That "Little Extra"                                                                             May 2009

I recently went through the painful & arduous task of car shopping when my '93 Ford Escort finally died. It was amazing how everyone had some kind of opinion to offer when I would mention that I was in the market for a vehicle, and let's face it - I know nothing about cars. But what I know for sure is that it's important to me how it feels when I drive it, the colour, the options, the price, and that I like and trust the person who sells it to me. That last point is what ultimately made me choose my new & zippy little Toyota Yaris from the North Shore Automall, with a sales guy named Tony Heller.

After test-driving probably >15 different new & used vehicles and dealing with sales guys ranging from the desperate to the obnoxious, I can honestly say that meeting Tony was a refreshing change. He treated me with respect, listened to me and what I was looking for, took me out for a test drive, and was essentially helpful in every conceivable way without ever being pushy or condescending. He even told me about a phenomenal "green" program where the government would pay me $$ to get my old car (and all of its emissions) off the road! I wasn't sure exactly if I was going to buy or lease or go used or new, but I knew that the only person I was going to buy a car from was Tony.

Not once did he ever try to "upsell" me something I couldn't afford, or emphasize features I didn't care about, or push me to make a decision. He let me drive the entire buying process, and I simply couldn't have imagined a more seamless experience.

I was so impressed with Tony and the service I received from the whole team at the Toyota dealership that I wrote a "Thank you" email to Tony's boss, and to let them all know that they had a VERY happy customer. Apparently, that email got passed on throughout the entire organization - and the next time I showed up at the dealership, people were coming out of the woodwork to come up and thank me for sending the email!!! It was just an email that took only a few minutes to write. It didn't cost anything. Just a little bit of effort. Something so simple - and to have it be considered such a big deal must indicate that things like that don't happen very often. And I wondered why...

Are people just too busy to say "thank you" when someone serves them well? Have we somehow forgotten that there's actually a person on the other end of a transaction? What would happen if we each took it upon ourselves to actually FILL OUT one of those Comment Cards at a store or facility where we truly receive outstanding service?

People need to know that they matter. And sometimes just that "little extra" makes all the difference.