A Tale of Two Online Orders

Every Friday I invite the members of my Facebook Page community to share their favorite product and a link in the comments of a specific post. It’s a way for folks to promote their businesses to one another. And when I have a need for a product, I often turn to that list first, and place orders from consultants who are members of the community.

A couple of weeks ago, I had a need for two different types of products. So I went through the list, selected 2 particularly active members of the community (my way of giving back), and placed an online order from both of them. Both orders were placed the same day, and both were delivered the same day. But the level of service I received was very different. Take a look.

Consultant 1′s messages:

Day of Order: I had mentioned to the consultant that I was trying to find something my husband would like. After placing my order, I got this message.

Thanks again, Jennifer,
I do hope you’ll let me know if he/you doesn’t/don’t (lol) love everything.

A Couple of Days After the Order: 

Hi Jennifer!

‘hope you are having a fabulous day.  I just wanted you to know that I should have a delivery date for you tomorrow. 

The Next Day:

Tomorrow! 

The Day the Order Was Delivered:

Well?  Happy?  (I hope.) 

Brown guy/gal wrote cute confirmation:

Left At:

Met Customer Girl

Then I got a card in the mail (snail mail) thanking me for my order, along with a small product sample. When I sent a note of thanks she wrote back:

My pleasure!  Its fun for me to (try to) show customers how much I appreciate them; that I want a relationship, not just a sale (can’t have too many friends, you know?)  

So that was order 1. Pretty impressive, huh?

Consultant 2′s messages:

So now let’s take a look at order #2. An order placed the same day on the consultant’s website.

Day of Order:

I received a form email that looked like an invoice. It contained a link for tracking the order, name of the consultant, my payment information, and my shipping address. Basically an automatic order confirmation.

Last Night (a few days after the order was delivered):

I received an “e-card” that looked as though it was generated through the e-tools section of the consultant website that said:

Hi Jennifer, Thank you for your recent order. I hope that everything was satisfactory. Please let me know how I can help in the future.

And that was it.

Who do you think I will be more excited about shopping with in the future? Who will I be more loyal to?

How do you treat the customers who show up as unsolicited online orders? How connected do they feel to you?