From quality-assurance techniques to call center staff training: the venerable cataloger’s customer-service strategies

By Gabrielle Mosquera and Donna Loyle

Centner says the company strives to balance the classics with trendier apparel. Rather than introduce an all-new line of products each year, merchandise and design staffs collaborate to pair well-known styles with newly updated colors.

Even staple products are refreshed occasionally. For example, the Lands’ End chino has undergone a mini-evolution since 1993. Until then, it was a simple twill pant: well-constructed, but stiff in feel. Customer feedback sent the merchandise team looking for a softer fabric, which it found and has successfully incorporated into its product line.