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Customer Service - again

Guest post by: Douglas Long

Article Overview: Great customer service ought to be the norm - but all too often it is the exception. In this article Doug Long uses two recent Australian experiences to discuss the issue of customer service.

Customer Service - again

Quite a long time ago I listed an article “Cracked Eggs Don’t Hatch” in which I talked about my customer experience with Dell computers. Over the last 3 days I have had more customer experiences about which to talk.

First:

Last Saturday my son bought a new bed from an organisation in Penrith, Sydney named “Fantastic Furniture”. When he got it home he undid the packaging and was dismayed to find that there was evidence that the unit may have been used as a showroom display and that there had been some damage which had been badly repaired. Now had he bought this as an ex-showroom item this would not have been an issue – he would have accepted that things can get damaged in a showroom and that the reduction in price would have taken account of this. But this wasn’t bought as ex-floor stock!

My son phoned the store and spoke with Trevor, the manager. The response was immediate. There was no argument or request for additional justification. The manager accepted my son was not happy and that the item was damaged. He said the item will be replaced. Today they are delivering a new bed and taking the other one away even though they have to come over 40 km to reach our house. Now that’s customer service – “Fantastic Service from Fantastic Furniture” is how my son described it.

Second:

A few weeks ago I got new front tyres for my car from an organisation called JAXQuickfit Tyres in Thornleigh, Sydney. This morning I heard some noise from the brakes and, because I enjoy servicing my car, I decided to check the discs. On each of the front wheels, all the wheel nuts came off easily except 1 on each side – one stud snapped on each front wheel. Now I have been working on my various cars for over 50 years and in that time I have undone and done up countless wheel nuts – I’ve never before had a stud snap. Today I get two – one on each wheel that had recently had a tyre replaced by JAX. I phoned them and explained the coincidence to Mark, the manager. There was no hesitation. “We’ll fix it for you,” he said. “We’ll need the car for about an hour.”

Thank you Mr JAXQuickfit Tyres in Thornleigh.

The thing that saddens me is that service such as this is, all too often, the exception rather than the rule. No matter what consumer law in Australia may say, very often it is difficult to get people to do “the right thing” – and time and again we see the results of this played out on “public interest’ TV or in the Courts.

Now I’m not arguing that the customer is always right. No matter what the myths may say, we all know that the customer can be wrong. Is it possible that the unit purchased by my son was not previously on display in a showroom? Of course it is. He is fully prepared to accept that here may be myriad reasons why the product looked shop soiled. But that didn’t matter to Fantastic Furniture in Penrith. Is it possible that, after 50+ years of working on cars of all types, I get two wheel studs breaking on the same day and on the same wheels that had recently been worked on? Of course it is. But that didn’t matter to JAXQuickfit Tyres in Thornleigh. As a result each of these two organisations have now got another person who is delighted with their service and who will both use their services in the future and who will talk about them (very positively) to anyone who will listen.

Potentially the goodwill they have created is far more valuable than any dollars they may have spent in bringing “customer delight”.

As a customer my requirements are pretty simple:

• I want to “buy” – I don’t want to be “sold”
• I want the goods to be in good condition and totally suitable for their designated purpose
• I want to know that the vendor stands behind the sale and will correct things if necessary
• I want to know that any concerns, issues, complaints will be dealt with promptly, fairly, and without hassle

Good leadership ensures that vendors provide just such service – and Fantastic Furniture and JAXQuickfit Tyres are evidence that it can and does happen.

As a leader, what are you doing to create the environment in which customers can be delighted?

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Article Tags: great customer service, leadership, service customer



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