Igniting a Revolution – Mueblerias Berrios Listens

This is the sixth post of my Igniting a Revolution Series.

On rare occasions I get to express my frustrations online. Now days I do it less as I work on subtracting occasions where I spend time on negatively charged events in my life.

When I am in a negative situation I first look into how I can make it a positive. Working backwards on how I use to work as an IT Security consultant. I was paid to look at what the client would say was a perfect environment and identify faults in hopes of safekeeping their ASSets.

Making the Difference Locally

I am always on the look out for awesome individuals that enhance the customer experience. From the sharp valet parking attendant to the bar owner who seemed obsessed of having each spot in his bar ready for patrons.

After my negative experience with Sears I went ahead and emailed two companies asking them if they could guarantee I would not have a similar experience.

Answering Faster is not Better

One of them responded within minutes and clearly did not read my request demonstrating that they rather answer quickly than respond a question.

Taking the time to Nurture a New Relationship

The second email was from Abner Muñiz from Mueblerias Berrios. Abner responded after a few hours with an invitation to their VIP Event. Not only would I have the opportunity to get what I needed but I even had the chance to win a few prizes, while there were drinks, cocktails, and food being served.

Since I am getting ready for my SXSW Interactive trip, my time is a bit limited but Abner took the time and went the extra mile to send me an invite after reading my blog post on my experience with Sears that I gladly made time for the event into my schedule.

Great Way to Build Community Amongst your Customers

I arrived at the event after having dinner at my new favorite Asian Bistro and I had someone park my car for me while I walked into the Mueblerias Berrios Showroom.

I walked with my family and we were greeted. Two raffle tickets were handed to me and Lucy which gave us a chance at the over 40 prizes they were giving out. I was then approached by one of their sales personnel and was shown a mattress that fit my needs and budget

It was a relief to hear they include delivery in the price and I could have it the next business day at my house.

Searching for Daniela’s Bed

After that Lucy and I walked around searching for a bed for Daniela. She tested a few beds while another Berrios team member was nice enough to give us the features of the beds and pricing. Once again delivery is free and assembly of the bed is around $20 dollars which I think is at an attractive price point for a hassle free purchase.

We walked around saw some more furniture. It reminded me of when as a kid I use to go to work with my dad Don Tito for the Luis Furniture when it was at its peak in the 80’s.

Searching for Abner

Since Abner had invited me I asked one of the Berrios team members if he was at the event. The team member pointed that Abner was the Master of Ceremonies of the event.

As soon as I approached Abner he smiled and recognized me. It was like greeting a friend. Although being extremely busy running the event, he stopped what he was doing to help me in making my decision with the mattress.

I was so impressed with Abner I had to do a bit of research on the internet on his work and I understood that Abner’s body of work as a performer and musician is useful to work a crowd in a live event.

We need more Abner’s Working for Our Local Companies

Abner seems to be a creative at heart. He understands communication and showing people that he cares. I am sure Mueblerias Berrios knows that they have a great resource, but I wanted to point out on my end that they are leading many other local and international companies established in Puerto Rico by listening and responding to their clients in a human way.

I am writing this post based on the limited interactions I had with Abner where he exceeded expectations by far.

Locally it is normal to fill a contact form on a website and receive no response. Or you get a generic response from an auto reply giving you more things to do.

The Opportunities

It is my opinion that Mueblerias Berrios is on the right track so far.

I see many opportunities in having an edge over their competitors by listening and using the website and online eco-systems to:

• Bring New clients like myself to visit their location
• Finding a way to incentivize their customers like Mark Hayward (who referred me to them) to refer more customers.
• Being able to match pricing or make the buying furniture experience more pleasant by receiving feedback. Similar to Amazon’s price match.
• Making the purchase process even leaner and online. So if someone visited their location did not make a decision at the moment they can even buy from the comfort of their home.

I am glad I listened to Mark Hayward and decided to email Berrios. I got to meet a very talented individual who seems to be a local Marketing and Human relations rock star. His effective use of online tools benefit the company he works for and made my life a lot easier.

If you are planning to buy furniture feel free to tweet or contact Berrios. I am sure Abner and his team will be listening and will be as helpful as they were with me.

What other companies stand out that I should include in the Igniting a Revolution Series?