took the order, recognized the names of our niece and nephew from past gifts and congratulated us on the new addition to the family. A week later he sent the postcard.
Good story, but it's not Zingerman's at its best. This company routinely delights customers. In November, we ordered a Christmas gift box of breads and pastry for another niece and nephew. We shipped to an old address -- they had moved and we had not updated our address book. We discovered this a week before Christmas and in a panic called Zingerman's who tracked down the shipment to a shipping center and made the necessary address change. Efficient service. Crisis averted. Christmas is saved. We were very satisfied.
A few hours later, we received a follow-up call from Zingerman's. The sales team member said, "We've been talking about this order here, and you know we like our products to arrive as fresh as possible. Since the order was stopped and rerouted, the box will arrive a day later than we prefer. So, we will send your niece and nephew a new fresh shipment direct from the store."
That's thoughtful, we said, sensing an additional cost. How much more for the second box?
"Oh, there is no charge for that."
No charge? So will the first box be sent back to the store? "Oh no. They will receive that too." Amazing. The company not only corrected a problem that they did not cause, they doubled the resulting gift for no extra charge. Our niece and nephew and the rest of the family was amazed by the story, the service, and the black magic brownies.
How does a company turn good, efficient customer service into OMG stories? By going above and beyond with each and every customer, with each and every contact opportunity. Nothing creates customer loyalty like a personal touch, say an old-fashioned hand-written postcard.
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