The Goat in The Bathtub

Our business, not unlike others,  is built upon delivering what a client needs in a timely and professional manner. One of the very valuable services we provide while pursuing this is goal is creative design of advertising. We are fortunate to have a very capable staff that creates over one thousand ads every month for our list of clients. The needs are often fairly straight forward. Basically, the ad needs to look good, be readable, be a professional individual reflection of the business and include  graphic elements that grab attention.

Recently one of our advertising professionals sent in a request to have the creative department, put a goat in a bathtub. The client, a unique gift shop, was planning a clearance sale and some of the clearance items were products made from goat milk. Thus the goat in the bathtub, covered in soap bubbles, represented a clearance sale! Our creative department has many resources available to them that provide excellent and very professional graphic elements they can select to use in the ads they build for our customers. However, a goat in a bathtub is not on the list. Therefore this customized graphic had to be created.

When the special request was received by our graphic department to put a goat in a bathtub, the response was one of; "We can do this" rather than, as others may respond to special request; "We cannot do this", We are not allowed to do this", We have never done this" and on and on with a exhaustive list of why something special can't be done instead of why something special can and should be done.

We have all made special requests from time to time and how the person, business or organization we are making the special request of responds, speaks volumes to their commitment to high caliber customer service. The lengths they are willing to go to to meet the requests will likely determine the value that is placed on their brand. Brands that are well known for going the extra mile are typically those brands that enjoy great levels of loyalty. The fullfilling of special requests starts at the top of any organization and flows through the hearts of the folks doing the job of meeting customer needs. It is a matter of culture. Does your culture allow you to put a goat in a bathtub or not? Ours does.