The Art of Customer Service: Dilmah Tea
Going the extra mile goes a long way
Wouldn’t it be dreadful to live in a country where they didn’t have tea?
― Noël Coward
Have you ever experienced a situation where a company has discontinued or sold out an item that you really wanted and your phone call, conversation or email about the matter ended swiftly with no resolution and an impersonal, “Sorry about that!”?
It is situations like these that reveal a customer service professional’s understanding of a business’s products / services, and their commitment to the success of both the customer and business.
In my first year running my Etsy store and from the many years of watching my husband (then-fiancé) freelance, I learned one thing: getting paying customers is hard and something you shouldn’t take for granted. When someone has the cash to buy your product / service(s) and the intent to purchase, you hustle and make the transaction happen.
I recently had the pleasure of interacting with Sonia, a customer service professional for Dilmah tea who seems to share my attitude on attracting and retaining paying customers through great customer service.
My husband, an avid tea drinker, purchased Dilmah’s Fiery Masala Chai when we visited our family in Cape Town last year. Within a week or two of arriving back home to the States, the tea was completely gone. We were not surprised to find that our local Kroger did not have it in stock, and with a trans-Pacific transition about to take place in the form of a move to Melbourne, finding the tea dropped on the priority list.
It wasn’t until I saw Will (my husband) intently scouring the tea aisle that I realized being in the commonwealth had revitalized his hope of finding this elusive tea. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find it anywhere in the Melbourne CBD.
This is where Sonia stepped in. I really wanted to get this tea as a surprise for him, so I contacted Dilmah customer support hoping that they would be able to provide a list of nearby locations that sold it. I was excited when the reply to my email hit my inbox until I read this:
Our Fiery Masala Chai is no longer available to purchase as this product was discontinued in Australia approximately 3 months ago.
And this is where I, with an intent to purchase and AMEX in hand, would normally be disappointed by customer service.
But Sonia is not normal.
She quickly made mention of two Dilmah flavors that were similar to the Fiery Masala Chai and offered to send samples for free. She also asked if we’d like to be informed if the Fiery Masala Chai returns to Australia.
As a customer service professional on hiatus, I feel like I can be quite critical when it comes to being on the other side of the experience.
But this is one experience where I can see no wrong. Sonia either had access to a recommendation tool for tea flavors and/or had knowledge about Dilmah’s products. She was also empowered to get me samples.
My experience with Dilmah customer service is likely the result of extensive training, a tested and documented process, good email snippets, and most importantly — an employee committed to both Dilmah’s and my own success.
Sonia, you’re the real MVP.
Interested in how your customer support team can help you retain customers and sell more? Take a look at these articles I found:
Here are some additional pieces I’ve written on customer service:
