Give ‘em the Pickle!

Justin’s blog post yesterday about swag, reminding me of a customer service philosophy known as “give ‘em the pickle.”

Several years ago, HMA hosted a client event with Bob Farrell as our keynote speaker.  Do you remember Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor?  Their servers wore red and white shirts and run around the restaurant delivering The Zoo and other crazy ice cream combinations to their delighted guests.  The restaurant was a hangout for me and my friends while we were in high school.

Before he got into the ice cream business, Bob owned a neighborhood diner.  The type of place where regulars would come in, sit in their favorite booth, order their favorite meal from their favorite server, same day each week.

As the story goes, a group of regulars would come in each week and order hamburgers with extra pickles. The group came in and a new manager was on duty.  Not knowing any better, gave the customers their extra pickles, but charged them for them.  It was the last time that group of regulars ever ate in the restaurant.

You see “pickles” are those special or extra things you do to make people happy. In this case, it literally was pickles that made people happy, but it applies to such more than that.

Whether it is rewarding loyal customers with something extra or sending a handwritten note acknowledging a job well done, the small gesture will go a long way to solidifying the customer relationship and repeat business.

Can we help you create a loyalty program for your company? Let us know.