I’m just off the phone with a phone company who botched a service call to our business big time: an unpleasant rep scheduled a service call, tech didn’t show, called the company to discover no record of the appointment, “nothing we can do”, etc.
(An interesting note: the original rep, who acted inconvenienced by my office manager’s call, ended the conversation by saying, “I assume you’ll want to score me a 10 on the service I provided?” Nothing like gaming the evaluation system…)
I spent 30 minutes scouring their website which seems dedicated to prevent you from contacting the company directly. I left messages for two high level executives that I never heard back from but I was eventually able to uncover the CEO’s number and his assistant sent our problem to the escalation department. Normally these service representatives are the best of the best.
Not in this case. The only “resolution” offered was that they come back next Wednesday, a week after the failed appointment.
What? That’s it? You couldn’t make it happen today? Sooner? What about the wasted time and effort (literally hours) spend by our office manager and me?
“Let’s cut to the chase, sir,” came the response from Ms. Escalation, “you want money.”
So delicate and diplomatic. But guess what? For me I didn’t want MONEY–I wanted ACTION; I wanted an indication that my business mattered.
It wasn’t about the money. It was about the principle.
I’d rather have the wasted time back and the frustration gone. I was trying to figure out if the company was willing to do anything to somehow demonstrate that they valued my business. They said they did but their actions indicated that they didn’t.
When we make mistakes on product orders, we do our best to compensate for the problem: we’ll include a free product, a credit, rescind the charge–something. It doesn’t cost us much but it proves we are serious about taking care of the customer. And it makes the customer happy.
For some customers is it about the money, but even if it is, there’s no need to be crass about it. Why not say, “Would it help to credit you something for your inconvenience?” How would this phone company respond to my explanation, “I forgot to pay my bill this month but I assure you I’ll make sure it gets paid next month. After all, I value our relationship.”?
Recently my wife Darla dealt with another service provider’s high-level service rep. When I told her of my experience, she said, “Exactly how I was treated.”
That makes me wonder: are some volume service providers trying to dumb down our expectations? Are we to be like Flounder in Animal House: “May I have another sir?”
There’s always a silver lining. Those service providers who do figure out how to politely and promptly solve problems and prove their commitment to customers stand out. They get talked about positively. They create long-term commitment instead of short-term revenue. They raise their retention rates and improve their service ratings.
And those are really powerful benefits for doing service recovery right.
That’s terrible. I recently had the same experience with Fry’s Electronics – they purposefully choose not to hear back from customers.
Great post, Mark. (Condolences about the experience, by the way.)
Over the years, I’ve found something interesting – nearly every “legendary service story” (Nordstrom, Ritz-Carlton, and, formerly, my own Disney Company) has been based in a service RECOVERY situation…when people are MOST vulnerable, MOST emotional, MOST in need. It is during these times that most (average) service providers make the mistake of reacting focused on it “not being their fault” instead of the focus being that the situation is severely impacting the customer experience. In these moments, the businesses who “get it” respond by going over and beyond. THIS is exactly the opportunity to separate your relationship from the sea of wanna-bes. (Some studies have actually shown that the level of satisfaction goes UP after a service recovery experience…IF it is done well.)
It is times such as these that long-lasting relationships of trust and commitment (loyalty) begin. Those who miss this are usually the businesses that wonder why their customers aren’t loyal and why it takes so much effort to merely stay afloat in a competitive business environment.
Obviously, the best choice is to do it right the first time. When “life happens” (no one is perfect), the next best option is to grasp the opportunity to establish a fan…which is ALWAYS a great investment.
Keep the insights coming, Mark!
Terrific comments, Mark. Your experience in world class delivery truly makes you an expert and valuable resource to your clients and I appreciate the time you make to add to the discussion here.
I feel ‘ya, and everyone who reads this can feel ‘ya, because we’ve all been there. Service in America is rapidly becoming an oxymoron, and nowhere is this more evident than with phone companies & cable companies (now typically one-in-the-same) and the airlines. (I recall the story you used to tell about your experience on the now defunct Eastern Airlines when after voicing a complaint and threatening not to fly them anymore, the gate agent snidely commented, “we’ll miss you, terribly.” In the final analysis, they actually did miss your business, though.
But in this situation, you’re far too classy, Mark. This is not the time to be discreet. Rather, it would be a great service to your readers to mention the company and perhaps even the individuals you dealt with BY NAME. Don’t let the bad guys get away with this crap.
In so doing, a) we will be able to make better informed decisions that will affect their bottom line and their future, and b) we will help you spread the news (via social media) to make certain they are held accountable and are forced to resolve situations. I bet they will find those Tweets and blogs that use their names.
This company didn’t know who they were dealing with. You have worked hard to get to the place where you now enjoy an international platform and are able to expose ‘service corruption’ like this and send an “I’m mad as hell and am not going to take it anymore” message that will force change.
Mark,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I did laugh out loud when you said the rep asked to be scored a 10 on the follow-up survey. Amazing.
The best companies are not only committed to resolving a customer’s issue, but take the extra step I call “easing the customer’s inconvenience.” As you said it’s not that you wanted money, but rather you wanted it resolved in a way that acknowledged the inconvenience this experience caused you and your team.
Imagine what a different post this would have been if just one person had done this. I guess easing the customer’s inconvenience is not on the survey.
Thanks again.
Doug, you are absolutely right. I believe “the why is always a who.” Why we keep doing business or stop doing business is ultimately determined by a “who”. In this case I experienced a zero and not a hero.
At lunch my friend Mark Shupe related a different outcome. After 15 phone calls to a service provider he finally got the right “who.” The customer service rep said, “To make up for your problems, we’re going to give you a year of service for free.” She “got it.” And of course my friend Mark is delighted and will tell many others.