Lesson Thirty: My New Suit

I bought a suit last week.Actually, I bought the suit a week prior but was having alterations done. I picked up my suit last week.

The day I bought it the clerk told me it would be ready on Wednesday. He then took down my home and work phone numbers. I made a mental note to pick it up, but I assumed they’d call first.

They didn’t call. They didn’t call on Wednesday. They didn’t call on Thursday. And they didn’t even call on Friday.

The following Monday I went to the store to check.

“I bought a suit here last week,” I said. “No one called so I don’t know if it’s ready...”

“Name,” one of the clerks said stiffly.

I told him my name and he meandered into the back. Another clerk stood at the counter.

“We don’t call,” she said matter-of-factly. “When you bought the suit you should have been given a pick-up time.”

“Okay,” I said.

Then the guy came out of the back with my suit. “Here you go. We don’t normally call when a suit is ready.”

“I heard,” I said. Then I left.

I didn’t think about until I got to my car, but then I started to wonder: Why don’t they call their customers? Don’t they like them? It’s a courteous and polite thing to do. Don’t I deserve that?

Both clerks were very clear that their policy was definitely not to call customers. So why did they take my phone number in the first place? And why do they expect me to buy any more suits from them? All I got was a reasonable suit at a reasonable price. These days, that’s not nearly enough.

I’m surprised because this same company advertises on television at great expense. And their promise is, among other things, terrific service.

Their problem is good marketing and lousy service.They got me in the door (good), and left me feeling ambivalent (bad). Whoever is in charge of marketing should take a field trip to the local stores and see how they really operate.

How many customers are you turning away because you’re not doing the little things to deliver on your service promise? Those little things are the difference between a one-time customer, and a customer for life.


Principles of Persuassion by Shane Spark