The lies I want to hear.

ryan — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 16:48:00 -0400

I just got a call from a fellow at Bang & Olufsen in Tyson’s Corner.

I bought a cell phone headset from him six months ago, and a desktop phone 2 years ago. (Relatively modest purchases from a company that sells televisions and stereo systems for more than my car cost.)

The very salesman who sold me both was just calling to check up and make sure I was still happy with my purchases.

What a simple thing to do, but still how terribly impressive. A subtle reminder that a store-full of B&O toys is out there, happy to sell me all the electronical goodness I could want, just in case I’d forgotten. (I had actually.) All under the friendly guise of a genuine call to see if I had any problems with my existing equipment.

This kind of personal contact costs a hell of a lot less than those spam-mail fliers I get from Best Buy every week. It has the added virtue of getting my attention.

It’s like the handwritten thank-you note I got from B&O a couple weeks after I bought my headset. These people are telling me the lies I want to hear. And I like it.

Am I such a sucker that I would pay $250 for a phone because the salesman calls me back, takes time to banter with me about its function in the show room, and writes me personal notes? Well, there’s not a vtech sitting on my desk as I write this, I’ll say that much.

NotRocketSurgery: Tag bang and olufsen

The lies I want to hear.