No Obligations, No Questions Asked

I had a screw stuck in my tire the other day and I was heading out for a 1400 mile road trip (back and forth) in a couple of days. Needless to say I needed to get that taken care of. I have a Discount Tire place right across the road from where I work so I headed there hoping it wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg as I was on my way to Vegas to deliver my money to their new parents at the Casino's!

I was told at Discount Tire that if the tire was salvageable it would be free. I start laughing thinking he was joking, but after the service guy gave me a weird look I realized he was being dead serious. In my pessimistic world I figured that regardless whether the tire was salvageable or not, they wouldn’t do it, it was all false hope. An hour later I’m back to pick up my car and needless to say the tire was too damage in order to fix it, they put a used tire on there that was still better then the ones I already had. I thank them for their good service, get to the counter to pay and I’m told again it is free. All they ask is that we keep them in mind when I need to change my tires, no obligation, no questions asked.

I started thinking, how can we incorporate this into the rental industry. There are a lot of things we do for our new prospects but we also tend to forget about our current resident’s in the race for a new lease. Instead of giving away the free TV at your Open House, give a free IPod to your renewing resident, or a flip camera something they can flaunt to their friends. I bet you the answer will be cool when they are asked where they got it. You can even mark it with your logo.

I am a true blue believer in customer service. If a resident comes in and asks if you have a phone book, don’t tell them no if you don’t have one, look it up for them on-line then give them directions. If they tell you that their aunt just died, send them a card. How many more leads will we get from referrals if we simply take better care of our residents?

Vala! This post is fantastic and restored my faith a bit! It's amazing how one simple act of gracious customer service can create such a tidal wave in just one customer.! And you're right, to apply this simple concept in our professional lives costs us nothing and can reap such huge rewards!

V,

Great point of discussion - I had a similar experience at a tire store in Oregon - blew me away. And, not only did I make all my future tire purchases there - I told everyone I knew about them.

I have to believe you could find a stock of refurbished products for pennies on the dollar that you could give away relative to a behavior you wanted to enhance in your population.

Stellar stuff.

M