In the first edition of this book, the first sentence of the first chapter began with the words “Somerville, Massachusetts, home to one of the authors of this book, . . .” and went on to tell of two small businesses in that town and how they had formed learning relationships with their customers. In the intervening years, the little girl whose relationship with her hair braider was described in the chapter has grown up and moved away and no longer wears her hair in corn rows. Her father has moved to nearby Cambridge. But one thing has not changed. The author is still a loyal customer of the Wine Cask, where some of the same people who first introduced him to cheap Algerian reds in 1978 and later to the wine-growing regions of France are now helping him to explore Italy and Germany.
MEASURING CUSTOMERS LOYALTY
After a quarter of a century, they still have a loyal customer. That loyalty is no accident. Dan and Steve at the Wine Cask learn the tastes of their customers and their price ranges. When asked for advice, their response will be based on their accumulated knowledge of that customer ’s tastes and budgets as well as on their knowledge of their stock. The people at The Wine Cask know a lot about wine. Although that knowl edge is one reason to shop there rather than at a big discount liquor store, it is their intimate knowledge of each customer that keeps people coming back. Another wine shop could open across the street and hire a staff of expert oenophiles, but it would take them months or years to achieve the same level of customer knowledge.