Mehran Jalali

Rolex

Around a year ago, I went into a Rolex store to get the price of a specific watch, which I barely knew anything about it except that it said Oyster Perpetual on it. I also knew how it looked.

At the door, I was greeted by two guards who were very welcoming.

I did not look like someone who would purchase a Rolex at all. I was a 14-year-old with acne, wearing a Fossil watch. Here’s a watch very similar to mine:

Image Credit: Hodinkee

So, obviously not a very expensive, nor expensive-looking watch.

There was one seller in the store. I asked her “Where is the Oyster Perpetual?” thinking that there was only one watch called the Oyster Perpetual. Boy, was I mistaken.

She pointed to a section of around 300 watches, probably priced at over $10 million in total.

She was very friendly to me. She answered all of my questions and kept on asking me for the details of the watch I was looking for, until she finally found it for me.

I asked her the price of the watch and she told it to me, and I thanked her and after looking around for a bit longer, started leaving the store. She did not give me the are-you-serious-I-just-spent-10-minutes-helping-you-and-you’re-not-buying-anything look. She probably knew from the beginning that I didn’t want to buy anything, and she still helped me.

They really cared about the experience. I felt very greeted and welcome.

EDIT: I just went to a Rolex store in an airport and was greeted by the person working in it. She asked me if I was looking for a special thing, and I told her and she showed me where it is. The other watch stores’ staff did not pay attention to me.

Zee Hamid

Story 1: Amazon
“Hello, Amazon. I ordered this $1000 lens and it says delivered, but I don’t have it.”
“I am sorry sir, did you look around? May be the delivery person hid it under the bush.”
“Yes, I looked everywhere, I don’t have it.”
“I am sorry sir, we will send you a replacement.”
“That’s the thing, I am leaving for my trip tomorrow and would like it before.”
“I see, I’ll FedEx it to you overnight so you have it before 10am tomorrow.”
“Thank you so much!”
2 weeks later:
“Umm, hello Amazon. So, I called you two weeks ago about a super expensive lens that you overnighted to me because I said I never received it.”
“Okay, what about it?”
“Umm, I am sorry but it was delivered. It was in my mailbox, I didn’t check the mailbox.”
“Don’t worry sir, just send it back. Do you have a printer to print the return label?”
Amazon sent me a $1,000 lens overnight just because I said I did not receive the original, when I had actually received it but didn’t see it due to me panicking.

Story 2: Turkish Airlines
“Hey, thank you for upgrading me to the business class in this international flight because you oversold the economy. The thing is, I am traveling with my colleague and would like to sit with him. No no, don’t upgrade someone else, I see that the business class is half empty. Can you bring him up instead please since I am already here?”
“Sure sir, I’ll go ahead and upgrade him.”
Turkish Airlines upgraded me to business class on an International flight because the economy was oversold. They also upgraded my coworker because I said we were traveling together.

Story 3: Kimpton Hotel
“Hello, Kimpton?”
“Hello Mr. Hamid, how can we help you?”
What? How do they know? Oh ya, caller ID.
“I signed up for your karma points, I’d like to get credit for the previous stay.”
“I see that you stayed from xx to yy in Seattle. I’ve added your points to that stay, it should show up online. Can I help you with anything else?”
Wait? I don’t have to give you any info? Oh ya, caller ID gave them my number which is linked to my account. Genius.
“No, thanks.”
“No thank you Mr. Hamid for giving me the opportunity to serve you. Have a wonderful day.”
call to Kimpton hotel to get reward points lasted 30 seconds and resolved my issue without me giving any information.
This is how you earn customers for life.

Via Quora