What a $130 Umbrella can Teach us about Creating Great Customer Experiences

As I headed for Grand Central Terminal after a day at our Manhattan office, I knew I would be racing the rain home to Connecticut. Dark clouds had appeared across the Hudson River, and were heading my way at a rapid clip. As my train hurtled through Harlem and the Bronx, it became clear that I was going to lose the race. The thunderheads overtook us, and by the time my stop came, a brutal, pelting rain was a cruel reminder that I faced the mile walk home without my umbrella, hanging quite uselessly in our front closet.

I wasn’t alone. A small crowd had gathered under the tracks, waiting for the storm to pass. A quick glance at the radar map on my phone indicated that, unless I wanted to spend the next hour crammed under those tracks with twenty strangers, I’d might as well take the inevitable drenching. I marched into the storm, feeling a bit superior, I’ll admit, to those I left cowering behind me.

About twenty steps into my journey I realized my mistake. The wind threw sheets of rain in my face, I could barely see. My shoes would clearly be ruined. But there was no point in turning back, the damage had been done. I realized that this 15 minute walk would be a nightmare.

But then it got interesting.

I was crossing the far end of the commuter parking lot, trying to keep my shoes from floating right off my feet, when I heard a yell.

“Hey!”

I turned.

“Hey buddy! You want an umbrella? I got an extra in my car.”

Normally I would decline, preferring pride over charity, but before I knew it, I was at the guy’s side. He leaned into his car, looking for what I fully expected to be one of those disposable $3 New York City street umbrellas. He emerged with a massive golf umbrella and nearly threw it at me through the gale. It was brand new, still wrapped in plastic.

Beholding this, what appeared to be the Rolls Royce of umbrellas, I reached for my wallet, which now felt like a soggy tuna sandwich, and yelled through the wind, “Let me give you some money for this!”

“Don’t worry about it,” he shouted back.

“No, really, I…”

He waved me off and repeated:

“Don’t worry about it! Really! I own an umbrella company!”

Of all the parking lots in all the towns in the world, I bumped into this guy.

I still don't know his name. But as I opened the umbrella, I knew one thing.

I had to tell someone about this. Heck, I had to tell everyone about this.

And so, of course, I did. On Facebook. On Twitter. And now, here.

My Facebook post later that night got a 20% engagement rate. That’s high, really high. More than that, several friends vowed to buy their next umbrella from the company, which I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention again here – Davek Umbrellas (davekny.com).

And if the story wasn’t engaging enough, here’s the kicker: Davek sells the golf umbrella that wound up in my grateful hands that night for $130. That zero’s not a typo. It’s a $130 umbrella. And this guy, owner or not, didn’t think twice about handing it to me.

So what we can learn from the $130 umbrella? Aside from don’t forget your umbrella next time (or maybe DO forget your umbrella)?

- Create great customer experiences that simply have to be shared. Word of mouth’s potency has increased exponentially by social media. Ten years ago I might have told ten people about the Davek Umbrella Guy. In 2014, I’ve told thousands.

- If your brand, or those that represent it, can provide an immediate solution (the umbrella) to a customer’s problem (getting soaked) don’t hesitate to do it, even if you have to take a short term loss. The long term returns are worth it, and social can make those returns come faster than ever.

- Timing that solution is critical. If I had bumped into this guy on a sunny day, and he said “hey, I own an umbrella company, here’s a free umbrella,” that would have been nice, but the umbrella would have been sitting in my front closet, forgotten when the rain started to fall.

- Never assume you know your customer. This guy had no idea that I work in customer experience and social media for a living. That I was much, much more likely than the average person to share about this experience profusely. All he knew was that I looked pretty miserable, and his product could help me, right then and there. Never let what you don’t know about a customer or prospect impact the way he or she experiences your brand.

What lessons in customer experience and social do you take away from this? I’d love to hear your thoughts.