The Tale of 2 Ace Hardwares
Mar 15, 2019
Two of the EXACT same store in the same town... where to shop?
Walk in the first Ace and it seems deserted. Oh wait, there’s an older guy over there... does he work here? Not sure. Start looking around for the item I need, but it’s dark, dusty and none of the aisles are labeled. Where’s the person to help? Oh ok he’s coming over. I ask him for what I need, I may have used to wrong word for it but I describe what I need fixed really well. He looks at me like I could never do that, kind of rolls his eyes and shows me they have one, dusty, faded packaging item of what I need. “Is this from the 80s?” I think to myself. I buy it because I really need it, but I leave feeling insulted, dirty and kind of angry.
Walk into the other Ace and am welcomed by the cashier who says “Hey how are you doing?!” with a genuine smile. I reply and then head to the aisle that is well marked, brightly lit and clean. I immediately find a few options for what I need and before I can sort them out, a store associate comes by and asks if I need any help. Sure yeah, which would they recommend for my project? He gives me a great comparison and we talk through what I need to do to get the project done so it works. I feel excited about heading home to start and after checking out I think to myself how I nice the people here are. They seem to actually enjoy their job. I leave feeling excited and happy to have given them my money.
This is a true story. I’ve heard the same from my mom and best friend about these two Ace Hardwares.
You see, you can have the same name, sell the same stuff, be in the same town and literally give the customer the MOST polar opposite experiences.
Moral of the story: Be like the second Ace Hardware. Leave your customers feeling excited and happy to have given you their money.
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