“Are you a righty or a lefty?”

The woman at the counter at Dunkin’s Donuts looked at me expectantly. I had never been asked that when I went for coffee, and it threw me a little off guard. 

“Huh?” 

“Are you right-handed or left-handed?” 

“I’m a righty.”

She proceeded to arrange the cover of my refill mug so that the opening was facing me when I held the handle in my right hand. 

This is my favorite “customer service extras” story. One small question, a minor effort, and she guaranteed that I would return to that specific Dunkin’ Donuts the next day. Little things count. This is what we are all trying to do. Get customers to return and spend more. 

In this case, it had nothing to do with the quality of the coffee, the location, or the price.  This was even less convenient for me. I had recently moved offices, and I did not drive by this one on the way to work, but I went out of my way to go there the next day.

 

Guess what happened the next day?

 

She didn’t ask if I was righty or lefty. She remembered. I was blown away. I continued to go there daily. I would pass half a dozen coffee shops on the way to work and drove past my office every day to go to this one. 

A couple of weeks went by, and I went in there in the middle of the day. It was slow, so I had time to ask her, “How do you remember if I’m a righty or a lefty?” 

“I don’t have to. I only have to remember if you have been here before and if you are a lefty. I don’t get too many refill mugs, and only a few of them are lefties.”

This woman managed to win my business for as long as I worked in that office. I haven’t worked there for a long time and was driving by there recently, so I stopped in. She was no longer there or wasn’t working that day. The service was not up to her standards, unfortunately. 

What can you learn from this?

 

Little things can be tremendous things. 

 

Look at your business and your customers. Look at every step of their buying process and how they use your product or service. Find ways to add a little more. I’m not talking about value-added services. I’m not suggesting you give more away, that’s actually the last thing I’m saying. Find a way that you can go one more step that doesn’t cost you a dime but adds to the relationship you are creating with your customer. How can you make that experience a little more special?

Here is your homework. Shop your own business. How did you use the product? What was the first thing you did with it? How could that be improved? If you need help, have some questions, drop me a line below, or email me at bill@bikelanebd.com. I’ll help, no strings attached.

 

That’s my “Righty or Lefty?” moment. What’s yours?

 

 

 

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash