Heaven’s Waiting Room

On this blog before we have spoken about achieving client delight and how with some simple steps and a thorough analysis of your customer’s needs you can achieve delight in a relatively simple way. It also doesn’t have to be done at huge expense.

I had a direct experience at the weekend of a company that had clearly thought about their customers and designed the experience so that it was simply without comparison.

I was in a tyre and exhaust fitters having some work done on the car but I felt like I was in the waiting room for the Ritz or indeed Heaven.

From the moment I walked into the waiting room I knew that they had gone to a lot of trouble to make sure that their clients were looked after in every possible way. This was unlike any experience I have ever had in a waiting room for anywhere but certainly it was totally different compared to my past experience with tyre and exhaust fitters.

The first thing I noticed was the furniture. It was high-quality leather furniture accompanied by a glass coffee table. The next thing I clocked was that there was a massage chair in the room, you know the kind of thing – they are in both service stations and shopping centres.  The difference here was that the coin feed had been bypassed and so you could have a massage for free.  I actually find these chairs uncomfortable but it was still a nice touch anyway.

In the corner of the waiting room was a computer that had a sign above it saying please feel free to check your email or surf the web.  Next to that was a sign saying that free wifi was available and it also gave the wifi sign in codes underneath it.

There was a pot of coffee in the corner and I was offered a coffee before I had the chance to sit down.  They also offered me one of a number of herbal teas to choose from and there were free biscuits next to lollypops for the kids.  There was also a coke fridge in the corner with soft drinks, all of whcih were complimentary.  Comparing this to past experience I was amazed as normally there is a Maxpax coffee machine in the corner with half the drinks not available.

Whilst I was served my coffee I had a look at the magazines and papers on the coffee table and not only were the mags up to date there were some colouring in books for kids, up-to-date copies of Heat and OK magazine, that day’s Guardian, Daily Mail and Friday’s FT.  This was 8.30 in the morning so they must either have these papers delivered or they had gone out to get them early.

The next thing I noticed was a TV running in the corner with BBC News 24 and a sign under the TV that said if you would like to change the channel or put the volume up please feel free to do so.

Underneath the television there was a Nintendo Wii with a number of recent games next to it.

During the whole time I was in the waiting room I was kept up to date of developments with the car every five minutes or so.

On the counter when I went to settle up for the job I noticed that there was a large goldfish style bowl that had a collection of business cards in it.  You were encouraged to leave your business card and you would be entered into a prize draw taking place each month to win a full valet of your car.  They also asked me when I placed my card in the bowl whether I would like to be kept up-to-date with any special offers they had.

The final two things I noticed really showed me how easy it can be to provide client delight.  Firstly I saw a sign which had previously been obscured which said “need to charge your mobile phone?  Please ask at reception as we have most chargers and would be glad to help.”

Finally as I went out to be shown around the car I was offered a golf style umbrella that was in a bin in the corner saying please feel free to use our umbrellas.  This is something that you only normally get from high-end hotels or golf clubs.

You would think that I paid a premium for the work carried out but in fact the company was incredibly competitive and I was also told that if I recommended a friend I would receive a 10% discount on my next purchase.

I didn’t try the toilets whilst I was there but I wouldn’t have actually been surprised if they had an attendant and an array of after shaves and moisturising creams for me to use!!

Take a look at everything above and you will see that the most they could have spent including furniture, umbrellas, Nintendo, mobile chargers and wifi is a maximum of £1000.  The chances are it cost nowhere near this however the impression it left with me will last a long time.

On leaving I asked the manager if all the extra effort they had clearly put in had yielded results and it certainly had.  The one thing they said was since they made the changes they had more women (with or without kids) coming through the door and trusting them to deliver.  Think about your past experiences with tyre and exhaust fitting and compare it to this – where would you go if you had the choice and crucially would you even be prepared to pay a little more?

One thing is for sure and that is that no amount of customer service training can replace a total dedication to making your customer’s delighted as demonstrated in the above example.

Heavens waiting room