I buy a bag. Nice store, elegant bags, funky designs, great colors, and… drumroll… relatively inexpensive. So I buy another. And another. I discover they have neat travel jewelry cases and buy a dozen for all the girls in the family.

Yeah, yeah… I can feel the impatience in your eyes, you were a good customer and something bad happened, so get on with it.

Yes… I was a good customer.

Now for the bag I’m writing about. Patent leather, fire-engine red with black trim, clean lines, slim leather handles large enough for you to slip your arm in and hitch it on to your shoulder. Red is the new neutral, said the salesgirl with authority. I liked that.

Red is the new neutral, I told my husband with authority.

I was back the next day. One of the slim handles had called it a day. The salesgirl, a charming young thing, was most apologetic and offered me another bag, similar but not fire-engine red. Instead all black with red trim, almost a negative of the first bag. And I was given a small discount for my inconvenience. Wir danken fur ihre verstandnis.

My bag took me to Raleigh, then Seattle, Houston and back. Quite a round trip. Gave me yeoman service. And lots of compliments.

Last week, I went back to the store with one broken handle. The salesgirl tracked my account in the computer, noted that I had had 4 months of fun with it, and said, regretfully, that she could not give me a refund or even take the bag in for repairs. But, she said helpfully, there’s a shoe repair store down the road and they would repair the bag probably for just 5 dollars.

The salesgirl was really sweet and had helped me in the past. Am I going to argue with her, a mere child?

In her place, I would have taken the bag, given a receipt, and then trotted over to the afore-mentioned shoe shop and got it repaired. And cut a deal with the shoe shop to charge 2 dollars for volume business! The next time the customer came in, I would hand it wrapped in tissue with a grand: no charge! But alas, no one taught this poor girl customer service.

As the owner of the store, this would have been Lesson 1 in my training of the salesgirl. Do that to everybody, even the first time customer.

Is there any wonder why retail stores seem to close down all the time around you?

That goes for restaurants too. Take the case of Birds on a Wire – they had 2 locations: Devine Street and Main Street. With my office almost across from the Devine Street location, I must have had countless lunches with clients or potential clients. Yes, the girls at the door greet you in a friendly way, they are attentive and usher you to your place. Food is always good and served quickly.

But… there is no spark of recognition; it’s just a smile and words, because the lady has never looked at you! There must be managers and owners, but they’ve done a good job of staying out of the public eye.

Are your surprised that they are closing down?

The complete opposite is Michelle Wang, beautiful, smart and the hardest-working lady I have met. She and her husband Ray own all the 6 Miyos in town. The first time I entered Miyo’s on Forest, Ray remembered me from a year earlier when they had bought a home I’d listed. The first time I entered Vista M, Michelle greeted me with complete recognition and escorted me to a table. Then, she told my friends at the table that I was the best Realtor in town! The second time I dined at M Vista, she remembered that I had loved the flowering blossom tea and presented me with a whole box!

Good marketing? I’d say Great Marketing, Phenomenal marketing! I am their client for life!