Every once in a while, you have an experience with a company that is truly memorable. Sometimes the experience is positive, and sometimes it is negative. In my experience however, all memorable experiences typically start with a problem (e.g. failure of a service, lack of delivery), and the 'memorable' aspect comes in dependent upon the level of customer service received following the problem. In my experiences, these situations usually end up in one of two ways:
- The company barely owns up to their mistake and issues a seemingly insincere half-hearted apology, and that's that.
- The company does own up to their mistake and makes the situation correct by making it up to you (See Jason Fried's article on How to Turn Disaster Into Gold)
Tonight however, I had one of the most positive, memorable experiences with a company I have ever had, and it was so surprising I would like to share it with you.
Over the past few months, I have taken an interest in Field Notes notebooks. For the uninitiated, Field Notes makes great notebooks with a focus on simplicity, quality, and character. Read more here. Over those few months I have placed a few orders with Field Notes, and every time I have been completely satisfied.
Just over a week ago, I wrote this tweet: "The Pizza Delivery guy didn't have a pen, so I gave him a complimentary @FieldNotesBrand pen. It was a bitter sweet moment for me." That was that.
Today when I got home, I noticed that a package was waiting for me at the Post Office, so I went right away to pick it up. I wasn't expecting anything, so I was quite confused. When the worker brought me my package, I instantly recognized the packing material used by Field Notes, and thought to myself "did I order something without knowing it? Oh no, did they accidentally ship me something?"
This is what arrived:
I was completely floored. Not only was the gesture unnecessary, it was completely unexpected - out of the blue. They weren't apologizing, they weren't giving me a stock "Thank you", they did it completely on the will of their good employees. I would try to verbalize this by saying that they went the extra mile, but that would be a lie because it implies they had a duty which they then exceeded. It seems to me, that this is the best kind of gesture anyone (or any business) can give. It's not a gesture of sincere apology - it's a gesture of gratitude; for showing their appreciation of my appreciation of their work.
Thanks Field Notes, Thanks!