HugeNerd - 10:08 pm on Jul 27, 2009 (gmt 0)

Sometimes, I'll check back with a customer to see how they are enjoying their item-make sure it fits, etc. I've never had a customer less than thrilled by this personal contact (via email) and it often leads to additional sales. I do that with every order, and customers really appreciate it.

While this is amazing service that I, as a consumer, would certainly sit up and take notice of, it isn't feasible after you grow to a certain volume. I think the company I work for would love to do so, but we'd have to increase our price to pay for the additional employees it would take. We do use a 3rd party service for feedback, but it is extremely impersonal (automated) by comparison. I'm sure from the outside the difference is even more striking if you purchased from your site and mine.

Note (Answered a call while writing this): One easy way to make customers happy is to work with a manufacturer who has a good defective allowance policy. One of my manufacturers provides me with a refund at the end of the fiscal year (a % of my overall invoices) which acts as a defective allowance. Assuming their defective allowance adequately covers the actual cost of defects and warranty replacements (hasn't been short once yet...fingers crossed) I can actually add it to my bottom line. Win-win situation for me and the customer -- more money for me, hassle free warranty replacement for the customer.

Actual WOW moment for me recently: A mistake was made by a mechanic while doing some work on my car; forgot to tell me about a line-item on the work he was doing...at my request. My car was finished on time with the mistake having been cleared up without my knowledge of it ever even existing. It would have been $35, so not going to break the bank. Still, they told me about it and said it was on the house. I'd go back there in a heartbeat. In fact, I am going back there with another car in th coming weeks. Even if they manufactured the problem themselves, I was impressed.