The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence by Robert Spector & Breanne O. Reeves

Author:Robert Spector & Breanne O. Reeves
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-09-25T13:33:38+00:00

Don't Be Cocky

When you discuss customer service with members of the Nordstrom family, they frequently use the word humble, which is not often heard in corporate offices and boardrooms. They believe that a commitment to service requires employees to put themselves in the shoes of the customer.

“If you are really looking to the customer, if you're really sensitive to the customer, and sensitive to the people on the front line, you are aware of your shortcomings,” said Erik. “That keeps us focused on the things that are necessary in order to give [great] customer service.”

His brother Blake added, “It's not about us.” He described his role and that of his family members as “stewards of the business and the culture. We are here to help everyone achieve his or her goals. Companies that have a strong culture have an asset—a point of difference. We try to create an atmosphere where people feel valued, trusted, respected, and empowered, where they have a proprietary feeling and an entrepreneurial spirit. The magic occurs when all these things come together.”

Erik said, “We like to tell stories around here. Not a day goes by when the three of us don't communicate with customers.”

A retired company executive noted, “There's something magical about how the Nordstroms feel toward the customer that just connects with employees. The passion of the Nordstrom family for this business is hard to replicate. It's so powerful when they come around to talk to our people and remind them that our company is only as good as they are today and every day.” That executive cited how meaningful it is for frontline people to have a Nordstrom family member visit their store and ask them what they need to do their job better. “The people on the sales floor think: If these Nordstroms are fighting it out, I'm going to fight it out, too.”

What's fascinating is that Nordstrom does not boast about its service to the outside world. The company never runs advertisements crowing about its customer service, nor does it ever send out press releases blowing its own horn about the company's customer service. Top company executives rarely comment on customer service to the press. Nordstrom does not brag about its customer service because it knows it can always get better. In fact, the company goal every year is to improve its customer service. Yes, even Nordstrom believes there is always room to get better.

“Fortunately, there is no secret formula,” said Blake. “Otherwise, many of our competitors would have discovered and adopted it.”

As one Nordstrom executive once told us: “It's not that we're so good, it's that everyone else is so bad, and we look better by comparison. The moment we get cocky is the moment that we hand a shoe box to the customer with two left shoes. Our reputation is only as good as our last customer experience.”

Adrienne Hixon, a store manager, said, “It's a daily thing. We can take two steps forward with one customer and then go 20 steps backward with the next phone call.

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