To liven up the holiday order experience for both customers and telephone representatives, Lands’ End’s three contact centers are participating in a new company promotion, “Elf of the Day,” which began Nov. 28.
Each day through Dec. 18, one customer service representative serves as the Elf of the Day, and talks to customers from a cubicle upholstered with red and white flannel sheets. As part of the promotion, the “elf “can offer randomly selected customers free monogramming or free gift-boxing.
(Note to Lands’ End callers: The elves are inclined to offer the freebies to nice customers rather than naughty or irate ones.)
Lands’ End spokesperson Amanda Broderick says this is the first year the company has done the promotion. “In our call centers, every day we select a customer service representative to spread a little joy,” she says. The three Wisconsin call centers are located in Dodgeville, the corporate headquarters of the apparel cataloger; Stevens Point; and Reedsburg.
Normally, Broderick explains, a customer service representative answering a call would say: “Hi, you’ve reached Lands’ End. This is Amanda. How may I help you?” With the holiday promotion, you might hear something like this: “This is Amanda, your Elf of the Day. How may I help you?”
Broderick says the reaction so far from customers has been positive. “There has been surprise in some of the reactions,” Broderick says. Although it’s a small gesture, company officials want to add a little something extra during the holiday season. “It’s a way to spread a little extra surprise and happiness to customers,” she says. “And for our customer service representatives, it’s another way to make a little more excitement for them.”