Title: Give ‘Em The Pickle – A Tale Of Exceptional Customer Service
Featuring: Peter Wilson
Peter: In today’s episode, we’re diving into a legendary customer service story from Bob Farrell, founder of Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor. Now I don’t know if you grew up around Farrell’s restaurants, but they were a lot of fun. There’s a lot of excitement. They had a theme of the early nineteen hundreds. They usually had an old time player piano banging out ragtime music.
The waitstaff dressed in costumes from the early nineteen hundreds. At the height of the popularity, they had about a 130 locations around The United States. Now one little story that I remember growing up is they used to bring around this, big ice cream bowl that would feed the whole table. I can’t remember what they called that. And they had it on a little stretcher, and it was carried between two of their waitstaff.
And they would run this fire siren while they were running this to the table that was gonna get it. So it was big fanfare for this, table to get it, and I’ll never forget this one time. They brought it to the table, and somehow something went wrong. The bowl flipped right into a customer full of ice cream. So it’s pretty funny.
But, anyway, lot of fun at Farrell’s growing up, and they were in the Portland area in the Seattle area. And all over The US. Like I said, they had a 130 locations around The US. Getting back to the story today, this is a story that revolves around a real simple concept that transformed Bob Farrell’s business ethos, which is give them the pickle. And in the early days of the ice cream parlor, Bob received a letter from a disappointed customer.
This person was a regular who loved everything about Farrell’s, especially their pickles. So they would go in there often, and they would get a cheeseburger and a milkshake, and they would always ask for an extra pickle. And on one of the visits, they asked for an extra pickle, and the wait person told them that they would have to pay extra for the pickle. And in the past, they had just been given the pickle. That’s really ticked off this customer, and it could have been the end of a customer relationship, but instead, it sparked a revolution in customer service for his business.
So Bob got this letter, wrote a letter back to this person, and as he relates in some videos I’ve watched, he sent them some coupons and said, please, the pickles will always be free. Just come back. And then he went to his his teams and said, guys, we gotta give him the pickle here. So give him the pickle became his rallying cry, and it’s a metaphor for going the extra mile for customers. And the way we can relate this to our business is it’s about finding your pickle, and that pickle is something, that special something that you can do to delight your customers and exceed their accept a expectations.
And whether it’s a gesture as small as a free pickle or as significant as empowering your staff to make decisions on the spot, and not have to go up the chain of command to make a simple little decision, the essence lies in making sure your customers leave happier when they arrived. Now, Bob’s story is just this powerful reminder of the impact of thoughtful customer service. It’s not just about products and services that we sell. It’s about the experiences we create and the people we serve. Thinking about this in some more recent examples, let’s look at Sweetwater.
They’re an online retailer of audio gear and musical instruments. Whether or not they’ve even heard of this story, they’ve definitely are applying the give and the pickle philosophy. I’d never heard of this company, Sweetwater. In a team meeting earlier this week, our designer Marcel related how Sweetwater was not just selling products, they’re creating unparalleled experiences. He had recently purchased an acoustic electrical guitar from them, and after he placed his order, he received a phone call from a customer rep confirming the details of the purchase.
After that, they sent him detailed photos of the exact guitar he bought. They went out to the warehouse and took a camera and took pictures of the actual one that he had purchased. They also conducted a 55 inspection on the guitar before they shipped it, and that clearly exemplifies going above and beyond for the customers. And Marcel related how they had gone above and beyond when things didn’t go as planned. And this is where, you know, the sweet water really shines.
When, Marcel’s delivery was delayed, their customer service didn’t just stand by and say, oh, we’ll just have to figure it out. They actively assisted in tracking down the package, and they ensured that Marcel was, informed of what was going on and exactly when he would receive it. It’s a pretty amazing story. He also said Marcel said when he received the guitar, there was actually a little package of candies with the guitar as well. So they’ve really gone above and beyond, and I’m guessing that their customer retention rate has gotta be super high, and the returns has gotta be super low.
If they send you, you know, all these pictures of the actual item you’re receiving, there shouldn’t be any surprises when it shows up at your house. What Sweetwater and Bob Farrell teach us is that exceptional customer service isn’t about solving problems, it’s about creating memorable positive experiences every opportunity they have. Whether it’s a, you know, pickle at a restaurant or a personal follow-up call with an online purchase. These things make a world of difference, and they just really transform transactions into relationships, and it turns the customers into advocates for the brand, and they become raving fans. Probably didn’t cost either of these a whole lot of money to do these extra things.
What I found fascinating is that both of these examples exemplified what Alan Dib is referring to in chapter seven of his book, The one Page Marketing Plan. Chapter seven is titled Delivering a World Class Experience, and that appears in the after phase of the marketing plan, meaning after the customer has decided to buy from you. These companies are delivering a world class experience. The heart of business success lies not in just transactions, but in the relationships we build and the experiences we create along the way. Every business and organization listening, it’s time to ask yourself, what’s your pickle?
What can you do to make your customers’ experience not just satisfactory, but remarkable? Let’s make giving the pickle our standard, turning every customer interaction into an opportunity to exceed expectations and build lasting connections. Thanks for joining me this week. We’ll talk to you
Peter: episode of Biz and Life Done Well with Peter Wilson. You can subscribe to us on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and most of the other popular podcast platforms. Please tell your friends about us and leave us a review so even more people will find out about us. Thanks again. We’ll see you soon.
