Kudos to Sprinkles Cupcakes

Went to Sprinkles Cupcakes in Palo Alto, Ca this past weekend. If you have not had their cupcakes, they are to die for.....
Anyway, we ordered 18, and to my surprise when we got home, we only had 16. We were shorted two, we did not eat them.
I sent an email off to the company(Had to go through a third party business site to find an email, since none were listed on their site). Within an hour I had a reply back, and a coupon code for a free dozen on my next trip.
They WOW'D me, and exceeded what I had expected.

Ignore the naysayers

If you listen to all the news about retail this holiday season, you would jump off a building.  Ignore them.  You CAN have a great holiday, despite what the media is saying.  You do have to fire on all cylinders..

A few of the things you have to do:

1- Make sure your end caps are full, with related items. 

2-Make sure your sales team is actually selling.

3-The priority is the customer.  Let everyone in the store know that when there is a customer in the area, focus on them, not the stock.

4-Be in stock. Now is not the time to cut back on your A and B items....

5-Sell related items. it is everyones job to be suggesting something to go with every customer transaciton

6-Impulse displays are paramount. At the registers, on the end caps, in the main aisle, wherever you can.

7-Batteries are BIG this time of year.  They should be displayed by all items that require one, and most definetly at the checkstands

Why Amazon is a success

Contrast the previously mentioned experience with Dell "Can't Provide Service" company verses Amazon.com.

I just called amazon due to an order error on my part. I went to the web site, clicked on the call me button, entered my phone number, and wham----They called me immediatly, and I talked to someone who spoke excellent english, who I could understand.  She took care of my issue, and was very friendly. I mentioned I like doing business with Amazon, and she said she liked working their..

I forsee the demise of Dell.......

Circuit City biting the dust..Well deserved

Well, another one of my most hated companies is biting the dust. Circuit City not only announced the closing of 155 stores, they filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I am not surprised. As a recent article stated, it was not the economy, it was poor management. I agree.  They ticked me off about three months ago when I had to have a car stereo repaired under warranty. Thier "Customer Service Manager" did everything she could do to NOT provide Customer Service. From that day on, I swore my family would never shop at circuit city.  Stores are quite often their own worst enemy.

Who is your worst enemy? Hopefully, not you.. 

Dell thinks customer service is give people the runaround

Don't buy Dell computers.  After getting my second defective unit, I have had it.  I tried for fourty minutes today to get ahold of someone that can okay a return, and all I got was the runaround. I talked to about 6 people, and the last one said they would connect me with a supervisor. I was on hold for ten minutes before I hung up, and called my attorney..

Dell does not support customers, so I cannot support them.

Don't mess up with the regulars...

I was in line at a Noahs Bagels today. I overheard the guy in front of me stating that his order was a regular standing order, and should be ready.. They had no record of the order. He said forget it, as it did not want to wait around for them to put it together. I don't know how much it would have come to, but he didn't buy the five cream cheese tubs he had.. This lost sale never should have happened. If there is a regular standing order , there should be a system in place to make sure it happens every time. What is this customer going to think next time he comes in (If he does) to pick up his "Standing Order"?

Time for reading 3 novels....

How is this for a register line?

I went into the Nob Hill Grocery store near my home to buy- what else-Groceries.  To say the least, I would never wait in a line like this...

How are your lines?

24 hour emergencies don't upset us!

I just got a package from Mitchells in Connecticut. Haven't heard of Mitchells? Then you have not heard of what service should be like.  I met owner Jack Mitchell at the Retailing Summit in Dallas last month-Great guy, totally customer focused.  But one of their "Benifits" of being a Mitchell customer:

24 hour service for fashion emergencies. What is a fashion emergency? Maybe you need a new shirt for an important meeting, and it's Sunday night.  They have a phone number that will route to an employees home 24/7, and they will take care of the "Emergency".

After a company you buy from does that, how could you shop anywhere else?  What are you doing to take care of your customers "Fashion" emergencies?

Oh, the package? The owner sent me a signed copy of his book, Hug your customers, and a "book" covering the fifty year history of the company. If I lived anywhere near them, that is where all my clothes would be bought.

5 times the charm

I Went in to Bed Bath and Beyond to use one of the millions of 20% off coupons they mail out.  Was greeted by the cashier immediately upon entering. Once I passed the checkouts, another person asked if I needed help finding anything. I told them what I was looking for, they showed me where it was, and offered to call someone over to the area. I declined. As I walked to the gadget area, Leanthony, one of the Managers, greeted me, and I was astounded. I told him so.  While I was walking from one end of the gadget area to the other, another employee asked if I needed help finding anything.

Then, when I got to the checkout area, the cashiers were out in front of the checkstands, ready to help customers. I was immediately greeted by a cashier, who pointed to her register, and quickly checked me out.  Was superb service.  My daughter, who was with me, said the service was because of the lousy economy.  Who cares what the reason is-If the continually provide that kind of service, they will do well. And they weren't the ones to go chapter 7!

Now is not the time to cut back on service, now IS the time to improve it..