Customer Delight

I was at the courier office this evening, trying to figure out how best to pack a bunch of sketches that needed to be sent to my friend in another city. The sketches were huge—straight off my large sketchpad, and no envelope would accommodate such an uncommon size.

So the lady at the counter looked at me, and then calmly slit open two large envelopes and made a new one for me to pack and tape my sketches together without having to suppress them into a million folds.

She’s done it before for me—I’m always the one to come by with packages of all shapes and sizes (my goodies tucked away in an old shoe box, or a hand painted tee refusing to fit into a conventional bag, a pebble for a friend, a newspaper cutting that surpassed the dimensions of a regular envelope) and she’s always bailed me out. Never a sigh, never a complaint, she’s always found a solution to help me reach out to whoever I wanted to ; wherever I wanted it to go.

My green grocer is much like her—she always greets me with a wide smile as I stop by at her store on my way back from Church; helps me pick up veggies for the week, sometimes cautions me from picking up a not-so-fresh vegetable, saves me from the mean policeman waiting to pounce on off-the-line-parked vehicles; leaves me with a feeling of good cheer on a monsoon evening.

Then there's the mechanic at the workshop--an angel in overalls. Each time my bike gets a little unwell, all it needs is a visit to my friend at the workshop. And it comes out spluttering with joy. Perhaps it’s got to do with the incredible happiness that its little angel rubs on it. So, each time I get back my bike in perfect running condition, I thank the mechanic (to which the latter always politely says, ‘You’re welcome’). We know we are welcome—both my bike and I.

In a world increasingly heading towards a pay-as-you-go model where everything can be easily bought off the shelf for a price, it is a pleasure to pay a visit to real people who go beyond just a wad  of notes.

Call it plain thoughtfulness or customer delight, it is a joy to be served with a smile.

As I think about it, a dash of thoughtfulness always leads to customer delight. 

At least that’s what I conclude as I find myself going back to my workshop mechanic, the same courier office and the green grocer for all the services that I need.

It certainly is nice to know that there still are people out there, who really care.

Who make your every interaction in an increasingly material world, more real; more meaningful.

Maybe you and I could be one of these Real People and make a difference in another's life.