If you’ve never been into Zoe & Co. Professional Bra Fitters, you’ve been missing out on some top-notch customer service.
Don’t ask us, just pick up a copy of The Best of Intima magazine and see for yourself.
Can’t find your copy? That’s okay, here’s the gist: The trade magazine gave the lingerie boutique in the heart of downtown Concord (which also has another location in Rhode Island) a special award for customer service at its recent award ceremony in New York. And that’s a big deal.
Elyssa Alfieri, store manager at Zoe & Co., said they were chosen from a field of about 350 stores all over the U.S. and Canada. Zoe & Co. was nominated for the award for best reference shop, and ended up winning the customer service award instead, something Alfieri said they’re all very proud of and impressed by.
“It was a big surprise for us,” she said. “We knew that we were nominated for reference shop – last year we were nominated for the same category, and a few years before . . . probably like half a dozen times. We were starting to make a lot of Susan Lucci, Leonardo DiCaprio jokes.”
But just like with Lucci, persistence paid off for Zoe & Co. (sorry, Leo, maybe some day).
Speaking of the awards, Alfieri said, “We are more than excited to even be nominated, but then to win this special award on top of that was just so exciting.”
Winning an award for customer service was fitting (see what we did there?) for Zoe & Co., which prides itself on its high level of customer service.
“Loyalty matters,” she said. “It’s not about getting a million customers; it’s about getting a lot of really good customers, people that want to come back every three months, every six months.”
Zoe & Co. has everything you’d ever need in the bra department, and more. They carry every size and style and tons of brands. There’s so much to look at that it can be pretty overwhelming, which is why customer service is so important.
The hiring process is “very, very picky,” Alfieri said, and then the training process is even more rigorous – employees have to train for three months before they’re turned loose on their own. Alfieri said it’s also not uncommon for people to fizzle out during the training process – it’s not a job that just anyone could handle.
Unlike most other clothing retailers – intimate or otherwise – Alfieri said the focus is not on moving volume and making the most sales. Instead, it’s about making sure the customer feels welcome, confident and informed, and that the customer will want to come back again and again.
After all, buying a bra is a pretty personal, private thing that many women feel uncomfortable about. Alfieri said most women who come through the door for the first time are noticeably reserved, and she just wants to make sure she and her staff can make the experience as pleasant and rewarding as possible.
“We get 10 out of 10 fits correct when we’re finding out what size they are, but we also get 10 out of 10 experiences correct,” Alfieri said.
“So not only does the customer leave in the right size, but they were helped in such a way that they’ll remember that more than anything else.”
