Tossing any sexual harassment complications aside, Jack Mitchell, chief executive officer of Mitchells, the high-end clothier of Westport, CT, believes the key to success for store owners is to "hug" their customers and their workers.
"It's getting to know each person on a personalized, individual basis," Mr. Mitchell said last week to about 160 people under a tent at Stew Leonard's in Norwalk, CT, according to The News-Times. "Hugging is an absolute mind-set, trying to determine what's important to them."
Mr. Mitchell, who also owns Richards in Greenwich, CT, and Marshs in Huntington, L.I, is the author of Hug Your Customers (2003). According to a review on Amazon, the book "has nothing to do with being touchy-feely around them and everything to do with offering them over-the-top service." In 2008, his second book, Hug Your People, elaborated on how hiring, motivating and keeping great employees is a company's greatest asset.
As an example, Mr. Mitchell recalled that one time a customer called the store at 10 a.m. looking for two suits by 5 p.m. that day because he had to speak at a seminar in Switzerland. Debra Gampel, his regular sales associate, looked up his profile on the computer and had all the clothes he needed picked out before he arrived at the store. Later that day, the suits were delivered to his home, Mr. Mitchell said.
But the biggest "hug" for that customer came, Mr. Mitchell said, when he took a card out of his pocket at the Swiss seminar and discovered it was from Ms. Gampel, wishing him a happy birthday.
"The stuffy Swiss bankers actually clapped," said Mr. Mitchell. "We really try to focus on you as a real person."
Other examples from Hug Your Customer include literally offering a customer the coat off your back, if that's the only one left in the store in the customer's size and preferred style and color. It may mean going to customers' homes to tie their bow ties for big events. "Hugging" may also involve serving coffee and bagels in the store and giving away hot dogs in the parking lot on summer Saturdays.
For employees, "hugging" involves establishing personal relationships with workers, and personally tailoring rewards and recognition to their specific interests. It may also include a gift certificate to a chic restaurant for a food lover or a round of golf for a golfer on staff.
"Ask yourselves: Do you really care about those people around you?" said Stew Leonard Jr., chief executive officer of Stew Leonard's, who also spoke at the event. "You have to care about a person's career more than they do."
Discussion question: To what extent is the concept of "hugging" customers and employees more relevant to high-end boutiques such as Mitchells rather than general merchandisers, grocers or other retail formats? What can other channels take from Mitchells' over-the-top customer and associate approach?