Bring Back Karla

Have you ever had an outstanding customer experience?  How did it make you feel? Did you return for services/ goods and one of the reasons was because of that employee?

I used to shop for my former employer at Sam’s Club in Batavia, IL for office supplies because some of them were less expensive than delivery services. I shopped at night or the weekends. When I was most tired, there was Karla either at the front door or exit. Karla had the biggest smile and greeting EVERY single time without fail. I often dragged my husband along (so we could date while shopping) and they always joked around in those brief seconds of checking a receipt. Actually, we would have a household cart and a work cart (separate bills.)

Why do I want Karla back?

• Karla gave me the energy to walk the cavernous store after a long day. If she was weary from standing, I never knew it.
• Her kindness was so sincere.
• Karla distributed samples and made sure that I knew store specials.
• She cared if she did not see me for a couple weeks due to a busy schedule.
• Karla was never grumpy, talking to other workers or ignoring clients.
• She genuinely wanted to know how things were going in a brief elevator speech type second.
• Karla was consistently friendly and jovial. It did not matter whether I was her first or 1000th I mattered to her. Nice to feel validated as a human being. She made me laugh every visit.
• I miss the ear-to-ear smile and twinkle in her eyes.

Dear Sam’s Club Management, Karla was the epitome of customer experience management. Her engaging personality helped make me a repeat customer to the Batavia Sam’s Club in our heavily competitive market around our hometown. Would you bring Karla back? If not, please consider making a Karla Training YouTube video and sharing that with all of your greeters, samplers and exiters.  Also, I never got to say goodbye or thank you to Karla so please tell her thank you for making our shopping experience pleasant.

I am not exactly sure why she is now working at the Montgomery location (management decisions are their business.) However, I just miss Karla.

Written by Diane M. Schultz

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