Total Customer Service

Last Christmas I worked for a video and electronics retail store. This is the busiest season of the year and, to save time, many customers shop by phone.

During the rush, I received a call from a lady who wanted to buy two 50-inch projection televisions, two camcorders, two VCRs, and two 20-inch stereo cable ready televisions. She told me these items were all for Christmas gifts. She wanted to know the benefits, operation, service, prices and availability of these items and how soon they could be delivered.After I had explained on the phone for 45 minutes all the details of each requested item, she asked me to call her back in 15 minutes with the total price of these items along with the price of a service contract and the delivery date.

After 10 minutes, I called her back and gave her the figures and asked her to come to the store to see the merchandise she had ordered. She agreed, but asked how she would recognize me. I told her just look for a very ugly, but well dressed, Vietnamese man.

When she arrived, she had no problem finding me. We went over the benefits, features and service of all merchandise for about 40 minutes or more. She was very happy with all of her purchases. As she left, she looked at me, smiled and said, “You are really well dressed, Mr. Cung.” After a few seconds of silence, I said, “You mean I am ugly, too?” She laughed very hard and answered, “Oh, no. I am sorry, I forgot about what you had said.” We both laughed and I thanked her for the $11,013.94 purchase.

All this began with a simple phone call and my commitment to customer service. I shall always remember the results that followed.