When I have a bad experience I usually share it.  By the same token,
when I have a good experience I also want to share.  A little over a
week ago I decided to build an island for the kitchen (I build
furniture as therapy in my spare time.)  I wanted big turned legs for
the island and didn’t want to have to hassle with gluing up the boards
and turning them myself, so I ordered them online from Osborne Wood
Products in Georgia.

What a great experience!

The legs weren’t cheap — nothing worth having usually is.  I paid
nearly $100 per leg.  But what I got was the best service I’ve had
anywhere in a long time.  I placed the order online at about 1:00
p.m.   They still got them out the same day.  They sent me the tracking
number and I followed the legs from Georgia to my home clear across the
country.  The day they arrived, I got a call from Osborne customer
service asking if I was happy, if the legs met my expectations, if
they’d arrived in good condition, if I was unhappy in any way, if there
was anything else they could do to serve me, blah, blah, blah.

That whole transaction took very little of their time.  Someone
boxed up the order the day it came instead of setting it in the in-box
for a few days.  That took a few minutes.  Someone made a five minute
phone call the day it was to be delivered.  And here I am — a customer
for life.  Why would I go anywhere else when I know that if I need
something like that Osborne will take that kind of care of me?  I
wouldn’t.  I just wish everyone did business that way.

Osborne is a company that epitomizes customer service and the
benefits that come from it.  It cost them less than five dollars to
make a customer for life.  That seems like an outstanding investment.

To paraphrase the old cliche, if you provide great service, nothing
else matters.  If you don’t provide great service, nothing else
matters.  ‘nough said.