When the front line is empowered.

I had to reschedule a hair appointment. That's a big deal to a woman, especially when you miss an appointment and you are in the midst of a hair crisis. Particularly one I like to call the "big giant head" problem. That's when your hair grows not longer, just thicker. 

Anyway, I got a reminder call for the rescheduled appointment on Saturday. I had rescheduled for just a cut rather than the full treatment because their calendar was full. But the sharp woman on the phone gave me the reminder and then noticed that I wasn't getting the complete service. She could see my appointment history - or maybe one of my friends had secretly called her. Either way, she then said they now had room on the schedule for the full service - "would I like to schedule that?" Now picture the aforementioned big giant head totally covered in grey hair and you get a sense of the joy with which I responded, "yes please!".

Hair issues aside, what struck me about this interaction was:

1.) her efficiency and the pleasantness of the interaction.

2.) the information she had access to on her screen - my prioir history and the current schedule and alloted time needed, and she could match the information and book the appointment immediately

3.) she took the time to look for another opportunity to serve me. She could have just made the reminder and not bothered to check on other options.

4.) she just made a sale for her company.

How many times have you talked to someone at that level who has access to the right kind of information they need to make a customer happy and to generate more revenues for their company? 

This is an Aveda salon in Livermore and they do a million little things to make their experience stellar. But it all starts with the person on that phone.