What I Learned About Customer Service From the Dollar Shave Club
By: Josef Cruz
Tags: Communication, Life Lessons, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Small Business

What I Learned About Customer Service From the Dollar Shave Club

These seem like such simple lessons but the simplest lessons are usually the most powerful.

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

A couple of months ago I joined the Dollar Shave Club, which offers inexpensive shaving products for men. I liked DSC’s funny and irreverent marketing and assumed I would enjoy their products.

I was smack dab in the middle of their target market (basically, guys who hate shaving and don’t like to spend money).

When I placed my first order, I chose the middle tier 4x blades and purchased a tube of shave butter as well. The package arrived a few days later and I was looking forward to a great shave the next morning.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed.

I didn’t care for the shave butter at all. My friend who first recommended DSC raved about the shave butter, so to each his own. I also wasn’t that impressed with the blades, which didn’t seem any better than what I was already using (Gillette Fusion blades, if you’re interested.)

But I stuck with it, wanting to give myself a chance to really like the products.

A few weeks after I joined, I received an email from DSC with a link to a survey. I sent my thoughts on their products and was still deciding whether I would continue my subscription.

Then, a week or two after completing the survey, I received this email from DSC:

Hey Joe, Thanks for taking our survey! You mentioned in your comments that the 4x blades do not meet your shaving needs, so sorry to hear you aren’t loving your blades. Everyone’s shaving needs are different and I’d love to help you find a razor that is a better fit for you. I’d be happy to send you out a free trial of our Executive razor if you’d like to give it a try. It is a 6 blade razor and has a trimmer blade on the back for precision areas. Please let me know if you are interested, and thanks again for the feedback! Shave On, Carlos

I was surprised and happy to receive this personal message from someone at DSC. I mean, how many times do you get a personal response back from a company whose products you don’t initially love?

But DSC has decided to do things differently, which is fantastic. I replied to Carlos’ message, thanking him for contacting me and taking him up on the offer for a sample of the upgraded blades.

Based on this experience, I’m taking away three lessons about customer service that apply to anyone who has an audience, customers, a platform, or fans of any type. (Because let’s face it: anyone who reads, enjoys, hears, or otherwise consumes your creative work is a customer on some level.)

1. Communicate

The simple fact that Carlos from DSC took a few minutes to send me a personal message spoke volumes. DSC is a growing company with lots of customers, so why bother to communicate with one customer who wasn’t totally satisfied?

The reason is that they wanted to make sure I was satisfied with their product and to see what they could do to improve my experience.

There are many ways you can communicate with your audience. One simple way is by replying to your messages, whether via email, Twitter, Facebook, or other means. Most people don’t expect replies to their messages, so it’s an easy customer service win when you are responsive at all.

Action step: Think about the ways your audience likes to interact with you and determine to show that you care by responding to messages.

2. Be thankful

Did you notice that Carlos thanked me twice in his message? He expressed gratitude for taking the survey and offering feedback.

It might seem strange to thank someone for negative feedback, but that’s a sign of a company (or person) that’s interested in growing and being the best. Leaders and influencers aren’t just interested in good feedback. They also want to know what’s not working so they can fix it.

In 2019, I served on the planning team for a regional conference. Whenever the secretary of the organization would send out meeting minutes via email, he would always add, “Remember, I’m not emotionally tied to these notes. Please let me know about any corrections or updates.”

I loved that sentiment because it’s a reminder that if you want to be the best, you must welcome both good and bad feedback. But you not only need to welcome feedback, but you also need to be thankful for it.

When you receive negative feedback about your creative work, how do you respond? Does it make you irritated and angry? Or do you sincerely thank the person for taking the time to point out ways in which you could improve?

Action step: The next time you receive negative feedback, do your best to have a positive attitude and be thankful for the opportunity to improve.

3. Be generous

What are the possible ways DSC could have responded to my survey feedback? They could have simply not responded, and I wouldn’t have known any different, since you don’t normally get responses from surveys.

They could have also sent an email suggesting that I upgrade to the Executive blades. This would have been a nice touch, and I would have probably considered doing just that.

But instead, Carlos offered to send a free sample of the Executive blades. Was this a move designed to keep me happy as a customer, and possibly upgrade to the more expensive blades? Of course.

But did I mind the upsell? Not at all, because I liked being offered a free sample of something I might purchase and would probably enjoy.

I’ve heard it said that you should try to “surprise and delight” your audience. One of the best ways to do this is by being generous.

What’s generosity all about? It’s about the way you think about your creative work and how you can share it with others. It’s about giving without expecting anything in return. It’s about an inward attitude of the mind and heart that can express itself in a thousand outward ways.

Generosity is not about money, it’s about a way of life.

Action step: Generosity begins with a “core orientation” of helping others. Is your first impulse to help people, or to get something from people? If you want to build an audience, you must first offer something of value before you can expect anything in return.

These seem like such simple lessons: Communicate. Be thankful. Be generous. But the simplest lessons are usually the most powerful.