I wouldn’t really consider myself an early adopter type, but I do love to discover small, independent bands on my own. It’s like finding a hidden treasure that I can then go and share with my friends. So I’ve been a long time customer of a company called CD Baby, which claims to be “a little CD store with the best new independent music.” And I’m telling you about them today, not because I want to spread the good word about artists like Alexi Murdoch or Kim Taylor, but because CD Baby does a phenomenal job with customer service and makes sure that every time they touch their customers, it’s a memorable experience. For example, when my CD order ships, here is the email I receive:

Spike,

Thanks for your order!

Your CD has been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow.

A team of 50 employees inspected your CD and polished it to make sure it was in the best possible condition before mailing.

Our packing specialist from Japan lit a candle and a hush fell over the crowd as he put your CD into the finest gold-lined box that money can buy.

We all had a wonderful celebration afterwards and the whole party marched down the street to the post office where the entire town of Portland waved ‘Bon Voyage!’ to your package, on its way to you, in our private CD Baby jet on this day, Monday, August 9th.

I hope you had a wonderful time shopping at CD Baby. We sure did. Your picture is on our wall as ‘Customer of the Year.’ We’re all exhausted but can’t wait for you to come back to CDBABY.COM!!

Thank you once again,

Derek Sivers, president, CD Baby
the little CD store with the best new independent music

They’ve even included free CDs in my package that they think I might enjoy because of the music I ordered. But it’s not only the great music selection that keeps me coming back, it’s the experience and attention to the little things. This little online shop provides a better personal experience than 98% of the real shops I’ve walked in to.

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