February 12th, 2009
Your Turn: Exceptional Service
Have you ever experienced exceptional service?
On Saturday, I visited my favorite salon, Arrojo Studio. It’s founder is the very talented Nick Arrojo, the hair guru for TLC’s What Not to Wear. But that’s not why I’m mentioning his salon today.
Before she started razor-cutting my hair, I let my hair stylist know that at ten thirty I’d have to take a break to feed my parking meter. Not only did she offer to remind me when it was time, but she ran out and did it herself! My hair stylist fed my meter for me! She said that she would have felt badly if I’d received a ticket and that it wasn’t a good idea for me to go out in the cold with wet hair. That’s what I call exceptional service.
In his book The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn describes what it means to be a Fred. A Fred is someone who understands that you don’t have to be a movie star or a CEO to be exceptional. Freds find opportunities to create value that exceeds what people expect. Most importantly, Freds understand the importance of relationships. Mark’s book is a quick read and I highly recommend it.
Exceptional people should be applauded and rewarded. They make everyone’s lives better by choosing to be extraordinary because that’s how they roll.
So Rea, thank you. Thank you for being such a talented hair stylist and artist. More importantly, thank you for showing me that you care. We need more Freds like you in this world. (Love the haircut, by the way.) I am so lucky to have met you.
Now it’s your turn. Tell us about a time when you received exceptional service. Let’s get the word out about these exceptional businesses and exceptional people.
