Episode 103: Make Parent Satisfaction SKYROCKET By Using "The Nordstrom Way"
The Private School Leader Podcast
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Show Notes
In 1975, Craig Trounce was a store associate at a Nordstrom store in Fairbanks, Alaska.
One day, Craig noticed a customer rolling a pair of tires into the store. When Craig asked how he could help, the customer asked to return the tires, insisting that he bought them at that very location with a guarantee that he could bring them back to the store at any time.
Just one problem: Nordstorm doesn’t sell tires. What Craig Trounce did next has given Nordstrom nearly 50 years of free publicity about their unmatched level of customer service. In fact, if you Google “Nordstrom tires”, you will get roughly 3.8 million results.
Do you want your parents to be “raving fans”? Do you want your parent survey scores to be through the roof? Do you want your student retention rates to be high? If you answered “yes” to any of those questions, then today’s episode is for you as we discuss how to Make Parent Satisfaction SKYROCKET By Using "The Nordstrom Way".
Thank you for listening to the podcast every week. You are making a difference in the lives of the students, teachers and parents at your school. I know that what you do is difficult, exhausting and lonely. Your hard work inspires me to keep making weekly content to try to encourage and inspire you as you serve your school.
Thanks for all you do!
Mark Minkus
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Being a private school leader is a VERY difficult job. You have to make hundreds of decisions every day, and you have to keep everyone safe, increase enrollment, keep the parents happy, keep the board happy, motivate the teachers, deal with student discipline, beat last year’s test scores and come in under budget.
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TRANSCRIPT:
Welcome to the private school leader podcast. Where private school leaders learn how to thrive. And not just survive as they serve and lead their schools. I strongly believe that it is possible to have a long and happy and fulfilling career as a private school leader. And my passion is to help you figure out exactly how to do just that. Right here on the private school leader podcast. And I'm your host, Mark Minkus. • • •
Nordstrom purchased three stores from a company that did sell tires in 1975
So, in the fall of 1975, • • • at a Nordstrom store in Fairbanks, Alaska, Craig trounce showed up for work. And he's a store associate. • Craig's at his cash register. He's doing some work there. And he notices a customer rolling a pair of two tires • • into the store across the floor, headed towards his and cash register. • • • So Craig says, how can I help you? And the man says, well, I'm here to return these tires. He said, I bought them at this location. And there was a guarantee that if, • • um, • • I decided I wanted to bring them back for any reason, that the store would give me a refund. • • • • And here's the only problem, is that that Nordstrom store did not sell tires. • • But in 1975, • • Nordstrom purchased three stores from a company that did sell tires. Northern commercial of Alaska. And so in the spring • • • of 1975, they bought three locations. • • • And these northern commercial company of Alaska stores, they sold a mixture of goods and towels and linens and clothes. And they actually sold some automotive supplies, and they sold tires. So this man • • • bought tires • • at a northern commercial of Alaska store location in the spring of 75. And now in the fall of 75, he drives 75 miles • • • to get to this store, Alaska. Everything's all spread out up there. He drives really far to get to this store. And lo and behold, he comes to find that it's not the tire, the place that he bought his tires. It's a Nordstrom. And, of course, they pivoted to just selling, • • um, apparel and shoes. • • So here's Craig standing by his cash register. Here's this gentleman with two tires. They don't sell tires. • • So if you're Craig. If I'm Craig, I'm thinking, okay, I'm just going to say, well, and you've heard this in all of your customer service experiences over the years, things like, I'm sorry, sir. We don't sell tires. • Um, that's not our policy. • • • Sorry, I can't help you, • um, • • • fill in the blanken. But you know what? That's not what happened. Instead of turning the tires away, • • • Craig wanted to do the right thing. He wanted to do right by the customer. He had driven those, uh, over 70 miles • • to return the tires. And Craig didn't know much about tires, and so he called a tire company in Fairbanks, • • got their thoughts on the, uh, style of tire, how much they were worth, and then he gave that customer that amount of money, • • took the tires, and sent him on his way. • • • Now, you might cringe and wince and think, oh, man, where's Mark going with this with regards to our private school? But you might wince at the thought of a refund • • of an expensive purchase, • • • • especially for an item like a set of tires that Nordstrom can't resell because they don't sell tires. But let's take that small financial hit out of the equation for a minute, because • • • • • that was almost 50 years ago, • • and Nordstrom has been getting free publicity about