Best Customer Relationship Building of 2007
One of the more sad notes of 2007 was that we had to put our annoying, yet loved dog to sleep. Lucy was my wife’s dog, and had been with her since she was a brand new puppy – literally 1/3 of my wife’s life. The first night I meet my wife, the dog was there. Across the country, Lucy moved with us. Throughout my many, many overnight trips Lucy has made my wife feel safe at home. I’m not a huge fan of dogs after a massive biting incident at 7 years old, but I still came to like her.
We’ve been boarding both our dogs at a great place called Tailwaggers Country Inn for years. They’re more expensive and further away than any other option, but they are the type of company that sends custom photo postcards of your pets when you’re on the road for an extended period.
When we called to cancel the Christmas boarding reservation for Lucy (and for our other dog, since the in-laws volunteered to watch him), it came up that Lucy had been put down. Brief condolences were exchanged, the reservation canceled, and we all moved on. The person on the phone was very sweet and considerate.
But just a few days later, we received a flower delivery…. from Tailwaggers. About Lucy. The dog.
Now think about this for a second – we called to tell them their customer was dead, never to return. They weren’t ever going to make money off of our stays with Lucy. Granted, we have a second dog, but with only one, the in-laws are likely to continue watching him, thus eliminating our need for Tailwaggers all together. Yet, they spent ~$80 to send us a huge and beautiful flower arrangement. Hardly seems worth is, considering, right?
Wrong.
They know their customers. They know that dog people like my wife are highly likely to replace the dog with a new puppy. They know that dog people tend to talk to each other about the things that do good by their pets…things like Tailwaggers. They know that when they create incredible experiences, they create Word of Mouth exchanges that are just dying to get out (such as this very blog entry).
So thank you Tailwaggers for turning a sad moment into a moment of amazement.
