Customer Service Observed
Pack up your gear, campers, we’re going to Vegas.
Actually, I’m going to Vegas this weekend, and in preparation for my trip, I noticed some customer support performances that made me both cringe and applaud. I’m going to point out these various stops along our route.
To tell the tale, I’ll start with some background information. I have bad ears, and flying without aids is not only painful, but makes me nauseous. There are two main brands of pressure-reducing aids on the market. Of these brands, usually only one is available (1). Unfortunately, though this brand has two sizes, one is too big and the other too small, so it’s unacceptable.
The other brand is the perfect size, but not readily available in stores. I found it on the internet a week ago and ordered it.
My package arrived yesterday. Unfortunately, they did not send me the brand I ordered, but the uncomfortable brand (2). I had to search for a number to call (3). When finally connected, I told the representative I was sent the wrong products. She offered to send me the correct products, but said they would arrive on Friday. I said that didn’t do me any good, as my flight was on Thursday. She asked what else she could do, and I said, “Well, I’d rather have a refund.”
In less than 10 minutes, I had notification that my refund went through (4).
I still did not have any ear plugs, and only one day to get this resolved. Now, every day, one of our engineers goes for a walk, and sometimes one or two of us go with him. The walk goes to the local pharmacy to get a soda, which takes about 40 minutes round-trip. I went, remembering that the manager of the pharmacy said some products could be ordered with a one-day turn-around. I gave the SKU number for the product, and she told me to return the next day after 1:00 PM.
During this time, a man was in front of me, trying to pick up a prescription. He was told they were out (5), but he could go to their store in the next town where they had the drugs (6).
I walked back to the store today, and my ear plugs were waiting for me. The right brand, a decent price, and promises kept.
Throughout this tale, I’ve numbered some customer-service items. I’ll explain my thoughts on them:
1. Two national brands, vastly different in shape. Why not carry both? They don’t expire, so leaving them on the shelf until they sell should not be an issue. In other words, give people options. Forcing people to choose means either they grudgingly accept the product they don’t want (and are unhappy), or they don’t buy at all.
2. Someone decided to fill my order with the wrong product. Either they thought the products were interchangeable, they were lazy, or they were out of the product I wanted. It’s not up to them to change it, and if the product is unavailable, notify me and give me options to substitute, wait, or cancel. If they are lazy, make sure it doesn’t happen again or take action to correct the behavior.
3. Make your number available on websites and receipts. Customers should never have to search for that information. Atalasoft’s number is at the top of every page in our site. So is the sales’ team email address. (Scribe's note: shortly after returning from Vegas, I was informed the number and email were removed from every page sometime in December, and is now only available on the Support and Contact pages. I argued for their return and was denied.)
4. I was an unhappy customer, and the representative tried to make me happy by getting me the right product, and when that wasn’t the best option, refunded my money without question and faster than I would have ever imagined. I would do business with them again, knowing I have some safety in my transactions.
5. This point goes back to #2. If you know you are out of a product, inform the customer. In this particular industry, records are tracked by computer – it should be just as easy to develop a way to call or send an email to the customer. There are zero reasons these days to be uncommunicative. Let the customer know he may have to drive to a different location.
6. This references point #5. You have a customer who needs something. You know you don’t have it, but your other store does. Is it not possible to have the product delivered to your store? For pharmacies, it may be that the courier needs special licensing or bonding to handle such transporting, but it should be a consideration to have that in place. What if the customer was dependent on public transportation?
I could end all this with some philosophical advice and parallels of my experiences as a support engineer in the software industry, but, really, everything is pretty clear in four rules:
1. Do it right.
2. If you can’t, communicate.
3. Do what you can do.
4. Do it quickly.
Off to Vegas now. Wish me luck at the tables.