Date: October 28, 2020
Category: Blog
Customer service is a key differentiator for consumers when deciding which brands to spend their hard-earned cash with. Your customer support teams and their professionalism is critical to success when it comes to both attracting and retaining customers. Here are 4 examples of top class customer service to brighten your day and leave you feeling inspired…
Lego
When a 7 year old boy called Luka spent all of his Christmas money on a Lego Ninjago Ultrasonic Raider Set, his Dad warned him not to take one of the characters along with him. Unfortunately, Luka didn’t listen, and ended up losing ‘Jay ZX’ on their shopping trip.
So, with the help of his Dad, Luka penned a letter to Lego:
“My name is Luka Apps and I am seven years old. With all my money I got for Christmas I bought the Ninjago kit of the Ultrasonic Raider. The number is 9449. It is really good.
My Daddy just took me to Sainsbury’s and told me to leave the people at home, but I took them and I lost Jay ZX at the shop as it fell out of my coat.
I am really upset I have lost him. Daddy said to send you a email to see if you will send me another one.
I promise I won’t take him to the shop again if you can.
Luka”
The Lego Customer Service Advisor soon got back to Luka’s letter:
“Luka, I told Sensei Wu that losing your Jay minifigure was purely an accident and that you would never ever ever let it happen ever again.
He told me to tell you, “Luka, your father seems like a very wise man. You must always protect your Ninjago minifigures like the dragons protect the Weapons of Spinjitzu!”
Sensei Wu also told me it was okay if I sent you a new Jay and told me it would be okay if I included something extra for you because anyone that saves their Christmas money to buy the Ultrasonic Raider must be a really big Ninjago fan.
So, I hope you enjoy your Jay minifigure with all his weapons. You will actually have the only Jay minifigure that combines 3 different Jays into one! I am also going to send you a bad guy for him to fight!
Just remember, what Sensei Wu said: Keep your minifigures protected like the Weapons of Spinjitzu! And of course, always listen to your dad.”
With this sweet response, and a small investment, Lego likely cemented a return by creating two life-long fans in both Luka and his Dad.
The Contact Company
Sure, we’re bias, but it wouldn’t be one of our own blogs without us telling the tale of just one of the many fantastic experiences our customer service professionals provide our clients’ customers with every, single day…
One of our household name clients was running a marketing campaign which involved a branded soft toy. As we’re an extension of our clients’ brand, the customer service team each received one of these cuddly teddy bears to immerse themselves in the brand and familiarise themselves with the campaign.
The campaign was running for a limited time only, and there had only been a set amount of bears produced; once they were gone, they were gone.
A customer got in touch to let the team know that her young, autistic son had had one of these bears, and that he was very fond of it indeed, but that he’d sadly misplaced it and was beside himself without his beloved friend. She wanted to know if there was anywhere she could purchase a replacement.
Upon hearing this, and knowing that the stock was gone, our team member felt for the young boy, and so she decided to gift her own bear to the customer and her son; she arranged to have this sent straight to the customer’s address, with their consent.
The customer was delighted with the exceptional level of service she had received and later wrote in to express her thanks for the thoughtfulness, empathy and consideration shown towards her and her son by our fantastic colleague.
Delta Airlines
When a customer whose flight had been diverted received this email, he was delighted with their commitment to attempting to turn a customer’s ‘not-so’ ideal situation around:
“We know it was frustrating not being able to get to your planned destination yesterday. Heavy snowfall in Minneapolis prevented our flight from being able to land as planned, forcing us to go to an alternate destination.
Unfortunately, conditions in Minneapolis didn’t improve, leaving us no choice but to cancel the flight where it landed.
It is always our goal to operate our flights to their scheduled destinations. I’m very sorry for any inconvenience this caused.
We appreciate your business.
As a goodwill gesture, I’ve deposited 10000 bonus miles into your account. Please allow three business days for the mileage to be posted.
Thanks for flying Delta.
We look forward to seeing you on another flight.
Regards,
Heidi”
This commitment to leaving the experience on a positive note would likely have come as quite a surprise to the customer- after all, no one can control the weather- but we imagine that Delta most certainly will be seeing this customer on another flight.
The Ritz-Carlton hotel
In his book, ‘What’s the Secret?: To Providing a World-Class Customer Experience‘… author and customer experience expert, John Dijulius says:
“I left The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota in such a rush for the airport that I forgot my laptop charger in my room. I planned to call when I got back into my office, but before I could, I received a next-day air package from The Ritz-Carlton Sarasota. In it was my charger, with a note saying, ‘Mr. DiJulius, I wanted to make sure we got this to you right away. I am sure you need it, and, just in case, I sent you an extra charger for your laptop.” The note was signed by Larry K. Kinney, in Loss Prevention.'”
This is a perfect example of going above and beyond, and showing a high level of thoughtfulness and emotional intelligence.
Examples of customer service such as this are so extraordinary that not only do they create brand loyalty in the customer involved, but- as John has- the customer will likely share this great experience with others, becoming a brand advocate.
If you need help delivering an exceptional level of service to your customers, simply get in touch to find out how we can help.
