Take a Customer Service Advocate the Next Time You Go Shopping

The other day I received a voice message from someone I thought was contacting me for information on my consulting services. As I played the message over and over, I realized the caller was contacting me as a last resort and out of total frustration because of a bad customer service experience at her local home improvement store. When I called her back, she was nearly in tears describing how the previous week she went to purchase a large amount of tress for her yard. She went to the store, paid for the trees and they were to be put up for pick-up or delivery the following week. The day she expected the trees to arrive came and went. In the meantime, she had dug the holes in her yard, contacted the electric company to approve the sites prior to digging etc…

Assuming there must have been an oversight, she contacted the store only to be put on eternal hold, and when she finally spoke to a live person, they were unresponsive. She decided to resolve the issue in person. She was told that the person who took the order forgot to put the trees away until delivery, and they had been sold. The employee added they would not be getting anymore in from the nursery this year. She was offered a refund and sent on her way. Not only was she frustrated, she was now disappointed, angry, and felt helpless. That is why she contacted me; she explained the situation and asked if there was anything I could do to help her.

Although my services normally do not include customer advocacy, I felt compelled to help her. I gathered the details, names of the people she spoke to and her history of doing business with this company. Eventually, I escalated the call to the regional manager after attempting to get the issue resolved at the local level, and she finally received the trees.
This experience caused me to think, how many customers just give up because they do not have an advocate willing to fight for them? How do customers navigate through customer service indifference? How many customers feel the business they do with a company has value? How many people would have just taken the refund and left it at that?

I am convinced that customers should know their rights and not be afraid to speak up when they are not receiving a good quality customer service experience. After all, they have a choice on who they do business with.

When Should Common Sense Trump Company Policy?

A few weeks ago I wrote an article about the importance of companies taking care of the people who take care of their customers. Good Morning America's segment on Wal-Mart’s sick policy, “Is It Worth It to Take a Sick Day?” gives an intriguing example of a company going the opposite direction. The topic was specifically related to company policy and the H1N1 Flu. Basically, Wal-Mart has a punitive points system that demerits workers for sick days. Sick pay doesn't kick in until the second day, so employees must take personal or vacation days or just not get paid.
abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=9013984

I completely understand that policies are in place to provide direction and guidance for the employees and to protect the organization, but I also feel businesses must understand that compassion, leadership decision-making, and sometimes plain ol' common sense trump company policies. I listened to the VP, General Manager of Wal-Mart stores respond to a question regarding the company sick policy and the possibility that it may be changed or updated etc. The VP responded with what I consider an absolute no-no in leadership accountability: "That’s just the way our policy is written. That’s our policy.” Just because that is the way things have been done doesn't mean they can't change, especially when it comes to unique circumstances, like the H1N1 Flu. Employees who come to work sick (sometimes referred to as, "Presenteeism") still cost the company. Sometimes we focus on the loss in dollars and forget that sick employees who come to work cost us more in lower productivity and exposure to others, just to name a few.

If there is a situation where there is an employee abusing a policy, (one of the ladies interviewed mentioned she already had 3 occurrences) than management should address that performance issue. But the flu? Give them a break.

Take Care of Your Employees and They Will Take Care of Your Customers

It is a known fact that if we want to keep a customer happy we must value them and consistently provide them with a quality customer service experience that makes them want to come back. Are we putting the same value on the people who serve our customers? I am referring to the frontline staff, support staff and everyone else that helps make the customer experience positive and memorable. I recently came across this article written by Ken Blanchard for Success Magazine and felt it was worth sharing. I am sure you will find this article to be very valuable and insightful. Enjoy!

http://www.successmagazine.com/take-control-of-your-customer-service/PARAMS/article/824