What is a raving fan? As Ken Blanchard wrote in his best-selling book Raving Fans, "if you really want to 'own' the customer, if you want a booming business, you have to go beyond satisfied customers and create raving fans." Having raving fans means that you have achieved the kind of service excellence that turns a customer into a lifetime customer. A raving fan is an advocate of your products or services in the marketplace
I was a WestJet fan before. They have great rates and do lots of little things like not overbooking their flights (ask Candi about this). But after today I think I'm becoming a raving fan.
When the price of gas went way up earlier this year airlines started adding fuel surcharges. Westjet did it too but they said they would remove them if oil prices when back down. Well yesterday I received an email from them informing me that they were eliminating the fuel surcharge as they said they would because oil prices had subsided.
That was good news but in August we booked flights to Hawaii for our trip in November. The cost of the flight each way was $175 but by the time you added taxes and other charges it was close to $300. $45 of this was in fuel surcharges. In total for the 5 return flights we paid $450 in fuel surcharges. I wondered how this announcement would effect us.
Today I sent a quick email to Westjet asking what would happen to the fuel surcharge we already paid. I was hopeful that we would be credited but I didn't expect anything. I was surprised to receive an email response in 7 minutes. That in itself was excellent customer service. I was pleasantly surprised with the response that said that my account would be credited today. The only downside was that it would be as a Westjet credit but that's okay - we will use it - I'll guess I'll have to go to Hawaii again.
As I'm thinking about Raving Fans, I'm reminded of an experience I had in California many years ago. I was down in the San Francisco Bay area for work. Driving back to the hotel I decided I would like to go to the Oakland Temple the next day but I didn't bring any dress clothes. I looked for a store but everything appeared to be closed. I saw some people go into a Nordstroms so I figured it was open. I went in and started looking at shirts and ties. A clerk cheerfully helped me. I asked him what time they closed and he said 9:00pm. I looked at my watch and it was after 9:30. He kind of laughed and said that they would be there to help because they didn't want to rush people out of the store before they found what they needed. That made an unforgettable impression on me and I'm a Raving Fan.
From the Nordstom's Employee Handbook
Welcome to NordstromWe're glad to have you with our Company. Our number one goal is to provide outstanding customer service. Set both your personal and professional goals high. We have great confidence in your ability to achieve them.Nordstrom Rules: Rule #1: Use good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules.Please feel free to ask your department manager, store manager, or division general manager any question at any time.
Compare that to my experiences at Eatons in Calgary. They too closed at 9, but after 8:30 I found you could never get help. Everyone was trying to close cash registers and get ready to run out the door at 9. No wonder Eatons went out of business.
No matter who you are are or what you do - you can't go wrong by being nice and simply doing the right things.
Rule #1 from above reminds me of a great scripture in The Book of Mormon.
Jacob 6:12 - O be wise; what can I say more?
