An unexpected "WOW" in customer experience from DEDEMAN

We all have very crowded agendas and when your car decides to challenge you (or punish for not giving it attention :-)) demanding a new battery, it is pretty annoying. I needed the car that particular "next day" and waiting for a delivery was out of question, so when somebody told me that Dedeman had car batteries, I have checked online the stock for the closest store and went there. Only that it was 20:35 already... and by Waze estimation I would be arriving at 20:59... Generally I am pretty optimistic , so I continued the journey, the store parking was almost empty, the guards outside the store. Nobody stopped us though and surprise -surprise, the staff answered very politely where the batteries were. That was strange. At closing time, no eyerolling when a (visible) desperate customer enters the store... Wait a minute! What is going on here? The same attitude of benevolence and even more (offering extra details about how we may recover money for the damaged battery ) was present at the cashier. And also at the Info Desk for the guarantee. People were smiling and were helpful . Well, there was not something in the air (except high level of carbon monoxide maybe), in the south of Bucharest, those people were maybe very polite and helpful by their nature or very well trained. Either way, it is a great example of customer care, done by hiring only people that have company's values or educating them properly. I was very well impressed by this experience (it is true that I also, as a customer, showed respect to their schedule and did not stopped to admire their new lamps or whatever, but rushed through the aisles). A key take-away is that not the big words about how much we care about people matter: it is the crucial moment of truth where you decide to be of help or not that will be remembered. Customer care is about knowing what matters to customers, when and where. It is about listening first. And I bet that Dedeman saw many desperate customers hitting the doors at closing time, to know that if they are there at that hour, they buy. Either way, if you fail to acknowledge customer's need (and often pain :-)) at least with an empathetic response , next time you are off the map for them.