Mail-order success is spelled ‘L.L. Bean’

This column spends a lot of ink each year on mail-order transactions gone badly. We serve consumers who have waited months for their orders, received partial or the wrong items, shoddy merchandise or no merchandise at all.

Northeast CONTACT spends a good percentage of volunteer time to unravel these frustrating consumer issues for the public. Human nature being what it is, we often focus on what is wrong with mail-order transactions.

Occasionally, it is important to recognize the good mail-order outfits, not just the bad ones. Right here in Maine is a business success story that long ago reached the high status of “North Woods legend” not unlike Bangor’s Paul Bunyan.

Today L.L. Bean continues its path of success, not only here, but globally. It is fascinating to see a photograph of an Old Town canoe sold by L.L. Bean being navigated in still waters, within the shadow of Mount Fuji in Japan, halfway around the world.

Leon Leonwood Bean started the company that bears his name in Freeport on Route 1 back in 1912. Bean specialized in sporting goods sold by salespeople who used the equipment themselves and thus were most knowledgeable about its use. They stood behind their products with an ironclad guarantee, and the legend was born.

One key product of the company, the Maine hunting boot developed by Mr. Bean, didn’t get off on the right foot. Out of the first 100 pairs sold, 90 were returned for repairs. L.L. Bean made them right, and they made them right right away.

There is an old political expression: “Those candidates who know the most about their constituents win.” L.L. Bean’s up-close and personal understanding of its customers and their needs has played a large role in its success.

Getting the right catalog to the right customer at the right time is an exacting science. While at first blush it may seem a simple concept, it’s clear that the devil is in the details. In the mail-order industry, L.L. Bean has the cleanest, most sophisticated catalog delivery system in the world.

In families where the mister and the missus each want their own copy, or a customer wants to receive only one of the specialty catalogs, L.L. Bean can deliver. It focuses on the needs and wants of each member of the household and targets those members. It does not rely on a shotgun approach. Perhaps this is why it is approaching $2 billion a year in sales

L.L. Bean has changed over the years, yet has kept its core values of service to its customers. Many baby boomers remember the Freeport retail store of the 1950s and ’60s, wide open, busy, and lit up like a Christmas tree at 2 a.m. every day of the year. We recollect the squeaky, hardwood floors groaning under the weight of yet another customer. The trout pond and the department store feel came only decades later.

Many mail-order customers who have never been to Freeport have an image of a pot-bellied stove and a quaint old-fashioned store, “somewhere up in the woods of Maine.” The company doesn’t want to change that quaint perception.

L.L. himself built the image of the company on “treating customers like people,” a time-honored business concept from which many of today’s firms could benefit. Mr. Bean used to say in the early catalogs: “No sale is complete until the product is completely worn out from use and the customer is satisfied.” Try that refreshing philosophy on the big-box store manager the next time your 1-year-old, wide-screen television goes dark.

Eight years ago, while on a business trip to Saint John, New Brunswick, a group of us were asked, “Where do you live?” When we responded Bangor, the Canadian thought a moment and then asked, “Isn’t that where L.L. Bean is located?”

Trying to make the best of the situation, I responded, “No. Bangor is where L.L. Bean would like to be!”

Little did we know then, that a few years later, Bangor would be graced with both a call center and a retail store. It was particularly fitting that at the public announcement of the company’s coming to Bangor, then-Mayor Frank Farrington had the foresight to wear to the ceremony his well-used L.L. Bean boots, purchased long ago when he graduated from Cony High School in 1948.

As L.L. Bean nears its centennial in 2012, Mainers and customers worldwide can take great comfort in the knowledge that this mail-order icon, like fine wine, keeps getting better and better with time.

Consumer Forum is a collaboration of the Bangor Daily News and Northeast CONTACT, Maine’s membership-funded nonprofit consumer organization. Individual membership costs $25; business rates start at $125 (0-10 employees). For help and information write: Consumer Forum, Bangor Daily News, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor 04402-1329.