Can I help you ma’am?

I had a wonderful customer experience the other day at the department store Nordstrom’s in Portland that, yet again, proved to me why I’m a loyal and enthusiastic customer of that chain (and I mean, really enthusiastic…).

I recently bought a waterproof watch there that was having some problems (nothing to do with wearing it swimming with my 3-year old), and as I wandered past the jewelry counter the nice lady there asked if she could help me… Spontaneously I told her about the watch (that I’d bought there a few months back) and without any prompting or pleading on my part, she instantly offered to swap it – without proof of purchase or me having to swear on my granny’s bible that I was telling the truth.

It was a wonderfully personable reminder of how much we all love getting great service. Somehow that feels like an old fashioned notion; that good manners, treating people respectfully, and doing your best by them, is still enough to keep you ahead in business. But it really does work and it’s still really relevant. We marketers may wrap it up in fancy ribbons but at the end of day, every person wants to feel that their business matters to your business…

I’ve worked in client services on the agency side for over 15 years and it’s a part of the business that I really love (well, duh) mostly because it’s all about people; their perceptions, their needs, their pressures, and the huge variability that comes with the territory. My job is to make the client’s job easier – and make working with the agency something that’s actually quite fun and rewarding rather than painful. Yes, I’ve had my share of difficult situations… but on the whole it’s been a blast…. taking care of people… just like my new best friend Stephanie at Nordstrom’s.

Mairi Burns
Director Client Services
Dunthorpe Marketing Group