When AAA came to my Mom’s house to jump start or replace the battery in her car, and the young serviceman couldn’t find her battery, I knew something was wrong. I politely said, aren’t you trained to start batteries? He told me that every car is different. That was his answer. An example of customer disservice.
As I sat on the phone waiting for one hour to confirm a Westin reservation, I was shocked when they wanted me to take a survey about their service. Along with the music, I heard, “an associate will be with your momentarily” for 57 minutes. Do they really want me to take a survey after putting me on hold for an hour?
Clicking on the UPS link, I couldn’t figure out what the message meant when it said they would deliver my package at 7 pm. Silly me. I thought that meant they would deliver my package at 7 pm since it required a signature. When I finally reached a human being, he told me that 7 pm means anytime from 9 am to 7 pm. Why not say that?
I tried to get through to an insurance company and sat on hold for an hour and twenty minutes. They never answered my call. I tried again the next day to no avail. Their letter said we care about our customers. No, you don’t.
Get Off My Lawn
I don’t think I’m a cranky old man. However, I’m finding it hard to understand why companies are making everything so difficult these days. Poorly trained employees, terribly designed communication and messages that serve to confuse.
If you want to compete today, find a way to offer service that beats expectation. Stop advertising how you care and start caring by adding people to call centers, so you treat customers more respectfully.
Marketing is no longer about the message you deliver through advertising, but the promise you keep in doing simple things like answering the phone or training car mechanics to find the battery.
When I downloaded an app to make photo albums from my iPhone pictures called Chatbooks, I realized that their name was part of how they serve customers. Got a question, text/chat with them instantly. They built their model on making it easy for customers to get answers quickly. I love their product but just as important, I love how they made me feel when they instantly responded to my question.
Texting is a fabulous approach for quick answers to customer questions. But that takes design thinking to determine how to best make it easy for customers to work with your business.
Call Me Back
Design thinking involves planning how to create a system to better serve the needs of your customers.
Why is it so difficult for so many companies to say, it’s a long wait, we can call you back when it is your turn. Just give us your number and when it is your turn, we will get back to you. I have had this experience a few times, and it changed how I felt about the company and whether I’d recommend them.
Sorry, I have to go.
An associate will be with me momentarily and I’m still on hold.
Do you know what your customers experience when they want answers from your business?
You can set up a time to chat with me about your marketing challenges using my calendar. Email me jeffslater@themarketingsage.com Call me. 919 720 0995. The conversation is free, and we can explore if working together makes sense. Try my new chat feature on my site if you have a quick question.
Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
