Is This the Best Statement Ever About Customer Service?
The service is clairvoyant….”
Patricia Schultz wrote it in the book 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die about Twin Farms, a luxury inn in Barnard, VT.
Oh, to have that said about your firm!
Heard a better one? Please share below!
Grow and be well,
Kelly Erickson
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15 August 2008, 9:06 am
Kelly
Vermont is such a beautiful state, there are hundreds of places that are really nice. So I wonder what Twin Farms did to get into that book? Succesful marketing? Great word-of-mouth advertising?
Or mabye they were Patricia’s 3rd cousin…!?
I saw that book (or a similar one) in the bookstore. I might consider buying it for reference. Even just to read
But as for seeing 1000 places before I die…..Heh! I better get cracking.
If I save my pennies, and I go to one of those places every 2nd weekend, I’ll complete the list sometime in my early 80′s.
Friar’s last blog post…Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
15 August 2008, 10:48 am
Hmm, there are several out there, including me, who would say they’ve been on the receiving end of clairvoyant service…from Harry!
Friar: You need that book! Bear needs more places to go, though the number of places you’ve been already has staggered me!
steph’s last blog post…When Peeking is a Good Thing
15 August 2008, 10:55 am
@steph
7 years ago, when I was laid off (with a hefty severance package), I took the summer off.
I got in my car with my Bear, and I drove. 32,000 km that summer. From Ontario to the Sonorran desert in Southern Arizona, to the pacific, to above the Arctic Circle. I saw something like 25 National Parks, and a whole lot of other stuff in between.
I saw a big chunk of the continent. For three glorious months, I didnt’ have to be anywhere, or answer to anyone. Even then, I realized how lucky that was…I might not see that again for quite a while.
That’s my dream…one of these days. To have enough money and time to do that again. And again. And again.
With the Bear, of course.
Friar’s last blog post…Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
15 August 2008, 12:04 pm
Friar,
I have a friend who’s been trying to see many of them. He’s got sticky notes all through the thing prioritizing, commenting about what he has seen, etc. He’ll have fun flipping through it with his grandkids one day.
I think the lunacy of the number of places must be what draws people to read it. My parents, who rarely take off anywhere, own the book, I think to get a feel for what the best competition is like (they own a small motel). That’s where I looked at the book. 1,000 places to visit makes me feel pretty untravelled!
My 1,000 places would get me off this continent. I think the original version of the book was worldwide, but I wouldn’t need a book. My personal list is already as long as my arm!
Steph,
Harry’s a good egg. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he could read clients’ minds, in a way. The best designers can pull things out of their clients’ that they didn’t know they were thinking about!
Regards,
Kelly
15 August 2008, 12:08 pm
Friar,
Oh, yeah. I forgot to say that Twin Farms is beaucoup expensive, and it gets named by a lot of places as the best small place in the country. For the $$$, they should… though not every place that charges so much is so wonderful.
Yes, I suspect there is a strong marketing plan in place.
Until later,
Kelly
15 August 2008, 12:18 pm
@Kelly
If I don’t make 1000 places…that wouldnt’ be the End of the World for me.
I know some secret hidden gems…that I’d rather keep coming back to, rather than just seeing them once, and moving onto the next thing.
Plus, I suspect there are some places in that book that are not as “exciting” as others, that I could probably afford to miss.
Let’s see…California, with it’s snow-capped mountains, giant trees, deserts, volcanoes and beaches…?
Or rural Alabama. Or Saskatchewan.
Hmmm…where to go.? Where to go…(???).
Friar’s last blog post…Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
15 August 2008, 1:10 pm
For $2800 per night, I would expect that a place would get into one of these books!
Hey, it does look pretty nice though. And there’s marketing, as Kelly says.
And also, sometimes exclusivity is what makes people buy something.
(For instance, I could spend about $10k on my current car, and it would then outperform probably 95 percent of the cars on the market, including just about any sports car you could name. But it would still be “just a VW”.)
Why go to the inn that provides 95 percent of the service of Twin Farms for $250/night, when you can afford to go to Twin Farms, and then you have bragging rights?
I’m with Kelly, though – if I’m going to visit 1,000 places before I die, I figure the majority of them actually will *not* be in Canada or the USA. It’s a big planet, and we’re not the centre of it by any stretch.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – everything you always wanted to know about life change*
15 August 2008, 1:50 pm
@Brett
$2800 a night!? You’re kidding, right?
For that kind of money, I’d expect they pre-chewed your food for you, and wiped your bum with gold-plated toilet paper.
Friar’s last blog post…Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
15 August 2008, 2:01 pm
Friar,
I always click on the links… just out of curiosity
Yep, $2800 per night… not sure if they wipe your bum though. That’s probably extra.
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – everything you always wanted to know about life change*
15 August 2008, 2:51 pm
@Brett
That place would definitely be on my list of things to do before I die, because even if I was a gazillionaire, I’d KILL MYSELF before I spent $2800 a night.
I mean…I realize it’s a beautiful part of the country, I love New England. But $2800 a night…for VERMONT? Come ON..!!!
It would be cheaper to rent your private Island or a luxury yacht in the Caribbean, for that kind of money.
I guess it’s purely for the Snob appeal.
You gotta admit…SOMEONE is doing a wondeful job marketing Twin Farms.
Friar’s last blog post…Basil the Special Dog (Update Part II)
15 August 2008, 2:57 pm
@Friar,
Has to be snob appeal. The hotel we stayed at in NZ was the nicest place I’ve ever seen, and it would have been $250 a night without the killer package deal we had wrapped in with the flight. I’m trying to think how it could have been 10 times better (no dirty thoughts now!) – I mean, you could order a grilled lamb dinner at 3 am! Maybe the food would have been free or something?
-Brett
Brett Legree’s last blog post…viking fridays – everything you always wanted to know about life change*
15 August 2008, 4:11 pm
AGGHHHH!!
I couldn’t have a good time knowing that $2800 was going down the tubes. Geez….I’d be trying to rescue all of those lovely dollars before they floated out of space. Quick! Come back! There are other things we could be doing together then just sleeping on a bed…..
I mean really….You SLEEP…well…sooner or later…I’d have to stay awake all night to be sure I got my money’s worth…
ANYWHO…. Back to claravoint service….yes…the mind-reading Harry…thumbs up to that. Those pen men top the list in customer service.
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post…MOVING DAY!
15 August 2008, 4:14 pm
In fact…I called them the Diamond Standard of Customer Service.
They have set the bar really high.
Wendi Kelly’s last blog post…The Habit of Winning
15 August 2008, 4:35 pm
WOW! That says so much in in 4 words. My mind conjured up all sorts of things. Mainly, of course, about how this company will already know what my needs are. BRILLIANT!!!
However, having now read how much it costs, the clearly weren’t reading my mind about my monetary needs.
Urban Panther’s last blog post…The beginning of the end
15 August 2008, 5:05 pm
A client of mine once told me that I gave her a gastronomical orgasm each time she was at one of my events. $ 2800/night??? Almost $ 20 000/week? You can rent a mega yacht in the Greek island for a week for that price. You, alone with the crew!
Urbane Lion’s last blog post…Vanilla crème brûlée. A dessert fit for a King!
15 August 2008, 5:37 pm
@Urbane Lion
Or for a paltry $5000-6000$, you can spend a week doing world-class helicopter skiing in the Bugaboos (with everything flown in by chopper. Fully catered, and your own mountain guide.
Like Brett says, I can’t picture it being 10 times better than a $280/night hotel.
Why don’t these people save money. Go to some place for $1000 a night, and take the other $1800 and go feed Africa for week.
@Kelly
I hope your parents’ hotel is a bit more reasonably priced, eh?
15 August 2008, 11:25 pm
All right, y’all, I’m not going to individually respond to each astonished commenter. I did say beaucoup expensive, did I not? And I wasn’t suggesting we all go, though if I win the lottery tomorrow night, how about we all go for one night just to see what it’s all about? Panther, put it on my list.
Clairvoyant. It is a beautiful thing to have said about your firm. As to why it’s ten times more expensive than necessary, if I had to venture a guess (OF COURSE I haven’t been there), privacy can be worth paying a heck of a lot for, to some folks.
Friar,
About 70 bucks a night for two, I think. And it’s cool and beautiful here this evening, just the same as over in Barnard… with one room unsold.
You can bet that at $2,800, Twin Farms is sold out on a Friday night. Snob appeal indeed.
Later,
Kelly
17 August 2008, 7:44 am
When it comes to traveling, I’m totally contented with a 2 or 3 star pension. After all, I’m only sleeping there. I’d rather spend my money on really good food.
Alex Fayle’s last blog post…Watching the Fireworks
17 August 2008, 11:02 am
Alex,
Though I’m with you on travel priorities (must enjoy my meals!), I know I’d enjoy being treated to such service as I can imagine goes with this review.
I think the real question is, what’s stopping far less ritzy companies from insisting on the same level of service from their employees?
Wouldn’t it be nice to feel that way about, say, your auto mechanic, or a hotel at 1/10 the cost of Twin Farms? How about at the grocery store, where most of us drop more money than in any other single place during the year?
That praise has rolled around in my head for months since I first read it. It’s a beautiful thing for anyone, employee or owner, to try to live up to.
Until later,
Kelly
17 August 2008, 8:48 pm
What kills me here is that being clairvoyant or attentive to your customers need is basically a ‘no cost’ improvement. Every business who hopes to succeed should be investing all of their efforts in this direction. Considering the cost of implementation, this could be the one of the best ROI strategy ever. Damn, just had a bad experience at the grocery store….. I think I just found the subject of Thursday’s post!
Urbane Lion’s last blog post…Manjigglies III – The Prequel