Thinking outside the Big Box

Today’s lesson on creative customer service comes from a place you might not expect: Costco. To me, Costco and other “big box” stores have always been about two things—volume and price. I frequent the cavernous retailer because they stock stuff by the pallet, and because most of the items I use are more-than-reasonably priced. I really don’t expect to be pampered there. Nor do I expect the company to go out of its way to make me happy. Just stock what I need at a decent price, hire competent people to point me in the right direction, and don’t stalk me with in-store specials (no, I do not want to buy the Stamp-zilla deal–a pallet-full of Forever postage stamps that locks in the price of mailing a letter until the year 2099, or until the use of paper is illegal, whichever comes first). 

Last Saturday, however, Costco pampered me. On the way to shop there, my wife and I pulled into the Costco gas station; we were running on fumes. When I got out of the vehicle, a friendly attendant greeted me. He said, “I just want to let you know that we’re out of regular; all we have is premium.”

Disappointment ensued , and my brain started to run through a list of options: 1) leave immediately, and hope I had enough gas to get us to the store and then to a station that had regular gas, 2) put in a gallon or two of premium to last me until the next station, or 3) try to convince the attendant that, since I’m paying more for gas than I had planned, he should fill the tank, clean my windshield, and check the oil.

An option that never entered my mind was filling the tank with premium gas . . . until the attendant finished what he wanted to say. “Because of the inconvenience,” he went on, “we’ve marked down our premium to $2.99.”

“Oh, that’s okay, I’ll just”—Whoa! Did he just say what I think he said?

“Best deal in town,” he continued. “Premium  for less than regular.”

He wasn’t kidding. There it was, right on the pump: $2.99 a gallon—for premium! I don’t remember the exact figures, but I think regular was about $3.19, and premium was running around $3.39. So, they were offering premium  for 20 cents less than regular!

Let that soak in for a minute. Imagine how other businesses might have responded to this dilemma: “Sorry, we’re out of regular” (no other options), or “All we have is premium” (again, no offer to appease), or possibly “ Sorry, we’re out of regular, but we’ll sell you premium for the same price as regular.”

I would have been happy with that last option. But Costco even went beyond that. They surpassed what the typical shopper would expect and swung for the fences. And it paid off for them, at least in my case. Because of our budget, and what I knew we were about to spend on groceries, I hadn’t planned to fill up my tank. If they had lowered the premium price to match the regular, that’s the price I was going to pay anyway. But at $2.99 a gallon—for premium—I’m filling that puppy to the brim!

Let this be a lesson to companies who take a “bare necessities” approach to customer service, who respond to every problem as though it’s the customer’s fault, or who organize their days around what’s easiest for the company but not for the customer. At least on this particular day, Costco made me feel as though the experience was all about me. They went beyond what I expected. They surprised me, delighted me. They did what every company should do—go the extra mile (or the extra gallon) to create a superb and memorable customer experience.

Because of that experience, I’m not just a customer; I’m a fan. A promoter. A cheerleader. Heck, I even wrote an article about it.  Come to think of it, I might drop a note to the president of Costco. Now, where did I put those stamps?