Over a period of many months, Comcast called me two times to see if I would like to add digital voice. They quoted a great introductory offer and a competitive rate to follow. Calls like this aren’t uncommon, but what they did next is surprisingly unusual. When I turned them down, they asked why. I usually have my reasons, yet amazingly, almost no one ever asks.
If a hospital can make good after a crippling mistake, you can too! Businesses make mistakes faster than anyone can count. Customers suffer from those mistakes daily. And many businesses ignore their mistakes, sweep them under the rug, and deny them vociferously. Why? What does it do for anybody? Not much, is the answer. In the August 25th Wall Street Journal, Laura Landro writes about a hospital mistake that left a smart little 18-month old girl with a crippling brain injury. Unlike many businesses, and hospitals, this hospital admitted their mistake. They explained to the parents exactly what happened and why. And then they set about preventing a recurrence.
When you write or speak, tell your audience what they need to know, not everything you know. This lesson applies equally well to sales and marketing. Too often, businesses inundate customers with too much information, feature details, and technical gobbledygook. Watch this YouTube video for a dramatic lesson in the value of simple, clear, focused messages: MicroSoft designs the iPod packaging
I sent an email to my account representative in an effort to prevent a problem with an order. I got no response. Three possibilities came to mind: She took care of my concern but didn’t bother to tell me She was out of the office and did not have her email forwarded to someone who could ensure prompt attention She did not understand my concern and simply dismissed the email without following up None of these left me with a good feeling. I felt like I had dropped one more well-intentioned email into the abyss. Are you leaving your customers suspended in uncertainty?
I received a letter recently telling me that I will receive a gift shortly – a book. The book is obviously part of someone’s marketing plan, though the letter is bizarre enough so that I am not sure who is getting what from this beyond me getting a free book. But wait, that isn’t worth writing about. Here is the interesting part: Enclosed with the letter was a 3″ x 5″ label with the author’s signature. I can stick that in the book when it arrives to make it look autographed!!! I could also stick it on my recycling bin to make THAT look autographed. Should this woman get the award for best labor reduction technique or cheesiest marketing technique? What do YOU think?
A visit to Verizon’s website one day when I was furious with them, provided the inspiration for this series of postings. It was there that I saw “Customer Service Innovation” and immediately thought “Lip Service Innovation” more apropos. I post my customer service experiences here in the hopes that other businesses can avoid committing similar offenses. And for those of you thinking of pledging great customer service, as Verizon did, you may want to read my article, “Keep Your Mission to Yourself!” Transgression #1: I have reservations to fly Northwest Airlines to Minneapolis in 2 days. I recently received an email from NWA promoting a great sale for the holidays. I decided to run a price check against my ticket, just out of curiosity.
Keep your mission to yourself! Your vision too, for that matter! And I don’t want to hear about your values either. As a customer, I’m sick of all the words. I prefer evidence. Give me good value, helpful service, on-time delivery, and a reliable product or service that fits my needs well, and I will be back. Furthermore, I will tell my friends. But tell me how great you are, and how great you are determined to be, and I will just wish you spent all of that talking-time answering my questions, getting the job done, and preventing problems. Deliver on your mission! Doggedly pursue your vision! Live your values! And then you won’t have to tell me about them. I’ll be able to tell you.
Ever been left with a bitter taste in your mouth despite receiving a great product? Ever felt the anxiety build as a supplier provides you with a steady stream of reasons to be worried about your order? Ever been left on hold for 5 minutes just to learn that the person able to answer your question is out? We are all customers and we know what we hate. But do we know what it is like to be our own customer? A great product isn’t good enough if the effort needed to obtain that product is painful. A great service will disappoint if even more was expected. A question without a quick, complete answer will send a customer looking elsewhere. What are your customers experiencing?