Personal attention = great word of mouth

Here's a great story from Suzie Robinson of Atria PR. She's also president-elect of the Dallas PRSA chapter, who hosted me for a big lunch keynote last week.

Suzie shares a story about an online music company that is obsessive about customer service - Sweetwater:

One of my husband's co-workers suggested this company and now my husband won't buy anywhere else.  He's assigned a personal customer service representative who makes us feel like we're the only customer he's ever had, and he would be personally crushed if we're not 100% satisfied.  His name is Steve, and he calls immediately after we place an order to check on us.  He then calls if there may be any delay.  He calls when the items are shipped.  He calls the day the order is delivered, and then he calls two weeks after to make sure we're happy with our item(s). 

Steve also tracked down a specific item that my husband had been looking for a long time (some USB microphone that records vocals and instruments), told him the company would be able to distribute it in a few months.  He asked if once they received it in, could he charge the credit card and ship it right away.  And, wow, he did.  In fact, my husband's original credit card had been stolen, so the number they had on file was no longer valid.  Steve called the house, said "Hey Shaun, it's Steve, and we got your microphone/recorder in and I really want to ship it.  Do you suppose you have a new credit card that we need to update our files?"  My husband gave him the new credit card and we had the product in two days.  And, of course, another call from Steve. 

Oh, and they always send a few pieces of "sweet" candy with every order. So, please tell a friend about Sweetwater, and tell Steve the Robinsons say hey.

Lesson:  Nice guys do win.