Q. What do Nordstrom & Equinox Gym have in common?
Hint: It’s not the Spandex or a light lunch in the tea room. It’s CUSTOMER SERVICE. I was speaking with Bree, the effervescent sales manager for Equinox Gym the other day. (I joined several months ago but have been too shy and reticent to go on my own.) It was a quiet Sunday afternoon, and we had a few minutes to chat. She told me “Sundays are when I write my ‘thank you notes’ to everyone I’ve met that week’.
She said “Nordstrom taught me the importance of customer service…” and follow-through. She rustled through a side desk drawer with a few undelivered envelopes, addresses unknown.
“See?” she pointed. “I write everyone I meet, whether or not they join.”
“You must like writing,” I ventured.
“Hate it!” she laughed. “My writing is horrible. No one can read it. But I do it anyway.” She displayed the thick black cards with “Equinox” embossed on the front. They were nice paper quality.
“You could type your note on the computer,” I suggested, “And paste the paper onto your note there.”
“You think?” She asked. “People wouldn’t be upset? I thought a note’s supposed to be hand-written.”
“I decided long ago a letter typed was better than none at all,” I decreed. “You could always add a line at the bottom about, “Sorry this is typed on the computer, but I’m doing you a favor by not subjecting you to my scrawl.”
She laughed, the phone rang, and our session was over. She may not take me up on it…. but I do think some letter is better than nothing at all. And I’m impressed that she does it every Sunday as a ritual of good manners, caring, and follow-through. I was pleased to know that like at Nordstrom, customer service means a lot.
A few days later, I got her sexy black “Thank You” card in the mail. You can’t really read it, but it says “MANY THANKS” on the top… and her note within. Now THAT’s good follow-through.
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