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My Journey Through Inconsistency (Part 1)

 

I’m not sure I’m your typical customer anymore. After being in the customer experience industry for the last 12 years, I’ve become quite attuned to customer service and related issues when I’m out and about.

 

This week I witnessed a cardinal sin when it comes to customer service – inconsistency across channels and employees. This isn’t the first time it’s happened, but is a great example of keeping your  messaging and service levels consistent.

 

As you read this, keep in mind that the staff I’ve interacted with didn’t do anything wrong per se – they were all friendly and courteous ,and I believe they helped me in the best way they know how to. However, the information shared with me was inconsistent, causing confusion and hesitation on my part, which hindered my purchasing decisions.

 

Let me explain….

 

My daughter’s phone broke a few days ago. No matter where you live, you may have heard her screams of anguish when this happened. Being a teenager who is involved in sports and other activities, as well as having two similarly active siblings who need to get places and a father who travels often, leaving her mom (me) to play taxi and scheduling manager, I really need her to have a phone.

 

I checked her account online and saw that she wasn’t quite due for an upgrade, but I was. My first call was to my cell phone carrier, asking if it was possible to “give away” my upgrade to my daughter. I was told I could and we were off and running.

 

Since this company is notorious for having better deals online, that was my first stop. I checked our free options, and even the lower cost options, and didn’t find anything worth looking at. I remembered a friend saying that there were deals at Best Buy recently, so we skipped the web and went shopping.

 

Best Buy was a bust (I must have missed the deals) so on the way home we stopped at the cell phone carrier’s store. As we were browsing, the very pleasant associate shared that we could upgrade to an iPhone for no cost…..well, no cost until you add in the activation fee that can only be waived online, and the upgrade fee. I asked about the upgrade fee since I was told I could transfer my upgrade to my daughter. She said that was correct, but there was still a fee. I needed to think about this and go back online, so we went home. Already I’ve gotten two different versions of the story, and I needed to figure out which was correct.

 

Now my daughter has visions of an iPhone in her head, so I’m really in trouble. I go back online and search for this magically free iPhone upgrade that I didn’t see before and I actually find it. SUCCESS! I put it in my cart and it starts walking me through the purchase process. Wait – it’s asking me to choose a new plan, and I don’t see the plan I currently have. And it’s saying I’m going to need to pay an extra $10/month for my current phone since I’m upgrading.

 

Confused, I go to their chat feature. A nice woman named Jessica is eager to assist. I explain what I’m seeing, and she offers to look at my account. She says it’s all good and she can walk me through the process, but it will cost an additional $10/month. I ask why, as the phone is going to my daughter’s line, which already has that additional cost per month. I wasn’t understanding why my phone would get the additional charge when I wasn’t changing anything. She explained that this extra cost is for all phones activated since 2011. Okay, but mine was activated in 2010, so until I upgrade, it should stay the same, right? She says no, that’s not the case, and if “I like my data” the extra cost is well worth it. I ask if the activation fee is waived and the phone in my cart is really free so there are no more surprises, and she confirms that.

 

At this point I think I’m frustrating her with my questions, because she asks if she can transfer me to a “web specialist.” Karen comes in the chat and reviews my situation. She says she can help me but asks for a minute to review my information. When she returns, she tells me she is going to transfer me to someone who can help me better. LOL I waited a moment and laughed when I saw Jessica come back  – maybe there are two Jessica’s, but it still made me laugh when i realized they might be passing me around like a hot potato.

 

Jessica then confirms everything and asks if I want to go ahead with the purchase. I say yes and ask her what I need to do now that the phone is in my cart and I’m ready. She says she needs to send me a link to place this order. She sends it and I click, and interestingly enough it’s the same site I’ve been on. She tries walking me through finding the phone and adding it to my cart, but I explain it’s already there. She says I have to empty the cart and start over, so I do. Keep in mind nothing has changed so far, so I’m not sure why we took the extra step. When it came to the plan selection, she said to leave it because my plan will stay the same. I tell her I cannot go forward without choosing a plan. She reiterates that my plan will stay the same and I should be at the purchasing page. I ask her what to do here, since I can’t go forward without choosing a plan and I don’t see my plan as an option. She says to select a plan and move on. Then she says I have the option of having it shipped or picking it up in a store. I was thrilled that I could pick it up in the store and went for that option. She explained how that worked and was eager to leave me at this point, so I put her out of her misery. Not before confirming that this would all work fine, there would be no additional cost for picking up in store, and I could simply activate the phone on my daughter’s number and all would be well.

 

After all this, I get to the final page and I’m thinking I’m home free. Wait, what is this? My “free” upgrade somehow lost a discount in this last step, because now I’m not only paying the extra $10/mo, but my “free” upgrade is now costing me $100. Tempted to hunt down Jessica and get some answers, I instead do what all retailers hate: I abandon my cart and close the computer.

 

Mind you this process has taken a day and a half. At this point I’m frustrated and my daughter is lying in the fetal position going through withdrawal. The second part is not a bad thing really, but this is taking entirely too long.

 

For my next move, check out the next installment of the story, which is coming soon!

 

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CEI is the new NPS

 

You’re likely very familiar with the NPS score – Net Promoter Score. This tool asks one simple question: “How likely is it that you would recommend us to friends or family?”Using a 0-10 scale rating, with 0 being “not at all likely” and 10 being “extremely likely” businesses use it as a gauge of customer satisfaction – after all, if customers are rating this question as a 10, it’s likely they had a good enough experience to want to recommend to others.

 

The newest tool that is emerging no longer focuses on the NPS rating. Instead, we’re seeing the focus shift to CEI – Customer Effort Index.

 

Simply put, customers are asked to rate the effort that was put into their interaction with your company on a similar scale as the NPS rating; however, with CEI, businesses want to see a lower rating, meaning that the effort was minimal.

 

How can you ensure your customers do not have to go through significant effort to do business with you?

 

1. Ensure your telephone system is simple, gets customers where they need to go quickly, and don’t ask customers to repeatedly enter information, such as a customer number, every time they are taken to the next step of the interaction.

 

2. For online purchases, make sure all costs related to the purchase, including shipping and tax, are spelled out early in the process. Waiting until the last step of the process can frustrate customers and lead to abandoned carts. Make sure your website allows for easy navigation so there is not a lot of effort put into finding what customers are looking for.

 

3. Is your return process simple? Ensuring that customers are not spending a lot of time in line, or filling out multiple forms to make a simple return can go a long way in customer satisfaction.

 

4. Are your registers well staffed? Long lines at the point of purchase can frustrate any customer – make it easy for them to complete the transaction. Some POS systems seem to have customers confirm information more than once, or answer feedback questions. Some even ask if you’d like to make a donation to a specific charity. This is the final step in their interaction with your business; make it simple and efficient.

 

There are many other ways to decrease customer effort, and taking the time to look at your operational procedures and reviewing interactions from the customer’s point of view will help you learn what takes the most effort. From there, you can find ways to make it easier on your customer base.

 

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The Flying Fish

 

When I speak to prospective clients I find that many are not quite sure what is meant by customer engagement and how they can incorporate this into their business.  A little history first. Customer Engagement is not Customer Service. This evolution has occurred primarily because of Social Media.  Wikipedia defines CE this way:

 

Customer engagement (CE) is the engagement of customers with one another, with a company or a brand. The initiative for engagement can be either consumer- or company-led and the medium of engagement can be on or offline.

 

Customer Engagement marries marketing and customer service together with the purpose of building the brand and creating loyal customers in a new and exciting way. When visiting Myrtle Beach recently, I had a fantastic experience at a local restaurant/market called, “The Flying Fish.” When my guest and I walked in, we were immediately greeted and asked if we wanted to sit outside or inside. Pretty normal so far. Next the server got our drinks and brought us out a complimentary fish dip with crackers. Nice and unexpected. The experience was great- overlooking the bay while dining outside on a warm summer evening. Everything was timed perfectly and the food was prepared as the menu described and came out the perfect temperature. 
 

 

The surprise came after dinner. After we paid our bill and began to walk out of the restaurant. We stopped to glance at the fresh fish in the case. After about 90 seconds an employee approached from behind and asked if we had any questions about the fish. We began a conversation and asked her some questions. She then asked what we had for dinner and we told her. She “engaged” with us for another 5 minutes – not selling us, just having a nice conversation. It was one of the very best experiences I have had in a restaurant in quite some time. I will always remember the experience and visit again anytime I am back in town. 

 

How about you? Can you remember the last time an employee actually engaged with you?

 
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