Exceptional Customer Service

[Laughter]
how many of you have experienced an
exceptional customer experience and
over-the-top experience at a business
maybe a local restaurant a clothing
retailer your favorite coffee shop maybe
that last hotel or restaurant that you
stayed at resort maybe it was the last
family vacation you took to Walt Disney
World so exceptional that you might have
taken a selfie and posted it on social
media now I know no one here takes
selfies and certainly no one here posts
on social media what I do so great like
me many of you have experienced
exceptional customer service that turned
you from a casual shopper to a brand
loyal ambassador so why is it that each
year roughly 1 million businesses go out
of business is it because of Walmart's
aggressive low pricing maybe could it be
Amazon or another online retailers
aggressive free shipping program perhaps
is it just that the competitor was that
much better at their marketing and sales
techniques or all these just excuses and
the real answer lies in delivering
exceptional customer experiences each
and every day I have been fascinated by
business and why some succeed and others
fail and my career has given me the
opportunity to visit literally over a
thousand businesses and meet hundreds of
executives and entrepreneurs and the
ones that stand out are the ones that
truly focus on delivering exceptional
customer experiences for their clients
just like that experience some of you
thought about a minute or two ago I want
to share a personal story with you about
how I was seduced by exceptional
customer experience 21 years ago I met
Ruth the owner of 10:10 optics while
working in New York City just off of
Fifth Avenue I didn't find Ruth's store
because of a giant sign outside that
said 20% off and it wasn't because of a
newspaper ad she had placed in the paper
and it certainly wasn't
because of a Google search I did or
email blast that she sent because
neither of those options existed in 1996
no I found Ruth store for a very simple
reason that day convenience what's kept
me coming back for over 20 years is how
she treated me on that first visit and
frankly every visit sense on that first
visit I entered the store and was
immediately greeted by an associate who
walked me over and introduced me to Ruth
Ruth politely asked what brought me in
that day and like most individuals that
have terrible eyesight I said I'm simply
here to get a pair of glasses so I can
see and do my work she smiled and
laughed and she said no I mean what
style of look are you going for what's
the look you're going for I never really
thought about a look or a style with
wearing glasses they were very
functional to me so I said well maybe
something like Michael J Fox a wireframe
she said I'll take it from here she then
proceeded to have me try on glasses that
were anything but Michael J Fox
wireframe like after about 15 minutes
she laid out three pairs of frames
she says John these are the frames
you're going to decide on today
option one is somewhat boring ordinary
similar to what you were wearing when
you walked in today
option two is a little nicer an option
three is the game changer now most
likely you're going to want option one
and she was absolutely right I'd already
started to take out my wallet to pay for
them but she said today I'm going to
sell you option number three because
it's the right option I reluctantly
purchased those glasses that day and two
weeks later walked out with my new
frames incredibly self-conscious had I
made the right decision
did Ruth honestly sell me the best pair
of frames for my face and personality or
did she sell me the frames that were
going to generate the highest profit for
her store a few seconds later a woman
walked up to me total stranger and she
said Wow I love those frames Ruth is
good
she literally had somebody waiting
outside the store to compliment
customers as they walked out well done
it wasn't until I received the fifth
compliment on my commute home that day
that I realized that Ruth was truly a
genius and had delivered an exceptional
customer experience and by the way my
wife Cynthia absolutely loved them
customer experience isn't about
necessarily the product or service that
you offer it's about how you make
someone feel during the buying journey
and frankly after the purchase has been
made Maya Angelou said it best they may
forget what you said but they will never
forget how you made them feel and Ruth
made me feel excited nervous confident
and important all at the same time she
had truly delivered on her promise of
delivering exceptional customer service
so 21 years later I continue to receive
compliments on my glasses in fact
someone outside before the the TED talk
it was named was Ted actually said he
loved my frames and 20 years plus later
I still go to Ruth's even though I have
to travel three hours each way to get to
her location in New York take a personal
vacation day to make an appointment
during the week okay
what's more ironic is there are
literally a hundred optic centers that
are closer and online options that are
more convenient and certainly less
expensive the answer is simple
and it's why so many other businesses
that focus on exceptional customer
service do so well like Mitchell's of
Westport that open their doors in 1958
they are men's and women's clothing
store in Westport Connecticut ways it's
cheese shop in Wellesley Massachusetts
that open their doors in 1964 and as you
can guess purveyors of fine cheeses as
well as wines and other gourmet items
and my favorite Jewish deli in Ann Arbor
Michigan that opened their doors in 1982
Zingerman's in Ann Arbor Michigan that
is absolutely spectacular and again 1982
now these businesses don't just survive
they thrive and it's not
because I can buy clothing at Mitchells
that no one else carries or that I can
get cheeses at the lowest price at ways
exchanged are or that I can order a
pastrami on rye with or without mustard
at Zingerman's no the answer is simple
it's what they all have in common they
all focus on delivering exceptional
customer experiences each and every day
it's what keeps the barrier between them
and their competitors delivering
customer experience isn't just good for
the customer by the way it's actually
good business and Forrester Research did
a study over a five-year period and in
in 2016 they published this paper and
what they found was companies that truly
focus on exceptional experiences for
customers outperformed the leaders
outperform the laggers in customer
experience significantly in revenue so
it's not just good for customers it's
just good business to have excellent
customer service so so as as we look
forward technology marketing techniques
and sales channels will continue to
evolve and continue to push these
businesses as well as roofs and maybe
your someday but as long as they stay
true to their core principles of
delivering exceptional customer service
I am confident I'm gonna be able to buy
really nice clothing enjoy the finest of
cheeses and order a pastrami on rye
extra mustard all while wearing the
perfect pair of frames I was seduced by
exceptional customer experience and I
couldn't be happier
thank you