Design Within Reach made a believer out of me

Design Within Reach,

Thank you for the email acknowledging that my recent transaction was less than ideal. And thank you for the card that quite insightfully quoted Charles Eames to say "The details are not details. They make the product." How true.

It means a lot for a company to recognize criticism and respond to it. And it means even more for customers to feel that they are being heard. Lending an ear can go a long way. I believe your gesture to openly recognize and respond to negative feedback is the difference between a good company and a great one.

Don't get me wrong. A flawless customer experience is ideal, but things don't always go as planned. Each customer comes with a unique set of expectations. Each is a potential landmine of disappointment. I imagine delivering great customer experience can seem like a perpetual uphill battle, particularly when there's a breakdown for whatever reason.

It's easy to be a great company when it's all smooth sailing, but true character is revealed in rough waters. It's tough work to turn a negative experience into a positive one. Troubleshooting requires time, insight, and will. You have to empower your people to attend to the unique needs of each individual customer and then do something about it.

The upside to a bad situation is that when it is righted, customer loyalty can be stronger than if the situation had been seamless from end to end. If the customer invests time and energy by contacting customer service, then antagonism has the potential to become give-and-take, which in turn can be the foundation for a relationship that is actively forged rather than passively assumed. That's powerful.

You demonstrated that fallibility need not deter a positive customer experience in the end. In fact, fallibility can provide the opportunity to exceed expectations.

-joanie