Today’s MarketingProfs blog, titled, "Exceeding Customer Expectations: 2 Remarkable Experiences" by Paul Williams makes some good points about great customer service and its ability to win over long term customers.

His blog got me thinking about how under appreciated customer service is. Starbucks really built its brand as much around great, highly personal service as its beverages (employees are actually rated, in their reviews, on their ability to greet regular customers by name—extra points if you know their drink).

We tend to attribute Wal-Mart’s success to being among the first to import cheap junk from countries with low labor costs and nonexistent production, safety and environmental standards. But we forget how much Wal-Mart’s success depended on raising the customer service bar; it’s easy to forget, given how terrible their customer service is these days relative to other retail venues (though, to be fair, the daily doses of humiliation and abuse Wal-Mart employees are expected to swallow at the hands of its less desirable customers--and, I expect, from management--would try even the most congenial among us). But back in the day—when Kmart and Zayre (remember Zayre?) ruled the world, and Wal-Mart was just a weird, Southern Kmart rip-off—shopping these discount retailers meant standing in the checkout line for thirty or forty minutes.

Then Wal-Mart instituted a policy of opening a new register whenever their lines had three or more customers waiting. (I don’t believe they have that policy anymore.)  Wal-Mart—whose product offerings and prices weren’t that dissimilar from its competitors—quickly became my mom’s default shopping destination because we could get in and out quicker.

Anyways, consider this nugget from Williams’ blog:

My mom recently had LASIK surgery performed. As a post-operation 'thank you' from her doctor (Dr. Peter Polack, Ocala, FL), she received a $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble bookstore and a card that read "Enjoy your new eyesight!"

I betcha anything that Barnes & Noble gift card more than paid for itself in word-of-mouth, as Williams’ mom surely told all her co-workers, friends and family members about it—because it really is highly unusual. A more typical experience is to get a bill that’s 20 percent higher than what you expected because of all the hidden fees, charges and handling costs tacked on (check your cell phone or cable bills if you don’t believe me . . . and don't even get me started on ComEd, which charges you $3.50 to pay your bill with its AUTOMATED call center, or U-Haul, whose advertised prices resemble what you’ll actually end up paying about as much as I resemble a pterodactyl). To actually receive a gift from a company FOR FREE is just so outside our everyday experience that it really is something to write home about.

A book store gift card to follow up the purchase of a high end chair, or a package of nice herbal tea for a mattress, would likely give your customers another reason to talk up your store. But customer service isn’t all about the free (though little touches like offering customers a water, coffee or tea go a long way). Sometimes it’s just about greeting a regular customer by name, or calling her up when a product comes in that you think she might like.