Your Customers Matter...Don't They?

Fox Nissan - First Impressions

A few days ago, I received a recall notice for the 2005 Nissan I purchased last fall.  According to the letter, a bug in the computer could cause the engine to fail while traveling down the highway.  If your engine has ever unexpectedly stalled while you were driving, you already know that it’s practically impossible to steer a car that stops running.  The thought of my engine killing at 70 miles per hour was all the motivation I needed to schedule the repair…pronto.

My dilemma was, not knowing whom to call to get it fixed.  About a month after purchasing the car from Gezon Nissan, they earned a spot on my “Business Blacklist”…(companies I no longer do business with), but that’s another post. 

Fox Nissan, was the only remaining dealer (locally) who was authorized to handle the repair.  Quite honestly, I was a little worried that Fox Nissan wouldn’t be to excited about doing free recall work on a car I purchased from their competitor.  But they surprised me.  They were not only willing to do the work, they were happy to have my business, even though I wouldn’t be paying them a dime. 

Upon arriving for the appointment I pulled up to what appeared to be a pristine staging garage.  Before I knew it, a smiling service advisor was running out to greet me.  I knew right away that Paul was different than any other service advisor I’d dealt with in the past.  It was the first time in a very long time that a service person made me feel like I was his most important customer of the day.  Great energy Paul!

Next, he guided me through some quick paperwork and signature requests, but it was his next question that floored me.  “Could we have your approval to wash and vacuum your car when we’re finished?”  I think my jaw dropped.  Of course, I let them wash and vacuum my car. 

From there, Paul toured me through the customer lounge.  Along the way, he pointed out a small room equipped with two desktop computers with internet access.  The lounge area actually reminded me of an over sized family room/kitchen combination.  And yes, it’s a free WiFi hotspot, in case you bring your own laptop. 

The kitchen area was decked out with snack bar seating, fresh baked cookies, warm popcorn, and a refrigerator full of cold drinks.  The central focus of the family room area was the giant flat screen digital TV.  It was also stocked with plenty of reading material and even a few toys for the kids.

My car was finished in about an hour, just as I was promised.  Paul came out and knelt down beside me to handle the final paperwork.  Five minutes later, I was on my way.

What went well? 
In this instance, pretty much everything!  The facility is designed to accommodate sales AND service.  They seem to have a well thought out customer experience strategy.  And their “special touches” set them apart from their competitors.  My first impression is, they care and it shows.

What could have gone better?
Not really anything significant in this visit.  I suppose if I wanted to be really fussy I’d say, they could have dried my freshly washed car, rather than sending me on my way dripping wet.  But quite honestly, a free car wash an auto dealership is a first for me…and I appreciate it!

Now, we all know that results are measured over time, and not just one experience.  But, I’m a customer with fairly high expectations, and obviously, I think Fox Nissan knows how to make a great first impression.  Thanks Fox, and thank you Paul, for creating a great customer experience.

Clark Howard On Customer Service

In case you’re not familiar with Clark Howard, he’s a nationally syndicated consumer advocate who shares his sage advice through The Clark Howard Show.  I’ve been a big fan for quite some time now.

In one of his hottest topics this week, he highlights some of the results from the recently released American Customer Satisfaction Index, published by the University of Michigan.

He also threw in a few comments on a couple of consumer related articles published by Business Week.

Go check check them out

Clark - Customer Satisfaction Survey Results Revealed

Business Week - Consumer Vigilantes

Business Week - Customer Service Champs

A Good Warranty Can Help You Rest Easy

Back in 1998, I set out on a mission to purchase all new furniture for my new condo.  I really wasn’t interested in investing heirloom quality furnishings, so after countless hours of comparison shopping, I made the bulk of my purchases from our local Art Van Furniture store. It’s now 10 years later, and I’ve never regretted my decision.

One of my purchases was a King Koil king sized mattress and box spring that was backed by a 20 year warranty.  Five years later, in 2004, it dawned on me that my mattress might be the culprit behind my aching back. 

Art Van sent someone from the service department to come and measure the sag in my mattress.  If it measures 1 ½ inches deep, they consider the mattress defective, and providing it’s still under warranty, they bring you a replacement.

It turns out that my mattress was failing, but since the sag didn’t quite measure 1 ½ inches, they recommended that I call them back in about 6 months.  I really didn’t want to suffer another 6 months, so I thought it was worth another call to ask if they ever make exceptions to the rule. 

Without any haggling or hassling, Art Van offered to call King Koil on my behalf.  The next day Art Van called with King Koil’s response, “Whatever the customer wants.” 

I have to admit that I hesitated about selecting another King Koil, but the salesman sealed the deal for me when he said, “I won’t promise you that this new mattress will last you 20 years, but I will promise you that the company will back the warranty for 20 years.”  That was all it took.

Now again, almost 4 years later, I realize that my back aches when I get up in the morning.  But this time I was a little hesitant about asking for another replacement.  I conjured up all kinds of stories in my head about how Art Van and King Koil might try to weasel out of giving me a second replacement.

Finally, I took a deep breath and made the call.  Once again, without the least bit of hassle, they dispatched the service department to come out and measure the sagging mattress.  This time it more than met the 1/1/2 inch criteria to be deemed “defective”.  Within a week, I was sleeping like a baby on my new mattress.

I honestly cannot count the times that I have told people about this great service experience, and you can be sure that I’ll continue to spread the word.

Sometimes things go wrong  and you can’t always completely control the quality of a product or service your customer receives. But you CAN always control how you make it right.

Thank you Art Van and King Koil, for keeping your promises and for making both of these experiences hassle-free.

Sweet Care From Sweetwater.com

Earlier in the week, I was searching online for a uniquely shaped footrest.  Google pointed me to a professional guitar footstool for $8.97, with free shipping, sold through Sweetwater.com.  On Sunday evening, I sent a message asking for the dimensions of the stool. 

That was the beginning of a delightful customer service experience that Sweetwater calls SweetCare.

First thing Monday morning I received a response from Art Hill, Sweetwater Sales Engineer.  He said he didn’t have the exact dimensions of the stool, so he gave me a rough estimate.  Then he went on to offer to contact the manufacturer if I needed the exact measurements.

Over the course of a couple of days, Art and I exchanged 4 or 5 very friendly and helpful emails.  As it turned out, the stool wasn’t large enough to meet my needs, and I would have been disappointed with it.  Thanks to Art’s great work, I wasn’t inconvenienced.

What was special about Art’s SweetCare?

In addition to being friendly and helpful, Art genuinely cared about getting me the information I needed.  And he didn’t stop there.  He went a step further and showed an interest in whether or not the stool was going to meet my needs. 

Even though Sweetwater.com didn’t sell me a $9 stool that day, they gained a SweetCare raving fan. 

Let’s spread the word.  Who do you know that’s interested in music and recording equipment?  Send them to Sweetwater.com.

Tech Support Excellence At Comcast

You always know it’s going to be a long day when you boot up your computer and your internet access isn’t working.  I tried for a couple of hours this morning to troubleshoot the problem myself before I finally threw in the towel and called Comcast.

After a short wait on hold I was connected with Dennis.  Dennis was one of the best service providers I’ve talked with in a very long time.  For an hour he put my system (and me) through all kinds of maneuvers trying to get to the source of the problem.  He was smart, patient, personable, and committed to help me get to the bottom of the problem.

As it turned out, he concluded that it was a router issue.  He didn’t just “dump me” and tell me to call Linksys.  First he coached me on what to say so I got the “language” right.  Then he called them with me and promised he’d stay on the line until the issue was resolved. 

On the first try we waited on hold for some time, so he ended the call and kept me with him on the line.  In the meantime, he contacted the Linsys online live support.  They gave him another telephone number to try.  If a few short minutes he was dialing them again.  Somewhere in the Linksys call transfer process, Dennis dropped off the line.

I never got to thank him, so Dennis, if you see this, Thank You!  You were excellent.  I appreciate your patience and your willingness to help me!  You are an outstanding example of someone who gives great customer service.

The story doesn’t end there, because Lisa at Linksys “dumped me” at her first opportunity.  She was very quick to diagnose a modem problem and told me to go back to Comcast.

A couple of hours ago I made another call to Comcast.  This time I reached Brandon.  I asked if he could get me to Dennis, since Dennis was already familiar with the problem.  He cheerfully offered to check Dennis’ extension.  He came back and told me Dennis was with another customer.  Then he gave me options. Dennis could call me back, or he (Brandon) could help me.

Mind you, I didn’t want to start all over again with Brandon, but there was something in his voice that convinced me it would be ok.  Brandon quickly reviewed Dennis’ notes.  I briefly brought him up to date and within a couple of minutes Brandon had some ideas about a few different things we could try.

Brandon was like a Dennis clone.  He was friendly, patient, knowledgeable, and committed to doing every thing he could to help me.  Once again, after 30 – 45 minutes, we had narrowed it back down to a router problem.

By that time, I was beginning to wonder if I needed a new router.  I asked Brandon if he’d mind sharing his personal opinion on router models, life expectancy, recommendations, etc.  Once again, he was extremely helpful.

THANK YOU Dennis, Brandon and Comcast!  Your commitment to great service made a difficult situation a little easier for a very grateful customer.

One Secret Most Businesses Could Learn From Meijer Inc.

In case you don’t live in the Midwest, Meijer is locally owned and operated chain of grocery stores.  Over the years they’ve expanded their product line to match their “One Stop Shopping” slogan.

I’ve written in the past about how they’ve struggled over the last few years to position themselves to better compete with Walmart’s superstores.

One of their latest secret weapons beats Walmart hands down.  In fact, it’s one that most businesses could learn a thing or two from.  And the best part of all, it’s simple, yet amazingly powerful.

It’s called “customer feedback”! 

Like many businesses, Meijer’s website has almost always had a feedback section.  But a couple of months ago someone finally came up with the idea to fine tune it and actively encourage customers to share their opinions.

On the bottom of every sales receipt there’s a (large print) message that goes like this, “Rate Your Shopping Experience and You May Win a $1000 Meijer Gift Card!”  Customers get the option to phone in or use the web-based system. 

Unique user ID’s and passwords are printed right on the sales receipt.  Instead of assigning the user ID and password to identify customers, it appears as though they identify the store, the checkout clerk, time/date of sale, purchases, etc.

The 6 or 7 survey questions are simple, quick, and painless.  At the end they provide a free flow text area (on the web based system) so you can add comments, suggestions, or feedback.  If you’d like to be entered into the gift card drawing you simply fill in the customer contact information at the tail end of the survey.

Why do I think this is so brilliant? Three simple reasons:

1. Because so few businesses care enough to ask
2. Because in essence, they’ve turned their entire customer base into an army of mystery shoppers
3. Because they take it one step further and give customers an incentive to participate

It all seems so simple, yet it’s beyond me why every single business owner doesn’t use the same strategy.  Why wouldn’t you want to know what your customers are thinking?

Who are the other businesses out there that are actively encouraging customer feedback?  Post them here.  Let’s start a collection.

One Reason To Shop At Chowhound Pet Supply Warehouse In Grand Rapids, MI Plus One Reason To Think Twice

Chowhound Pet Supply Warehouse is a locally owned and growing small business.  For many years I’ve made a point of doing some of my pet supply shopping there simply because they have always delivered excellent customer service.

I’ll never forget the day I happened to be talking to the manager about finicky kitties when she offered, “Anytime your cat won’t eat food you’ve purchased here, you just bring it back …even if it’s opened.”

That was the moment in time that Chowhound solidified our relationship.  Since then, I’ve made it a point to do business with them whenever their prices are relatively close to the competitors. 

A few times I’ve even taken them up on their return policy.  Every experience was delightful.  Even once or twice when I didn’t have my receipt.

Sunday (5 days ago) I stopped in to pick up a treat of fresh cat grass for my kitty.  Quite honestly, it didn’t look fresh, but I thought, “What the heck, it should last him a couple of weeks, and if it doesn’t, I’ll just bring it back”.  They charge $4.99 for a cup of dirt with 3 cents worth of seed growing in it.

Sure enough, as the end of the week approached, it was beginning to die.  So today as I was heading out on my errands I stuck it in a bag and grabbed the receipt to return it.

Today’s return experience was a totally different, and I’m not quite sure why. 

The young cashier picked it up, looked it over and said, “Didn’t it work for you or what?”

I must admit…she caught me off guard.  I said, “Look at it, I bought it 5 days ago and it’s dieing.”  In a teenage like tone of “I’m going to have the last word” she then decided to start quizzing me about how I’d taken care of it. 

Mind you, the remainder of the cat grass stock is about a foot away from me and it all looks like they’re squeezing the last bit of life out of it.

By the time we reached the third quiz question, I’m sorry to say, my fuse had been lit.  I’m not proud to admit that I looked her in the eye and said, “Don’t mess with me!  Just take it back!”

I’m not sure what happened there today.  It’s possible the cashier was new.  It’s possible that Chowhound has changed their return policies.  The only thing I know for sure is that it wasn’t my usual great experience.  And even though the past great experiences outweigh the one “not so great” experience, you can be sure that I’ll think twice about where I’ll go next time.

Random Acts Of Service - Toshiba

The final Random Act Of Service for the day was a call to Toshiba.  I had a simple question about whether my warranty would be violated if I installed additional memory on my laptop.

The friendly woman I reached required the serial number before she could talk to me further.  I said, “Just a second I need to find some glasses.”  She snickered a bit and said “Don’t feel bad I’m up to using a magnifying glass.” 

Then of course I had to turn it upside down and flip it around before I could position it in a way to find the serial number.  I suggested that there must be an easier way to make this information more accessible. 

She responded, “I found an easier way!  I got tired of crawling all over and going through the gyrations so I just collected all of my pertinent information and put it in a Rolodex!”  Great idea! 

Even though she couldn’t answer my original question, I was most appreciative of her sense of humor and her great idea!  Once again…making a personal connection matters.

So…what about you?  What Random Acts Of Service stories do you have to share? 

Random Acts Of Service - Target

The Target store was next on my list of errands.  I called earlier in the day and asked if they could hold a (sale priced) digital camera for me.  “No problem” the young man replied.  “You can pick it up at the service desk”. 

When I arrived to make the pick up, I noticed that it was packaged in one of those molded plastic packages that are practically impossible to open without losing a couple of fingers.  In a joking sort of way I said, “Hey, can you open it for me too?”  The young lady looked at me and in a bit of a sarcastic tone she said, “And would you like me to set it up for you too?”  I just ignored the quip and commented something like, “You know how hard it is to get those things open.” 

After she rang up the sale, to my surprise she grabbed a pair a scissors and proceeded cut through that plastic packaging like she was and expert.  An example of another much appreciated and personal connection.

So…what about you?  What Random Acts Of Service stories do you have to share? 

Random Acts Of Service - My CPA

The day started with a meeting with my CPA to go over my taxes.  Now I really like my CPA as a person, but like most people, tax day is certainly not one that I look forward to.  Yesterday was different though. 

We spent a little time catching up with each other on what’s going on in our lives.  We quickly went through the necessities of the tax details.  Then he took the time to share some very thought provoking wisdom about my current financial situation, suggested some strategies for going forward, and even offered to help me connect with some people in his network. 

That’s a personal connection that matters!

So…what about you?  What Random Acts Of Service stories do you have to share?