Be Nice to Your Merchants and They’ll Be Nice to You

I recently did a nice thing. Someone I cared about (my ex-mother-in-law) was in the hospital, and I wanted to send flowers. And I wanted the bouquet to be memorable. I went online to view arrangements, but, even on different online florist sites, the arrangements all looked very similar.

(Click on image to enlarge.)

My ex-mother-in-law on the mend with her new dancing and singing friend.

So I looked up florists near the hospital where they would be sent. I chose one for no particular reason, and I called. A very warm woman answered, and I explained what I wanted and how important this person was to me. She asked a few questions about what she liked and made a few suggestions (including sending a stuffed duck that sang “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and flapped its wings and jumped up and down). When I gave her my budget, she assured me that she could send the duck amidst a nice basket of flowers. We continued to talk for about 10 minutes about how healing laughter can be. By the end of our conversation, she said that she enjoyed our conversation so much that she was going to upgrade the level of the flowers in the basket. I gave her my credit card, and we said goodbye.

That’s not the nice thing, though. The next day, I visited my ex-mom-in-law in the hospital and saw the arrangement. It was enormous—filled with roses and irises—and the duck was hysterical. Every time it sang and danced, we both laughed until her sides hurt. (See picture.) Still not the nice thing.

On my way home, I realized that the florist was located only a few blocks out of my route. So I decided to stop in and thank the florist at Floral Fantasy of Stoughton, MA, Shoeleh Moarefi. I explained who I was, and said I just wanted to thank her for her help and tell her how much joy the arrangement brought. She was delighted, telling me that, although she gets a lot of repeat business, she rarely gets personal feedback and a thank you. We talked for about 15 minutes about customer experience and how wonderful it is to know that she’s made a difference to someone in pain. When I left, she insisted that I take a beautiful flower and piece of candy with me to enjoy beauty and sweetness.

That thank you was the nice thing I did. As customers, we often forget that our providers are doing us a service. Yes, we pay for the service. But when they treat us as valued individuals as they fulfill our scenario goals, we should feel something positive. And sometimes telling them how we feel—that we appreciate the extra effort—results not only in a great relationship, but also in some enhanced service (and free goodies)!

It is the providers’ responsibility for creating a great customer experience, but customers should make the effort to applaud those experiences and to nurture the relationship. Not just for free candy, but just because our merchants are staffed by people just like us.