J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler calls customer in brilliant PR move

J. Crew CEO Mickey Drexler’s move to respond by phone to a disgruntled shopper’s email is being hailed as a lesson in great customer service.

It should be viewed as savvy public relations move. Too many corporations still don’t get it.

The story begins when the wife of a Forbes columnist, herself a former advertising executive, writes an email to J. Crew’s 24-7(at)jcrew.com customer service line.

According to husband Chris DeRose, in a Forbes blog this week, the email doesn’t pull any punches, complaining that the company’s new fall line appears to be “leaving your core values and styling and abandoning your loyal customers.”

It’s not clear what tipped off the team reading incoming emails at J. Crew – maybe they recognized the name, or more likely it was the fact that her negative review was written in coherent sentences and that she dared to leave her phone number – but within 24 hours she got an email response and a call back from the CEO himself.

After a long chat, the retailing legend credited for turning around Ann Taylor, Banana Republic and the Gap, left the woman with a message: J. Crew won’t be straying from its classic styles.

It’s worth noting that DeRose’s wife is not your average J. Crew customer. She was one of select group of customers recently provided with a preview of J. Crew’s upcoming fall and holiday collection.

Still, DeRose’s argument is that Wexler took the feedback himself, instead of leaving it to underlings, and that more executives should consider the tactic.

“Mickey Drexler went out of his way to do what an unfortunately small number of CEOs practice – he went the extra mile to get direct customer feedback,” writes DeRose.

What makes Wexler really smart is that he understands is the impact a seemingly off-the-cuff move can have on a brand, all thanks to social media.

DeRose’s column is all over Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels (and being written about here at Yahoo!) which means he gets it.

Instead of allowing influencers like DeRose’s wife to starting talking to others about her disappointment in the retailer’s latest fashions, he nipped the problem in the bud.

At the same time, he turned a potentially negative brand story into a public relations win.

No wonder they call him the “retail therapist.”