RETURN OF THE WALNUT PANCAKE…read more
A couple of weeks ago, I bought a beautiful walnut dining table from Joss & Main. There was only one problem: it was enormous. I had somehow convinced myself that a 54-inch round table was exactly what I needed for mahjong. It wasn't. My friends were practically launching tiles across the table because nobody could reach the middle. By the end of our first game, one of my friends was actually uncomfortable from reaching. My gorgeous new table had become what I affectionately started calling the walnut pancake. It was beautiful, but it simply wasn't going to work.
So I called Joss & Main, and eventually I reached Adele in the Specialized Supervisor department. That's where the story changed. Adele didn't just listen--she took ownership. She helped arrange the return and found a smaller, more rustic table that actually fits both the room and the ski-lodge feeling I've created in my home. She understood what I was trying to accomplish, and suddenly the conversation wasn't simply about returning furniture. It was about finding the right solution.
Later, when the logistics became complicated, I connected with Tiffany, the Executive Manager on Wayfair's Executive Service team. We had a fascinating conversation about leadership, culture, customer experience, and what I call the last 50 yards--that critical point where everything a company has promised finally has to come together for the customer. Tiffany listened, engaged honestly, and stayed with the problem until it was resolved.
And then came Marco and Nelson. "We're the Rebel Team," they told me when they arrived to pick up the table. I don't know whether they gave themselves that name or someone else did, but I loved it. They were charming, funny and kind. They played with my dog, chatted with me, found the tools they needed, carefully took apart my pristine walnut pancake, and made the final moments of the experience genuinely enjoyable. They reminded me of something I've believed throughout my career: everyone who touches the customer owns a piece of the brand. Sometimes the last people a customer sees leave the most lasting impression.
Great companies aren't made great because nothing ever goes wrong. Things go wrong in every organization. What matters is what happens next. Wayfair and Joss & Main have some terrific people, and over the course of this experience I met several of them. Adele, Tiffany, Marco and Nelson each played a different role, but each demonstrated something worth recognizing: ownership, kindness, follow-through, and a desire to get to the right outcome. Those are the behaviors strong cultures identify, celebrate and reinforce. The last 50 yards matter--and when they're filled with people who care about getting the customer across the finish line, they can change the entire story.
