“I lost my girl a week ago. I called Chewy.com and told them I would no longer need pet food from them because of Annies death. I received these flowers today.”

This quote was from a LinkedIn post by Eric Steilberger with a picture of the flowers and his beloved Annie.

Steilberger continues:

“I cancel their service and they send flowers? I will tell everyone I can if they need pet food they should try Chewy. Annie’s sister and everyone else in the house are still grieving and these made me smile.”

Hat tip to Brooke Barney for alerting me to the story. The post has over 2,500 comments. Brooke commented, “What a cool example of giving little unexpected extras (G.L.U.E. — right Stan Phelps?) That’s amazing customer service.”

Some background to chew on. Nearly a decade ago, Ryan Cohen and Michael Day dropped out of college to pursue their online startup. The duo tried to raise money, but investors balked. Why? Amazon was already established as the go-to for pet food.

Within five years, Chewy was the market leader.

Why? Because of the DX (differentiated experience).

No wait service, handwritten notes, pet paintings, condolence flowers, and donating to shelters in lieu of returns are just a handful of their differentiators.

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Stan Phelps walks the walk. He stands out in the sea of sameness by modeling his own Differentiated Experience (DX) message: Differentiation isn’t just about what you say, it’s about what you do and, more importantly, how and why you do it. Stan leverages his unique collection of 5,000+ case studies on customer, employee, and brand experience to engage audiences with informative learning-based experiences. He believes purposeful DX wins the hearts of employees and customers, and differentiation ultimately boosts loyalty, retention, referrals, and results.

Find Stan’s in-person and virtual keynotes, workshops, and Goldfish tank programs at StanPhelps.com.