Connecting Through Our Word

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Blog posting from Erick Pettersen from People Connect

Good morning,

So, it’s Thursday, and usually I post these on Tuesdays.  A friend once told me an apology comes without ‘ifs, ands, or buts,’ so I apologize for the two day delay of this blog. 

Yesterday, I had such  an awesome customer service experience that I wanted to share it with you.  Several months ago, I bought a pair of jeans at Eddie Bauer.  Last week, the back of one of the knees came out of the dryer shredded.  Eddie Bauer stands behind all of their products with a 100% no excuses guarantee, so I decide to try that guarantee out.

Last night, I walked into a local Eddie Bauer.  When the sales lady greeted me, I held up the pants and told her the story.  She looked at the tears, asked me if I wanted to look for another pair.  After I said yes, she said she would hold the ripped pair behind the counter.

A few minutes later, after I found my size, and tried them on, just to be on the extra safe side, I brought them to the front counter.  The guy behind the counter asked me if I had a receipt.  Thinking that my lack of a receipt would get me something like a $25 store credit, which would leave me with a bill of $25 or more, I admitted to my lack of a receipt.  He said ‘no problem,’ continued on with the transaction, asked me if I wanted a bag (As a Green travel writer, my conscious and my mouth said no), then handed me a receipt.  I thanked him and walked out of the store with a brand new pair of Eddie Bauer jeans no questions asked.

Few people know the history of Eddie Bauer.  Few people know that he was the first person to use Down in jackets, which he provided to our soldiers in World War II.  Few people know the story of the guy who brought a tennis racket (When Eddie made tennis rackets) back to him, said it got ruined, and Eddie restrung the racket in spite of examining it and determining that the racket got ruined in the rain. 

One thing everybody who buys Eddie Bauer merchandise knows is that years after Eddie Bauer’s death his legacy lives on.  Eddie Bauer made a name for himself by standing behind his products, an he demonstrated that by naming his store Eddie Bauer.  Yesterday, they earned themselves another life long customer.

If you want to connect with people, be a man or woman of your word.  Among many others, one of my mottos is, “If I can’t be anything else, I can be a man of my word.”  I created the concept of People Connect because I want to connect with people who realize if they can’t be anything else, they can be men or women of their word.  Today, I encourage you to connect, but I encourage you to connect by standing behind whatever service or product you offer.

As a nation, we have come to a place of absolute desperation, because we don’t know whom to trust anymore.  And we don’t know who to trust because we’ve become a nation of isolationists who stand within the shadows rather than by our word.  If we’re going to get out of this economic slump, if we’re going to learn to trust our teammates, we need to connect with each other.  That means we need to hold each other accountable, and we need to be men and women of our word.

 

Until next week, keep connecting.

 

 

Erick