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Thread: What is service?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Red face What is service?

    I pride myself at having excellent customer service at my store and really don't think too much about it - I just do it, its ingrained into the business ethic. I don't realize how bad some other stores are until I talk to the truckers that deliver to all of us. Oh ! - boy ! - do they have stories! Case in point...

    This past Thursday morning my regular trucker for my upholstery from my North Carolina suppliers (Tommy at Murrows Transfer) calls and said he has (9) pieces for me, can he bring them by early Monday Morning? I say "Tommy - I have four orders on that load I'd like to deliver this Saturday so customers can have them for the NFL playoff games on Sunday, can you get them to me Friday?" Tommy said he would.

    I close up at 5:30 p.m. every day and Tommy rolls up at 4:45 p.m. with the load. To unpack and inspect nine pieces then re-load for delivery takes at least two and a half hours, and it will be dark in 20 minutes. Well, I call my wife and tell her she's on her own for dinner - I won't be home until late. then I pull out two portable floodlights I have for working after dark and hook them up. Tommy is on his last stop so he helps me push things around a bit, and is surprised I'm going to strip these out of the boxes and delivery everything tomorrow. He says "No other store around here would do that - heck, they'd not even accept the freight this late in the day and tell me to take it back to North Carolina and bring it on another truck."

    Well. that got him going on loading dock stories, and I was shocked at some of the stuff he told me happens right down the road from a competitor of mine who is a big dealer dealer for several premium brands. They spear the boxes with forklifts - leave stuff out in the rain on their back dock regularly - and take two weeks to get it to the customer once he delivers it to them. Their damage rates are through the roof, and yet folks buy from them regularly because they're big and they assume they have the lowest price.

    I got the load all unpacked, inspected, re-loaded into the delivery truck for Saturday and called all the customers by 9 p.m., then headed home. It occurred to me that's equal to Fex Ed Overnight Service! My delivery guys came in early and scraped all the ice and snow off the truck in the morning, and we ran 300 miles on Saturday getting everyone their furniture and they got back 11 hours after they started in lousy, crummy weather.

    I don't know if customers really appreciate all that hustle or not. Mostly I think they just want the lowest price and will buy from whomever can give that to them assuming that all product is handled the same in a timely manner and with the same care.
    Last edited by drcollie; 01-24-2012 at 06:32 PM.
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    NW Pennsylvania
    Posts
    216

    Default Re: What is service?

    That's great service and I bet your customers will appreciate it when they deal with another company for items that need delivery and don't get the same service level they get from you.

  3. #3
    Matthew Guest

    Default Re: What is service?

    Quote Originally Posted by drcollie View Post
    I don't know if customers really appreciate all that hustle or not. Mostly I think they just want the lowest price and will buy from whomever can give that to them assuming that all product is handled the same in a timely manner and with the same care.
    I think most customers appreciate quality service, but in general don't recognize it until something goes wrong. From the customer standpoint, if the product arrives promptly and in good condition, it isn't really possible to tell the steps that went on prior to arriving at my house. Only when things go wrong does that stuff come to light.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Lorton, VA
    Posts
    87

    Default Re: What is service?

    I think that most folks have no idea what goes into having furniture delivered to you and then delivered to the customer. Who knew it didn't come ready to be delivered to the customer??

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: What is service?

    Oh yes! It has to be inspected and looked at and any minor issues addressed. I have a full touch-up kits at my store and know how to use them, and can fix any small issues prior to delivery. I prefer to look over everything personally before loading it up for delivery and usually like to do so 1 day before delivery as well. Sometimes a leather sofa may arrive dusty, and I'll spend 15 minutes wiping it down with the correct leather conditioner prior to padding it up for delivery, or case goods arrive with packing marks and need to be waxed out. I mean, that's the right way to do it - rather than pulling it out of a box and saying 'well - here it is!'. And quite truthfully, when ordering long distance there is no one that is going to do that - no delivery service will go to that degree to prep a product. Some makers are much better out-of-the-box than others, and that makes a difference also. The funny part is as I get older I have to back into my store for my reading glasses to do close up inspections!
    '
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

  6. #6
    meferro815 Guest

    Default Re: What is service?

    Dear Duane,
    I don't know if this helps but I found your website after I had ordered my furniture from another dealer. If I had I known about you, the integrity that you display, I would certainly have paid a few extra dollars to have you as my dealer. The fact that you even care enough to answer questions, even after your work day has ended, is unprecedented here in the North East. I will recommend your store to everyone that I know based upon what I do know of your care. Thank you (even though I was too late!) to be a customer this time around.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Alexandria VA
    Posts
    15,890

    Default Re: What is service?

    Thanks for the vote of confidence. I try hard to do it right - in a timely manner and without mistakes. I respect that for most folks this is a large purchase, and like for them to be happy with their choices. It's also the reason I don't sell junk furniture - anything poorly made or from a company that has sub-standard customer service never makes it in my store. I don't care if I can buy it for $ 399 from some Chinese plant and sell it for $ 999 and make $ 600 in profit like so many other stores do - it has to be a product that performs well and lasts. My standard has always been "If I wouldn't have it in my own home, then why would I sell it?"
    Duane Collie
    Straight answers from thirty-six years in the business.
    My Private Messages are Disabled - Please ask questions here in the forum.

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