Warner's new running shoes.

This past weekend, Warner and I went shopping for a new pair of running shoes for him. Our first stop was DSW (Discount Shoe Warehouse) because they have a decent selection and often the best prices. There’s nothing really wrong with their service; I’ve actually found the employees I’ve encountered in the past to be quite friendly and upbeat. But there’s something missing. You get what you expect with DSW – a decent selection of fairly-priced shoes in an environment where you try on what you like and determine for yourself it they’re the right shoes for you.

Towards the end of our search at DSW for Warner’s shoes, I remembered Alan’s Shoe House (their web site leaves a bit to be desired), a Tucson-based business that’s been in business since I was a kid. I don’t remember too many details of my last visit (almost 20 years ago), but I remember that they were nice. Also, they had plenty of shoes in stock to choose from for a kid with big feet. (Shoe shopping has always been a bit traumatizing for me, since most places don’t carry larger women’s sizes.) I think it says something about how Alan’s runs their business that, almost two decades later, I still remember them fondly – and for someone who RARELY puts “fondly” and anything related to shoes in the same sentence, that says something.

But enough about the past – we were talking about Warner’s shoe shopping experience. After finding a few pairs that he liked at DSW, but none that he was really wild about, we headed over to Alan’s Shoe House. Now, I admit that it’s a bit like comparing apples to oranges here because DSW and Alan’s are two different types of shoe stores, so I want to emphasize that I mean no disrespect to DSW and how they do business. I’m merely using them as contrast to show how exceptional service can be. But I digress again.

The moment we walk into Alan’s, we’re greeted by at least two people, and Stephanie offers to help us find what we’re looking for. Since Warner had already found a brand that he was pleased with, we started there. Stephanie was able to tell us the difference between “training” shoes and “running” shoes as well as the many different styles of running shoes there were. As I mentioned in a previous post, people in the service industry need to know their product. Why? Well, I’ll tell you that Warner and I felt a lot more comfortable with our purchase at Alan’s than we would have at DSW just for the simple fact that Stephanie knew the products well, and she wanted to make sure Warner was getting the right shoes for his needs.

In addition to helping Warner get the right shoes, as with any full service shoe store, Stephanie put on and laced up all the pairs that Warner tried on. Seems like a little touch, but it makes a big difference. We didn’t realize that we were coming into the store at 20 minutes ’til closing, but Stephanie wasn’t bothered one bit, and we didn’t get a startling PA announcement from the manager warning us of limited time left. And you know what was the icing on the cake for this exceptional service? She offered us a bottle of water as we were leaving (because, yes, it’s still a bit warm in Tucson) and gave us a free flashlight, which will come in real handy during our evening jogs.

Sometimes it’s the little things that add up to make an exceptional customer service experience. Do you have any stories of exceptional customer service that you’d like to share? Let me know in the comments or at sara@customerserviceftw.com.