Be a Customer Service Hero

Customer service expert John DiJulius writes regularly in Multi-Unit Franchisee magazine. He’s an authority on what he calls, “world-class customer experience,” and numerous big companies have turned to him for advice on raising the bar and setting the standard that exceeds customer expectations.

Here’s an excerpt from a column he wrote:

“One of my favorite all-time customer-service recovery stories happened several years ago when I was involved day-to-day in my first business, John Robert’s Spa. A client called me to tell me one of my hairdressers had gotten hair color on her blazer. I apologized and offered to pay to get her blazer cleaned. The client said it could not be cleaned; the stain was permanent. I again apologized and offered to replace the blazer, but she said it was part of an outfit no longer available, and the outfit was worthless now that the blazer was ruined. I told her I would put a check in the mail for the cost of the outfit. She was stunned and told me it cost $250 and asked if I wanted to see the blazer or receipt. I told her neither was necessary, and she seemed extremely happy. After we hung up, I looked up her history in our computer system and found that she had been coming to our salon about seven times a year for the last several years. I also noticed she had never referred anyone. So I sent her the check and included a John Robert’s gift certificate for the trouble and inconvenience that we had caused.

About a year later, I was curious if we had retained her. When I looked her back up, I saw that she was still coming regularly. However, I was shocked to see she had also referred eighteen new customers that year. What kind of advertising could I buy for $250 that would get me eighteen new customers? I told all my stylists to start spilling color on everyone’s clothes!”