Official Blog of Gallery Furniture's Mattress Mack of Houston, TX

Customer Service: It's In Our DNA

Why do so many Texans buy their furniture and electronics at Gallery Furniture? Why is Gallery Furniture so good at customer service?  These questions were asked of me by a customer today who is trying to make his business totally customer-centric.

Here's the answer to the first question.  Texans by the thousands buy their furniture and electronics at Gallery Furniture for three reasons:

1. Great products
2. Great prices
3. Over the top customer service!

The answer to the second question is a bit more complex.  Gallery Furniture is good at customer service because it is in our DNA, it is who we are.  From Day One in April 1981, Gallery Furniture has delivered our customer's furniture the same day.  Twenty-seven years later we still do -- only bigger and better! 

Peter Drucker said "The purpose of any business is twofold.  First, keep your current customers happy and buying more.  Second, recruit new customers."

At Gallery Furniture we take Mr. Drucker literally so every policy, every rule, at Gallery Furniture is in favor of the customer.  That's why you can buy furniture at 10 PM and still expect same day delivery.  This promise to deliver today is not the most cost effective way to operate the business, but it is certainly the most customer friendly way to run the business.

Stanley Marcus said "If you take care of your merchandise it won't come back.  If you take care of your customers they will."

Gallery Furniture is good at customer service because we learned from Mr. Drucker and Mr. Marcus that the only business is the customer business and our business is to delight our customers twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

It is in our DNA.

Want proof?  Here's an example.

Yesterday a customer came into the store and said he had purchased furniture some time back and was ready for delivery.   It took a few minutes to find his sales ticket -- he bought the furniture in March of 2001!  During all that time he had not picked up his furniture.  Gallery Furniture tried to find him, making phone calls, sending letters, even registered letters, but nothing worked.

Now we know what happened.  The customer paid for his furniture when he bought it in 2001, and asked us to hold it until the floors were finished in his new home.  Before the house was ready, a little storm called Allison came through.  That was in June of 2001.  The customer's house wasn't in the flood plain and he had no flood insurance.  The house was flooded, with several feet of water in every room.  The customer and his wife had to move out for a while -- that's why they could not be found -- and they have been rebuilding their house ever since.  Yesterday, he was finally ready for it.

Some stores might have said "Sorry, you're out of luck.  We tried to contact you but you never came back to claim your furniture."

Not Gallery Furniture.  It took a few minutes to call up the original order and then we credited him with what he had spent and told him to pick out what he wanted.

Today, I got an email from the customer.  He thanked me for taking care of him and called me a "stand-up guy."

I say thank you for the kind words, but it is what Gallery Furniture does -- take care of the customer.

See Gallery Furniture at the Galleria

You've seen a billboard with a picture of a beautiful car. You've seen a newspaper ad with a bright picture of a beach scene or a magazine article with clear photographs of a beautiful house.  Haven't you wished you could sit in that car, walk on that beach, or touch the furniture in that home? 

Now you have a chance to walk through a thousand square foot billboard, to touch some of the world's best furniture, to experience the new Gallery Furniture.  All you have to do is visit us at the Galleria.

That's right.  Gallery Furniture has set up on the main level of the Galleria, outside of Neiman Marcus.  If you're looking for landmarks, the Gallery Furniture display is between Chanel and Tiffany and between Cartier and Fendi.

You'll see the California-inspired designs of Michael Kreiss, the hand made beauty of a environmentally friendly Hastens mattress, and much more when you walk through this showroom in miniature at the Galleria.

I think you'll like what you see.  Now there are three places to experience the luxury of the new  Gallery Furniture -- at 6006 I-45 North, 3912 Westheimer, and now in the  Galleria!

Gallery Furniture Drivers School

Gallery Furniture delivers TODAY.  You've probably heard me on the radio or TV screaming TODAY!  Why does Gallery Furniture believe in TODAY?  Because it makes customers happy.  Gallery Furniture is in the singular business of making our customers happy and customers are delighted when they buy a new Tempur-Pedic sleep set at 7:00 PM and and sleep on it in their bedroom by 10:00 PM.

Gallery Furniture is the originator of same day delivery and works hard to improve the quality of each Gallery Furniture delivery to your home.

That's why TODAY, March 19, Gallery Furniture held a six hour training course with about 30 of our great, dedicated, delivery staff.  Subjects stressed were defensive driving, road courtesy, and safety, safety, safety.

Gallery Furniture is very fortunate to have such a great delivery crew dedicated to continuous improvement.

Rest assured that when you buy your furniture TODAY it will be delivered TODAY.  At Gallery Furniture's it's all about promises made -- promises kept and delighting  you, the world's best customers.

Going the Extra Mile!

Gallery Furniture means same day delivery, and the delivery team will do what it takes to get your furniture where it needs to be before the day is done.

Sometimes they have to go the extra mile to make it happen.

Here's an example, as told to Gallery Furniture in an email from Corey G.

"Sunday night at 10:30 I called Gallery to see where my furniture was. It was promised between 8 - 12 pm and I was getting worried. Emmanuel in the Delivery department answered the phone and after a couple of minutes we figured out there was a mistake made on my bill which stated another delivery date.

"I told him my week was very busy, but that I would stay up as late as needed if he could deliver it that night. Problem was there were no delivery trucks, nobody left to deliver. He put me on hold, somehow found a truck and a driver and told me to expect the sofa soon.

"To my delight, they made it to the house within the promised delivery time! In an age were customers are used to being disappointed with "customer service", and hearing how employees can NOT help them, this was quite a shock.

" It was an even bigger shock when Emmanuel introduced himself as one of the delivery guys!

"What a pleasant surprise to see an employee go the extra mile to help out. And as you know, Mac, the positive word of mouth I am giving Gallery Furniture is priceless. Did I mention that the leather sofa looks great and we got the best price in town? It does, and we did.

"But the point of this note is to thank Emmanuel. Please do something special for him, like give him the Employee of the Month parking spot, or take him personally to a Rocket game! Why? Because he not only works for you, he shines."

Thanks for the nice email, Corey.  I'll make sure Emmanuel knows you appreciated his efforts and that I do too.

Folks, the delivery team at Gallery Furniture does everything it can to get the job done right, even when they have to go the extra mile like Emmanuel did.  Delighting customers is our business, and that means keeping our promises and getting  your furniture to you on time.