Except for the thoughtfulness of the receptionist, everything you mentioned cost that small enterprise. And it may be that they are paying a premium to hire such a service-oriented individual.

What did your bill look like?
I notice that she did an excellent job of soft-selling to get you to make referrals by readily giving someone else a referral credit while you watched. This pretty much guaranteed that you will return there for future service ‘in case’ you have a referral discount waiting for you! Since a 20% discount off an auto repair bill can be a substantial amount, you won’t refer anyone anywhere else, will you?

I offer my customers a similar discount for referrals and repeat business. With their first order comes a number that they or their referrals can plug into the shopping cart checkout process for discounts on subsequent orders.

My wife got me John Berendt’s very engaging “The City of Falling Angels” for Christmas. The book discusses the political and social realities in Venice as seen through the eyes of a number of Venetians. I’ve only finished a h…

Separately, I hope all is well with your wife and new son. All the best.

I think this is something that most business owners aim to do and yet only a fraction every really succeed at.

Personally i am just sitting up taking note whenever i hear something like this because it goes to show you that effective intelligence building and communication with your customer base or client base builds strong businesses for years to come.

Some businesses get it and others wish they could get it; it really separates the Pros for the amateurs.

Excellent Read Nick!

Luc

It is surprising how receiving good service is the exception rather than the rule. We’re so used to being treated poorly that the rare great experience really stands out.

As small business owners and employees, we have a responsibility to change that. Large Fortune 500 corporations have a hard time changing direction. They are more focused on cost cutting than service; but small business can move on a dime. It’s something that has to come from the top down and be a cultural shift in everyday activities. If you have the mindset of making every engagement pleasant and productive, good customer service will result. And as we said above, it will be noticed.

S.

You’ve got to love it when you come across fantastic customer service experiences, like that. It’s great when businesses are considerate like that. I’ve had a couple in the past few days since flying here.

The most notable of which was not a small business but I’ll share it anyway.

I took a Qantas 747-400 over to LA (a ~13hr flight) and it was fantastic. Despite being in economy class they fed me great food, great beer and mixed drinks – all through diligent service. I don’t know whether it was the way I was dressed or the quality of the service but the hostess could even single me out amongst the crowd of people, without taking down my seat number.

It was better service than I could possibly have wished for. It even makes me wonder what business class (let alone first class!) could possibly have over economy.