The day we moved into our new house last month was a very, very happy day for lots of reasons. For starters, we were moving to a place with twice (literally) the space, located in a beautiful, quiet village. But something else great happened on moving day. Our ancient box spring wouldn’t make it up the stairs. Yay!! We had to get a new bed. We had no choice!

So my husband and I arranged for a sitter and hit the stores (after doing some preliminary research online for prices) starting with Leon’s furniture in Charlottetown. We’ve bought furniture there before and have always been pleased with the service etcetera so we were glad that their prices seemed best. A few minutes after we got to the mattress gallery, a sales person (Karen Boyle) walked through and asked if we knew what type of bed we should be sleeping on. We just knew anything would be better than what we were currently using and had planned on buying the least expensive set there.

She took us over to a cool computerized thing that you and your sleep partner take turns laying down on to figure out what type of mattress will suit. Now, whether this actually works, or whether it helps them to upsell you on a pricier bed, it was pretty cool and we discovered we needed a plush mattress as opposed to a firm one.

We made sure to tell Karen that we needed a split box spring so it would fit upstairs and she kept that issue in mind when showing us mattresses, pointing out certain ones that wouldn’t work for us because the mattresses were too high to fit up our stairs.

In the end we made our selection and set about to order it. When we asked how long it would take to be delivered to us, she told us it could be a couple of weeks. I asked if it could possibly be delivered before the next weekend which was my 30th birthday, so I could sleep on a bed younger than me for my big day. She had a chuckle at that, we filled out the paperwork, paid her and were on our way.

A few days later I got a call from Karen saying that the bed would be arriving on Thursday so I’d have my new bed for my birthday. I thought it was sweet that she remembered that little detail.

But then, the next day there was a standard looking Leon’s Thank you card from Karen in the mail thanking us for our purchase. But at the bottom she drew a little birthday cake and added a “PS, Happy Birthday Jaime”.

I was so impressed!

The day after the bed arrived, I got a call from Leon’s asking how my delivery experience was, too. And guess what? I’ve been telling everyone. AND I remember our sales person’s name because she wow-ed me with that birthday wish at the bottom of the card she sent.

These are the details you remember. In these days when customer loyalty is almost extinct, it’s these small touches that might – just maybe – make you remember a store (and a commission-based sales person which I assume Karen is) when you need to make another purchase.

What are you doing to see to it that your customers remember you? Do you send a birthday card or a gift once in awhile? If you see a book one of your clients would love, do you pick it up and send it to them?

What can you implement easily that will set you apart?

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I have an unhealthy love for my dentist. Not a romantic love, but a “what-in-the-world-will-I-do-when-he-retires” kind of love.

My dentist (Dr. Coady) has been looking after my teeth for as long as I’ve had teeth to take to a dentist. My first cleaning, my first filling, a referral to an orthodontist for braces, 3 wisdom tooth extractions (which I did without being put under because I would rather he take them out with local freezing than have anyone else put sharp instruments in my mouth) and so on and so forth. My daughter has gone to him for her first check up and he’s adopting my husband as a patient now too.

This morning I called Dr. Coady’s office about a pain I have that started yesterday in my jaw and has spread to my ear and throat. I wasn’t sure if it was a dentist issue or a doctor one, but even though he’s booked through to October, I got in to see Dr. Coady this morning to get checked out.

Now, as I mentioned, I have an unhealthy love for my dentist, but the whole operation is dear to my heart. It feels like visiting friends when I go to there and I don’t know about your feelings about dentists, but I’m thinking this is rare.

The woman who manages the office (who always gives reminder calls about appointments) engaged my 3 year old in a lengthy conversation about her beautiful dress and I can tell you that my daughter already looks forward to going to the dentist (again, thinking that’s rare).

Anyway, I got called in after a 20 minute wait (remember that they slotted me in at the last minute) and Dr. Coady took a look, identified the problem and explained everything to me. Then he apologized about the wait (what wait?) and told me there would be no charge.

Seriously.

Since I was a child, I haven’t had any fear of going to the dentist. It’s always been a positive experience for me because Dr. Coady is so kind and gentle (as far as dentists go, I suppose). As I grow older (30 on Saturday, hence the balloons, if you’d like to send gifts) I realize that he’s also kind when it comes to billing for his services and slotting in people quickly who are in any degree of pain.

I am not in a business like dentisty where I offer a service that people actually “need”. I am a copywriter and while I believe most people “need” my services, as long as you can read and write you don’t really have to come to me. I offer an optional service. Good copy isn’t really life or death. But, I am going to make a conscious effort to run my business with as much heart as my dentist does.

I don’t know yet what that means, I’m already pretty flexible with payments and I’m a fairly nice person to deal with. But, I want my clients to know how much I really care about them because I do. Maybe that means sending  more gifts or personal notes, but I want to do what I do with more heart and I hope that you might be inspired to do the same. Wouldn’t the world be an amazing place if everyone were like Dr. Coady?

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