Customer Service Story – Tire Rack

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This story was shared on Reddit and shows what sort of Customer perception is created when senior management drives service & goes the extra mile.

Years ago, I was living in Indiana and my roommate and I needed some tires – two sets of racing tires, plus he needed new tires on his truck- a total of 12 tires to be mounted/balanced. We shopped around, and decided that Tire Rack would be the best deal, and taking a road trip to their South Bend warehouse would save us more on shipping than it would cost us – plus, it was an excuse for a roadtrip.
So, we loaded the wheels in the back of his truck, headed north, and got there shortly before they closed on a Saturday night – we had forgotten to take into account the time zone difference. They had us pull into the garage area, fetched the tires, and began mounting and balancing like crazy – without the slightest hint of attitude that we were probably going to be keeping them there late on a Saturday.
While we were waiting, we strolled over and were checking out an E-type Jaguar that was off to one side of the garage area. Rather nice, great shape, but not a trailer queen – you could tell that this car was driven and enjoyed. Meanwhile, there was an older guy there – probably in his late 60’s, early 70’s – who was jacking up the truck, yanking off the wheels, and lugging them over to the dude doing the mounting/balancing.
The older guy notices us looking at the Jag, and walks over to us and we start talking cars. What we raced, how we liked the tires we were buying , etc. – and it becomes evident that the Jag is his. Eventually he pulls out his wallet and gives us a business card – it was Peter Veldman, the president of Tire Rack. He tells us that if we need anything, give him a call.
Mind you, this is late on a Saturday, and the president of the company is lugging tires around in a warehouse at 70-some years old. We decided he was either a genuine car guy, or a businessman who wanted to make damn sure things were going right. Either way, the day he changed our tires was the day he won our repeat business

Pete Veldman was inducted into the Tire Industry Association’s Hall of Fame in 2012 in recognition of his forward thinking and seeing a need for customers to acquire tires easily and efficiently. He died on March 3, 2014.

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Pete Veldman

One thing is sure, employees who worked with Peter will see no reason not to go the extra mile to ensure Customers are satisfied.

Large organisations can have this level of service too, but it has to be driven from the top down. Employees should see management practicing and living the characteristics and behaviors they are being asked to display.

 

Kelechi Okeke
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