Customer Service Field Day: Give The Lady What She Wants!

By: Dr. Gary S. Goodman
Submitted: 2007-01-17 15:15:11
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Marshall Field’s, the trendsetting, always fashionable icon of customer service in retailing, is about to become history in downtown Chicago.

Macy’s, its owner, is renaming the store after itself.

With the closing of Field’s another bright chapter in the history of customer service is also coming to an end.

Field’s was known for carrying special merchandise, for being a place where patrons could meet for lunch, and for marketing savvy.

It was so embedded into the popular lore that Chicagoans made Marshall Field, its founder, an icon of accomplishment, and a symbol of business success.

My father used to tell the story about how he was accepted to a prestigious military college, but his dad wasn’t keen on the idea of his going.

Grandpa reduced his concern about his son’s future to a pithy question:

“Would you rather be a Field Marshal or a Marshall Field?”

Dad got the point, and went on to have an interesting career in business, telling that story with a smile and just a tinge of nostalgia.

Marshall Field was asked what to do in handling a certain patron at his store and he bristled: “Give the lady what she wants!”

That story became a famous symbol of his commitment to customer service, what used to be called “the white glove treatment.”

It’s still with us, here and there, in isolated places around the world. Too bad it’s going to be harder to find, in fact or through legend, in my hometown.

Best-selling author of 12 books and more than 800 articles, Dr. Gary S. Goodman is considered a foremost expert in telephone effectiveness, customer service, and sales development. A top-rated speaker, seminar leader, and consultant, his clients extend across the organizational spectrum, from the Fortune 1000 to small businesses. He can be reached at: gary@customersatisfaction.com.

Article source: Expert Articles

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