A locomotive compliment

Train travel can be expensive, unpredictable, stressful, and depressing. We often find ourselves delayed waiting on a cold station platform, or crammed into carriages forced to stare at our fellow commuters with faces only inches apart. At time of writing, there are storms and gales buffeting the country and some trains are even being cancelled entirely. I’ll never know how trains in Russia manage to still function, perhaps the UK is just soft?!

Well, I had a good experience at a train station recently and I wanted to write a Compliment Corner letter about it. I’m breaking a rule here that I should always know the name of the person I’m complimenting, but on this occasion I didn’t catch his name – let’s call him Station Manager.

Warwick Station is a quaint stopping point for tourists interested in visiting the castle or town. It’s an unassuming station that most commuters never have reason to visit, and many trains simply pass through without stopping on their way to London. Warwick Parkway station just up the road is the main commuter station with space for hundreds of cars. I rarely visit Warwick station but I recently had cause to walk over there to catch a train to Birmingham.

The station manager at Warwick Town station is a polite and efficient gentleman who obviously takes his job seriously. He is polite without being effusive and efficient in that he wants you to have all the necessary information for your journey. He maintains a welcoming atmosphere in the waiting room and when I visited we were being treated to some light classical music. The manager simply served me in a friendly manner, helped me to find the best ticket for my journey and processed my payment. This is perhaps nothing more than he, or any other station employee should do, and yet it evoked something of the nostalgia of old train travel. He treated the elderly couple who came after me with the same respect and decency. He was obviously happy with his job and it showed in about he went about it. My letter is below. 

A tailor-made compliment

I recently went to a restaurant in Warwick called Tailor's. It was a surprise visit organised by friends, and prior to that I hadn't given the place a second thought. By the end of the night I was left amazed at the amazing food on offer, served in such unique ways. However, this isn't a food blog or restaurant review site - Compliment Corner exists to say thank you to individuals who make a difference. 

The man whose service I want to recognise is Mark Fry. It turns out he was one of the chefs and owners of the restaurant, but I didn't know that at the time. From the moment we walked in, Mark welcomed us and explained the menu. Even though the place was full he took time to chat with us and recommend what food we might like and which drinks would go with it. He didn't have to do this as there was a very friendly waitress on hand to help us. It showed how much he cared about what he does that he spent so much time chatting to people. There were obviously regular customers on that night, too, as it seemed like he had taken the time to get to know them on previous visits. 

The meal was fantastic and we thought it was worth every penny. This is down, in no small part, to Mark's passion for food and efforts he made to make us feel special. My letter to Mark is below. 

Phil

First compliment back

It's very exciting for us today as we've received our first feedback from Daniel Henderson Jewellers who received our second compliment corner letter. Daniel wrote some very nice things on his Facebook page, which you can find by searching for "Daniel Henderson Jewellery". 

Daniel said "so nice to see that in a day and age where the internet is used to vent and criticise someone has taken the time to make sure that good experiences are equally publicised".

That's exactly what we set out to achieve! Thanks!

A literary compliment

For my next compliment, I would like to recognise the fantastic customer service of Keith Smith at Warwick Books. I have visited Warwick Books now on a number of occasions and have always been pleasantly surprised by their helpfulness, knowledge of books, and general efficiency.

On my most recent visit, I was after a book titled The Four Hour Work Week, because I thought it would change my life (I'll let you know how it goes). Keith did not have the book in stock, but he knew all about it. We had a good conversation. He ordered the book and to my great surprise I received a phone call the following morning to say that it had already arrived. This is fantastic customer service and demonstrates a real passion for helping others.

Not only that, but it seems Keith and his wife are championing the cause of independent book sellers everywhere by challenging the corporation tax laws of the major book sellers. Now whatever your view on tax is, you can certainly commend Keith for his passion for the book selling sector.

My letter to Keith is below. Please do pop in to the book shop next time you’re passing. I’m sure you will be pleased you did.

A Scottish Compliment

To continue with the wedding theme, I decided to send my second compliment to Daniel Henderson who runs a jewellers in Edinburgh. I got engaged in Edinburgh last year and we walked up and down the main shopping streets looking for somewhere to buy a ring. For anyone thinking of getting engaged I would recommend choosing the ring together. For one thing the man can't be blamed for choosing something horrible or tacky (both things I'm prone to doing!)

We walked into Daniel's shop and he was very welcoming. He helped us to create a ring from our budget and treated us just the same as if we were spending thousands. He obviously knew a lot about his products and was passionate about his business. Perhaps most important of all, Daniel wasn't afraid to let us walk away to think about things. He even recommended an amazing independent coffee shop (worthy of a Compliment Corner letter if I can ever remember their names). We went back to buy an engagement ring, and have since bought the accompanying wedding ring and some cuff links.

Here's the letter I sent to Daniel:

Dear Daniel,

I'm writing to thank you for your great service to us over the past year.

Last year my partner and I walked into your shop, having just gotten engaged, looking for a ring. You took time to help us find the ring we wanted and have since arranged for the accompanying wedding band. We really weren't sure what to expect when looking for a jewellers, but you definitely exceeded all our wishes. I hope you'll accept this Compliment Corner letter by way of a thank you.

Compliment Corner is simply a way for me to say thanks to people who given great customer service. I wanted a way to share these stories with other people so have created a blog, and I hope you don't mind that I posted this letter and a little description of your service on there.

Thanks again, and I look forward to doing business with you again in the near future.

Phil 

Our first compliment!

I posted our first Compliment Corner letter yesterday. I sent it to Stuart who manages Claridges Print and Copy shop in Warwick. Stuart was a great example of someone who really cared about the service he delivered and not just getting the job over with.

I am soon getting married and needed to create invitations. Producing them at home wasn’t going well, so I looked up Claridges online after seeing a recommendation on Twitter. Stuart responded to my website enquiry with a phone call. We discussed what I wanted and he managed to come up with an excellent design and turn around the whole project in a couple of days.

It was a positive experience and I would definitely do business with him again. Stuart thoroughly deserves this first ever compliment sent from Compliment Corner.

Text from letter:

Dear Stuart,

I am writing to thank you for your kind service to us recently.

My partner and I were hoping to produce wedding invitations at short notice but were having difficulty creating them at home. We came to you because we saw your service had been recommended on Twitter. You very kindly spent time creating the invitations we wanted with a quick turnaround and wanted to send you this Compliment Corner letter by way of thank you.

Compliment Corner is a new initiative to allow people to thank individuals for providing excellent customer service. Yours is the first ever letter. It has been added to our blog and I hope it will be the first of many. If you like the idea, you might like to publicise it or perhaps send a letter yourself. 

Thanks again for your work. It was a pleasure doing business with you.

With best wishes,

Yours sincerely,

Phil

Tools of the trade

I haven’t done any research – that would be expensive! – but I know anecdotally that a handwritten letter is a powerful thing. In today’s digital world we rarely receive letters, and hardly ever handwritten notes. Christmas cards might be the closest we get to handwriting messages these days. Even then the sloppy text and rushed “love from bob and family” content often relegate these once-treasured seasonal letters to the recycling bin.

I like to handwrite letters wherever possible. I do it because I like to receive handwritten notes myself. I’ve even handwritten the occasional business letter of introduction, and they’ve all gone down well. Whether that’s because the recipient likes the effort I made to write a letter or simply that they feel guilty about ignoring something so personal, I often receive a response.

When I’m offering a compliment I want people to know that I mean it. And when I mean something I like to make it personal. So, wherever possible, I’ll try to send handwritten Compliment Corner letters.

The tools for this are simple:

-          Good quality paper

-          Good quality (matching envelope)

-          Fountain pen (just like we used at school)

-          Stamp

Optional extras:

-          Lined paper

-          A steady hand

-          Ink eraser (as rarely as possible)

Phil

Why the delay?

Over the past few months there have been several occasions when a Compliment Corner letter would have made a difference. 

• There was the man at JustTyres in Leamington who was really welcoming and did more than he needed to sort out my car tyres. 
• There was the manager at Underwood Wines who offered me a free sample of his favourite wine that day, and helped me choose the perfect bottle to go with my food. 
• There was the lady in Sainsbury's who, even at the end of a long shift, still found time to chat to me about how my day had gone. 

In all those instances I made a mental note to write a letter of thanks when I got home. However, every time I got home I found something better to do. Now, none of these people have even heard of my Compliment Corner idea and they certainly won't feel left out that they didn't receive a letter. But wouldn't it have been great if I had done something about my positive experiences and let them know what a difference they had made to my day? 

So, it's with renewed conviction that I have decided to set aside a little bit of time each week to write a message to people who've made a difference to me in their day-to-day jobs. 

My tools: a pen, paper, envelope, stamp, and this blog. 

Simple. 

Let's get started

The idea for Compliment Corner came from an experience I had at a cafe in London's Fleet Street. I was travelling around the city and having a particularly tiring day. I went to the nearest cafe to buy a bottle of juice. The lady who served me was very welcoming. She asked me about my day, smiled, and wished me well. I left feeling a little bit happier. It didn't occur to me til later, but I'd been thinking about that experience and wanted to let her know what a difference she'd made. By that point, the moment had gone. I couldn't go back to the shop and I made a note to perhaps write to her to express my gratitude. Of course, I never got round to it and the lady never knew how grateful I was that she'd took the time to talk to me.

So, what I want to achieve with Compliment Corner is to help people say thank you for good service. I want to let people know when they've made a difference to someone and hope that it might make a difference to them. Because people like to feel valued and appreciated. They like to know when they've done a good job just as much as when they haven't - and far fewer compliments are given than complaints.

Compliment Corner will make a difference to people's day.
It will make them smile.
It will help us to say thank you.
It's as simple as that.

Check back for more updates or get in touch.

Phil - phil@complimentcorner.com