I am very particular about which companies I patronize. I am no longer willing to spend hard-earned money at a business that doesn’t treat me like they want me as their loyal customer…really want me as their customer. When I have a choice between more than one company, I want to be a customer to the business that treats their customers right—with respect and with the attitude of doing all they can to do right by their customers.

I recently wrote about a bad customer experience at Ann Taylor, which is one of my favorite stores. I still think their return policy is not a good one and brings their company much too far away from their very strong belief in pleasing their customers. It’s just not a good policy.

I did what I can. I called their customer service to give my opinion/feedback. If there is any hope of their policy ever changing to a much more customer-friendly policy, it will be as a result of customer feedback. So, I did my part.

I must commend their customer service department, however. They did have someone call me back to address my concerns. Nothing has changed in regards to my returned item but they did call me and they did address my issue. They are going to send me a $25 certificate. It doesn’t fully satisfy me but I do truly appreciate the gesture, the fact they called me and listened. Not all companies call back and not all companies listen, unfortunately.

So…now it’s time for me to do my part. I do thank Ann Taylor for calling. Like I said, not all companies take that step or take their customers’ opinions as seriously as Ann Taylor does. I was planning on not shopping there anymore, and I still may not. But I am, at least, going to consider it.

When is the last time you truly listened to your customer?

For this economy to work and for business, as a whole, to be successful, there needs to be some give-and-take. In this case, the company took the time and effort to listen to the customer. And the customer listened to the explanation from the company and thanked them for their effort. Customers need to consider what is fair to the company just as the company needs to try to be as fair as possible to the customer, in every situation.

It goes both ways.

Please contact Anna Brice at Pinnacle Peak Marketing, Scottsdale AZ about Marketing for Small/Medium Business.

Email: anna@pinnaclepeakmarketing.com
Phone: 480-661-0292
Website: https://pinnaclepeakmarketing.com