Zack the Tailor

Everyone should have a tailor like Zack. He’s a rather dapper Greek man, in his fifties, with salt and pepper hair and an ever-present smile. He greets every customer with exuberance and enthusiasm. His storefront shop is uncluttered and neat with suit jackets and pants hang along one wall. A 180-degree mirror and two dressing rooms line the other. Every Saturday, his small shop is bustling with customers, who come by to drop off an item to be hemmed or to try on their newly tailored suit.

I was tipped off to Zack’s services by a co-worker and stopped in to have some jacket sleeves shortened one day a few years ago. I’d recently lost 20 pounds and was happy to be bringing in new, smaller clothes to be hemmed. Zack treated me like a queen, taking time to closely examine the jacket sleeves, making sure they were marked to the proper place on my wrist, then re-examinining them to ensure they were just right. All the while, he made conversation in his lovely Greek accent, asking me about my convertible outside. While the visit was uneventful, I felt catered to and comfortable that he would do a good job. I returned a few days later to pick up the items, and of course, they were perfect.

The next time I needed a button sewn on, of course, I stopped at Zack’s. “No charge for this,” he said with a smile. “It just takes a few minutes.” I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t have it. “You’re a regular customer. No charge this time,” he smiled.

When I stopped by to pick up the jacket with its newly-attached button a few days later, I happened to bring my husband. “You have to meet this guy,” I’d told him. “He’s exactly what you would want in a tailor, though it’s hard to describe what it is. Just come in with me and you’ll see.”

We stopped in and Zack talked to me as if I had been coming into his store for years. I introduced my husband and we chatted for a bit. It wasn’t long before Ron started eyeing a suit on one of the mannequins. “Oooh, check this out,” he said. “I really need a new suit, don’t you think?” A few minutes later, it was my husband’s turn to stand on the pedestal to have his sleeves (and pants) measured.

Since those first few visits, we’ve been back several times and have truly become regulars. In hindsight, I think it was my initial experience with Zack that did it. During that first visit, he treated me as if I was already a lifelong customer. Of course, his quality is fabulous, but it’s his obvious enthusiasm for his clients - both new and old - that wins you over.

Reflections: What can you do to make your customers - especially your new ones - feel valued and appreciated? Do you treat longterm customers differently than new ones?

written by Lori Jo Vest on November 18, 2007