Monday, March 8th, 2010...9:54 am
Customer Expectations….
Last year I went up to the Internet Retailer Show in Boston. I was hoping to find a few cool things and then watch my big brother speak at the Yahoo! Store SEO Merchant Summit.
We stayed at a pretty high-end hotel with an insanely well trained staff. It went way beyond the little touches.
For example, every time I called down stairs they would answer the phone ” Hello, Mr Snell how may we assist you?” Lucky for them Rob and I have the same last name. It was neat to watch it. I am a bit of a Customer Service junkie and I like to find folks that are good at it.
I also like to find the holes.
The moment it all fell apart was 4:20 am the morning we left. I got my wake up call on time and I even got the backup call they recommended since my call was at 4 am.
When I called down to the front desk to arrange for a cab to the airport I got no answer. It took 4 calls to the front desk to get someone on the phone. Once I did she was perfect just like every other time.
It placed an odd moment in an otherwise very “high level service” experience. I also was impressed at the greetings we got from the staff on our way out at the early hour.
My expectation of service was raised by the hotel and I was quite annoyed when they dropped the ball. It was really out of place.
It brought up two emails that I got earlier that week that I think require at least some examination.
The first customer started out his email with the sentence. “I doubt there is little chance this email will actually get to Steve Snell but…..” He went on to ask some questions about the differences between the Tri-tronics Sport Basic G3and the SportDOG 1825 that I use. Most of his questions where based on the use of vibration and training.
I once answered the majority of the emails. Well, that’s not totally true. When my father was alive, he did a big part of them.
Later I brought in folks to do the easy ones. Tracking numbers and basic questions.
Today we have 5 folks that over see email plus me. We get a bunch and I expect them to be answered quickly.
I do still see every email and every answer. I still answer my share (even some of the easy ones) and sometimes I’ll add additional info emails if I feel our answer needs some clarification.
Email is one of the biggest ways we interact with our customers and it’s important. We are nowhere as good at it as I would like to be, but I think we do a good job.
The other email came from a customer that had some issues with an automatic waterer he had just received in the mail.
Based on his multiple emails and the level of detail in his email there was no question he had put in the effort to get the product to work. It was a dud product. It happens.
My issue was that he felt he was “getting ripped off.”
I am always amazed how folks expect to get screwed in business transaction. Sometimes it’s the first thing they run to without ever giving us the chance to make it right.
I have to be real careful how I deal with these folks because I sometimes take their reaction the wrong way.
Our family has been in the mail order business for 37 years. We have not done it by ripping folks off. Our goal is to sell a high quality product and give a high level of service. Before and after the sale.
Does it always work out? I wish.
Mistakes happen. Defective products happen. Sometimes things out of our control make the buying experience less than pleasant.
All I want is a chance to make it right. If we can, we will. It’s not real common in today’s market, but it is how we run our company.
I emailed the customer (midnight on a Friday while I was 1000 miles away from the warehouse) just to let him know we would correct the issue to his satisfaction.
He was pleased (and a little surprised) that we responded at all…..
Steve Snell – Gun Dog Supply
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