Matt Galligan

The other day, I ordered a pair of shades from a small-batch sunglasses company called Costalots (and no, their name doesn’t indicate their price). I’m a big fan of supporting some of the smaller boutique fashion designers because they’re constantly trying to keep things fresh and unique. Extra points if they’re also inexpensive.

Sunglasses are somewhat of a unique thing because most every mass produced pair is made by one company, Luxottica (that means even Oakley, Persol, and your beloved Ray-Bans). If I can buy more unique and interesting sunglasses for the same price, you can bet I will because I like to support the little guy. Sometimes these kinds of purchases also come with a nice personal touch. In this case, I got a note from Matt Costa (the proprietor of Costalots):

It instantly changed my mind about his company. Sure, I already liked his shades and would probably have continued to buy them, but now I’m a customer for life. Matt took the extra time out of his day to put one note in one box for a customer. Now, some people may have just thrown it away along with the invoice. But if he has the ability to touch just one person through a purchase, he can make a cheerleader out of them.

This doesn’t just apply to physical good purchases, either. A few weeks back, Jason Goldberg, the CEO of Fab.com sent out an email to every customer of theirs inviting them to personally contact him.

He’s soliciting advice, feedback, complaints, etc. It’s a bold statement and certainly could mean that his inbox will be exploding all the time. But it could be very helpful for someone that had a problem with an order and just needed a place to get some help from.

Every company has the ability to deliver some sort of personal touch these days. Gary Vaynerchuk preaches this same message in his book, The Thank You Economy, explaining that just a little bit of care for the customer can mean the difference between winning and losing in business.

If you’re running a business, or are influential in business decisions you might as well as yourself “what can I do to give more of a personal flavor to this company?”. It could earn you a customer for life…

Thanks to Matt Costa and his brilliant sunglasses for proving this point to me.