How a Small Clothing Store Won My Heart (and Wallet) With Great Service

I was looking to revamp my wardrobe, and stumbled across a brand I’ll surely buy from for years to come.

Every so often, I order a bunch of clothes online, and then return all but the ones I love. I was trying to round out my wardrobe, wishing I could find some comfy but non-boring shirts, when I saw a recommendation for a small online clothing retailer, Elegantees.

Their site caught my attention because of their mission to make high-quality, sustainable clothes and to treat and pay their employees well. Their shirts were exactly what I was looking for: simple but cute.

As soon as I started shopping their site, and before my order even arrived, I had a feeling I was going to become a loyal customer. The service I received confirmed it, and I’m already singing the praises of the brand to family and friends.

Here are five ways this small retailer provided knockout service to win my loyalty almost instantly, and a great playbook for how to get raving fans:

Offered great products built on a philosophy

I was drawn in by the company’s mission of “restoring lives one tee at a time.” Their website states that they provide fair wages to survivors of sex trafficking, and those at risk, so they can escape and build a new life. With so many online sellers that just want to make a buck, it was refreshing to see a company contributing to the greater good, and putting its mission front and center for all to see.

Gave me an unexpected discount

As I threw cute shirt after cute shirt into my cart, I noticed that some of the items were coming up as costing $0. It turned out the company was holding a BOGO (buy-one-get-one-free) sale, which wasn’t something I expected, given the high quality of their clothes. I really appreciated that they automatically gave me the discount, without making me hunt down a coupon code, as I had just found the brand and didn’t know about the sale. If they had done it that way, I’d have been really bummed to miss out on big savings. Instead, I was surprised and delighted.

Told me a real person would be in touch

Once I placed my order, I got a message stating that a real person would be in touch about shipping. While automated messages and chatbots definitely have their place, it was nice to know that I could get customer service from a live human being with this company.

Let me ask for prompt shipping

Once I put in my order, I got an email that stated: “We appreciate your order! If you’re hoping it ships out promptly, let us know and we’ll make it happen. Anything else? The best way to touch base is to reply to this email. We’ll be on standby and ready to serve you.” I immediately responded and asked for quick shipping, stating, “Thanks! I’m in dire need of clothes.” To my delight, my package shipped out the very same day at no extra cost.

Offered a chance to connect

In one of my emails from the company, they mentioned their “insiders’ Facebook group.” After I received my order, and loved the items, I headed over to join. Now they’re in my feed all the time, and I see not just marketing posts but posts from loyal fans of the brand. These let me know what’s new, give me outfit ideas and really just make me want to order more stuff.

Oh, the brand also offers free returns and swaps, which is really nice too. In all, I was pleasantly surprised to have my socks knocked off, so to speak, with excellent and very personalized service from this small clothing company. It proves that a company of any size can excel at service.