Every 3 months and/or 3,000 miles it’s the same process. I wonder when I am going to find an extra 30 minutes to sit and wait for my oil to be changed. I finally found a few moments last week and what I found was a lot more than a standard oil change.
I found a local Jiffy Lube and arrived around 9:20am. The manager greeted me and opened the car door for me. I asked if they would honor an expired $5 coupon and he said, “Well, since you arrived before 9:30am, you actually qualify for our early bird special which gives you $8 off.” What? Thanks, dude!
He noticed I had been there before and showed me to the guest lounge (not too fancy but nice way to refer to it, huh?) where there was a pot of coffee waiting. He said that I would be greeted by my guest services liaison (or something like that) in a few moments. Sure enough Ishmael came to greet me by name and took me out to review all of the points they were going over on my car. He verified that these were all ok with me and escorted me back to the guest lounge.
When the car was complete he again said my name and took me over to the payment area where they offered me a $10 off coupon if used within the next 48 hours for any other vehichles in my household. Cool! Gave that one to my husband.
I was then escorted to my car where they had washed my windows and vacuumed for me, he thanked me for my business, waited for me to get in, and politely closed my car door. I drove away from there feeling valued and important to them.
What made me feel special at Jiffy Lube is very obviously the product of an amazing process initiative. I have been going to Jiffy Lube since 1999 and only in the more recent years have I seen an improved level of service. It hasn’t been a change in location, or a fluffier “guest lounge.” It is as simple as calling me by name, going over the same points each time I am in there, setting my expectations for a high level of service, and delivering on it. Whether Jiffy Lube came by this as a corporate-level or store-level initiative, I was impressed.
The point here is that any business can implement these types of low- to no-cost customer-focused process changes. Whether it’s calling your customers by name or sending them a packet of info with expectations of your first meeting, it is often the simple steps you can take – that you consistently do – that make the difference.
