Client Service Lessons at the Farmer's Market
When I was a teenager, I worked in our family's grocery store in Santa Cruz, California. It was there that I had my first interaction with the public and learned the first rule of customer service: keep the customers happy. A happy customer is a customer who returns and spreads the good word about your business. If a customer is unhappy -- see rule #1. Do what you can to make them happy. Unhappy customers spread the word too, but about four times faster and to four times as many potential buyers.
A few years later (give or take a generation), I found myself at our local farmer's market, where I had two distinctly different customer experiences. The prior weekend, I had purchased some tomatoes that were flat out excellent, and I told the farmer how much I enjoyed her produce (I bought half a dozen different vegetables from her stall), but the tomatoes were particularly superb. She winked and gave me three large, ripe tomatoes. "For your friends. I'll see you next weekend," she said. "I'm a customer for life," I responded...and I meant it.
Separately, a baker had recommended that I try his marble rye. I did, and it wasn't to my liking. There were remnants of sourdough in it, it had a flat consistency, and I let him know that. He fixed me with a skeptical glance. "Well, most people like it."
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