Two ways to treat a passionate crowd of customers

I knew a Nintendo Wii was going to be a hard find on the evening of the launch. I showed up at Fred Meyer around 10 pm, a couple of hours before the Wii would go on sale at midnight to stand in line with a group of passionate Nintendo fans. The crowd included a lot of teen boys but mixed in were moms, grandparents and a number of teen girls with $250 to burn. It was an eclectic crowd to say the least.

I was #60 in line and there were only 54 Wii to go around. Bummer. But I was so impressed with the manager of Fred Meyer in how he treated the crowd, many of which were surely disappointed after having spent hours standing in the cold rain only to come up empty handed. The manager walked up and down the line of people explaining to everyone how things were going to go down. He explained that, although only 54 consoles were available, he expected shipments every Tuesday. He expressed empathy to those outside the lucky 54. He was kind and respectful and hung around to answer all questions. He made me want to support Fred Meyer with my business.

Contrast that experience I had a while later at Wal-Mart who was also selling the Wii at midnight. I went from Fred Meyer to Wal-Mart hoping they might have more than 54 in stock. The line here wasn’t as long but there was no manager to be found. People in the line were confused. Nobody knew how many Wii were available. There was contention in the air. It was cold and raining and this crowd was in no mood to go home without a Wii. Just before midnight a police car pull up near the entrance of the building and escorted the Wal-Mart manager to the Wii crowd. He didn’t say a word as he passed out vouchers to about the first 30 in line. No explanation. No questions answered. No going through the crowd to explain when more might be available and expressing sympathy to those customers who waited in line to purchase a $250 item from his store.

It left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Both Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart had the same opportunity to show appreciation to those who stood in line to purchase an expensive game machine. At Wal-Mart I felt like an inconvenience. It was as if Wal-Mart corporate required the store to open at midnight while the manager wished he was back home watching Conan. On the other hand, the manager at Fred Meyer made me feel like I was valued as a customer. He was happy to be out amongst his passionate and sometime rowdy customers.

This experience has made me think about the companies where I choose to spend my money. Are the people there excited to help me find the right item, or do they just want to sell me something? Or worse, am I viewed as an inconvenience when what I’m there to buy, is out of stock? How do you treat your most passionate customers? If you have customers who are willing to stand in line for hours, in the middle of the night, in the rain…how can you make sure they will return when all they need is a gallon of milk instead of a hot gaming console?