As part of my holiday shopping, I reached out to some friends to get their ideas on gifts I could purchase from local businesses. I wanted to get many of my gifts from friends, and friends of friends.
I got many great ideas and I was able to purchase some gifts from other women with home-based businesses, but one story really stands out.
A friend of mine shared with me that her father makes handmade and personalized leather wallets, checkbooks and tool pouches. Men can be challenging to find gifts for so I asked a few more questions. “How much?” and “Can I see a picture?”
After seeing a picture, I told her that I wanted to purchase two tool pouches. It was a super fun exchange after that. After hearing that I needed them ASAP for the weekend, since my family was having Christmas a bit early, she contacted her father. He was willing to send me the pouches right away, no money exchanged hands and no one asked how I planned to pay.
They arrived a few days later, along with a handwritten note with the cost for the pouches and it just said “plus shipping,” and I guess it was up to me to determine how much shipping actually was. I dropped a check in the mail right away (although I’ll admit that it took me a while to find my checkbook in this debit card world) and got the gifts wrapped.
As I was reflecting on this transaction later, I feel like many businesses could learn a few lessons or take a tip or two from this businessman:
Trust others — no one asked me if or how I planned to pay
Go the extra mile — the pouches were in my mailbox in just two days
Care about your customers — the service I got from the man was exceptional in my opinion
PS: I told my friend that her father didn’t charge near enough for his handiwork and she just said “He hasn’t changed his prices since the early 80’s.” I guess if you have a hobby that you love, one more tip is this: It’s not just about the money
#businesstips #stylewithchar #trustothers #gotheextramile #careaboutyourcustomrs #it’snotjustaboutthemoney #rubyribbon #greatservice
