There is always talk amongst everyone selling products about how to provide outstanding customer service. This is a story about one artisan who delivered so much more to me than just a piece of jewelry. She turned a standard shipment and a cardboard box into a delightful experience.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t LOVE getting a box in the mail. Especially if it is a box with a handwritten label. A few weeks ago, I picked up this beautifully promising box at the Post Office. I had a feeling that opening the box was going to be as much fun as getting my mitts on what was inside it.
I had been expecting a custom mermaid necklace from the amazing Nadia Ackerman of Natchie Art, who has a lovely shop at Artists & Fleas in Williamsburg. She asked me what color mermaid I’d like, and I of course said, “Purple.”
I also know, however, that Nadia understands the importance of the details and follow through. I have written about her innovative blend of music and art, and I know she puts thought and care into the entire experience she gives her customers at the market. So before I let anticipation get the better of me, I decided to savor the moment. Ever so carefully, I used my office key to slice open the tape.
Inside the shipping box was this sweet brown gift box with a purple string tied in a bow, a hint of the purple mermaid tail I hoped was inside. But I didn’t open the gift box yet.
Just beneath the gift box was an envelope with my name on it and a smiley face. (It looks just like Natchie!) She creates greeting cards and prints from her original drawings. So I was excited to see which one she had sent me.
It turned out to be the one she calls Present, featuring tiny people with hugely long scarves walking on top of a gift box as their friends and family look up. Inside, it said, “A Gift For You.” Nadia had written a sweet personal note to me by hand.
Only then did I open the gift box to find Lenore, my purple mermaid, living in her glass world. She is a handmade 3D pendant, one of Natchie’s wonderfully creative designs.
The box top included a description of the necklace and simple tips on caring for it.
Here’s a closeup of Lenore, my mermaid with a hand-painted purple tail. I can’t even tell you how much I love wearing her or just looking at her when I’m sitting at my desk. She has started conversations with people at parties, on subways and in markets. You can actually open the latch, and I have considered dropping in a small pearl for her. But this is a piece of art, and so I will refrain.
Later that week, Lenore and I paid a visit to Natchie’s boutique at Artists and Fleas in Brooklyn, where we became her Customer of the Day.
The moral of this story is that when you purchase something you love from the person who made it, that object comes with a story and an experience that makes you love it even more.
Shop Local. Buy Handmade. Be a Mermaid.
Photo by Nadia Ackerman, Natchie Art
~Karen Seiger, Markets of New York City
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