Recently, I was privileged to spend 2 1/2 weeks in Ecuador and Peru in the Galapagos Islands and Machu Picchu. Little did I know I would have one of the most powerful customer service lessons of my career there!
As you know if you have traveled internationally, there are always individual vendors everywhere on the streets, trying to get you to buy their products. In some countries like China and Egypt, you are nearly accosted by them which is very uncomfortable. Even though they seemed a bit more gentle in South America, we were still wary of them, not wanting to be coerced into buying something we did not want.
After three days in Ecuador and travel to several of the little specialty craft villages where we did LOTS of shopping and then five days on the ship in the Galapagos Islands, we flew to Cuzco, Peru, where we did more shopping at the famous Pisac Market. Later, the bus took us to a lovely monastery where we were going to spend that night. The next morning we would board the train for Machu Picchu.
When we arrived that evening, outside the monastery there was a couple with their crafts, and they introduced themselves as “Mercedes” and “Mike 2.” We were all tired and not in the mood to purchase more, so Mercedes said, “Have a blessed evening, and we will see you tomorrow. Remember my name is ‘Mercedes’.”
The next morning there were Mercedes and Mike 2, waiting by our bus, trying to show us their goods, and again making sure we knew their names. We were all in a rush to get on the bus, so we did not pay a lot of attention to them, and besides, we had all done enough shopping. While we were waiting on the bus for our guide, Mercedes came to the windows and passed each one of us a little onyx (faux, I am sure!) necklace with a turtle on it since one of the primary attractions in the Galapagos are the giant tortoises. As she passed them out, she asked each of our names.
Then, she told us all, “In 4 days when you come back to stay in Cuzco, my shop is just down the street from the hotel on the righthand side.” (This was going to be a hotel in town, not the monastery in the country where we had stayed that night). “Just remember and ask for Mercedes.” Now, we had met many street vendors trying to sell us their goods, but never had we met anyone who GAVE us anything, so we were all impressed with her marketing and service skills.
After five wonderful days touring magnificent Machu Picchu, the most beautiful place I have ever been in the world, we flew back to Cuzco, and guess who was waiting outside our hotel? Mercedes and Mike 2, of course! Not only had she found out our schedule, but she remembered the names of nearly everyone on the bus and greeted us like old friends. Needless to say, we all went to Mercedes’s shop sometime while we were there and most of us bought something.
In the sea of needy and often pushy vendors, she had differentiated herself!
Things she did to serve us:
1. She introduced herself and her husband by name, and their names were memorable — “Mercedes” was not a name we heard often, and “Mike 2” is more memorable than just “Mike.”
2. She found out our schedule and was always there wherever we were going to be in her city.
3. She was not pushy, but she was persistent. She made SURE everyone knew her name and where her shop was.
4. She gave us something instead of only wanting us to buy. NO ONE else on the whole trip did that. It made her especially memorable.
5. She remembered our names and greeted us when we returned which created a kind of relationship.
6. Finally, when we did go to her shop, she offered us even more special prices than other vendors and then gave us another little trinket for choosing to “shop” with her.
Interestingly, we all thought we were “bought out” before we met Mercedes, but because of her service skills, we all ended up buying more! I suspect Mercedes and Mike 2 are doing very well in Peru! 😉
I will be writing more about my trip later in May here on the blog.
For more interesting articles on customer service, go to www.barbaraglanz.com/articles.
