Every year, second week in December around Saturday, the family 'takes-off' to get a Christmas tree. In the past we tend to drive around to find 'the right one' but since 2 years we end in the same 'shop'.
And it is interesting to see that this decision is not taken based on price but is related to the service provided during the 'sales process' ;-). This is exactly the reason for writing this in this service-blog.
Service is still a differentiator and a reason for Oracle to invest in improving and innovating it.
Back to my tree, the place where we bought the tree (in the past) was more an open field with a huge pile of trees. This makes it difficult to choose and when you select the right one, you have to carry it yourself to the car and try to get it in (unpacked). The result - you come home with a car full of dirt and a damaged tree (broken branches). But .... they where cheap!
Last 2 years we go to a place with a friendly guy, showing some trees to help you to make a good choice. When selected, they pack it carefully while you do some more Christmas shopping. When finished you drive by and they help you carry the tree to your care and carefully put it in the back. And the good thing is ... they are not more expensive.....
The business model is obvious ... return sales (we go back every year) cross selling (remember 'they pack it while you do some shopping' and it was very busy in the shop !) reference ability (if need for tree, visit Intratuin Barneveld ;-) ) and more important happy customers (they need them the other 50 weeks of the year).
As a conclusion;
dear customer, "Next time when you do your next purchase, take the added value of service into account !"
dear service provider, "Next time when you provide service, take into account that YOU can make the difference to your customer and have huge impact on sales ! "
