What makes a good retailer.

[Kornkob]

When I read about a retailer and why someone prefers them I often hear things about how fast they are, how good their products are or how cheap they are. To my mind, none of those are a true mark of a great retailer. Great customer service is what defines a great retailer over someone who is merely competent and doing their job.

And it's not just about solid communication and precise, accurate order filling either. A significant portion of the time I can't tell you if someone is a great retailer because I haven't experienced the thing that makes a great retailer stand out from the run of the mill: failure.

The thing that makes a store stand out, in my opinion, is how they react when there is a failure. How complaints and problems are managed is the most important thing when an organization wants to go beyond mere competence and be truly excellent.

Rocky at USA Kilts, thus far, has proven himself to have taken that extra step.

It was a simple mistake. By all appearances, a supplier mislabeled some clan kilt pins and send them to USA Kilts, who passed them on to me. (I got Graham not Gunn) I fired off an email with a blurry pic of the mistake and asked how we go about fixing it.

Rocky's reply was textbook for how to provide excellent customer service.

1) he took total ownership, without reservation, for the mistake and stated clearly what felt he should have done to avoid the problem. All too often people who are in customer service give an excuse for the problem without stating that there were, in fact, actions they (or the organization) could have taken to avoid the problem.

2) he stated clearly what he had already done to solve the problem and what the end result he expected to see would be. Another mistake that is often made is not explaining what the expected outcome will be to the customer.

I'll stop back after the replacements arrive (which are already on the way) to confirm but so far all indications are USA Kilts gives excellent customer service in the face of adversity and thus, in my opinion, is a great retailer.

I can give no higher praise than this.