 The Customer-Centric Experience |
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I walked into a popular store a few days ago to return a gift that someone had sent me via the Williams-Sonoma website. When I got to the counter, I explained that I wanted to return the item — I already own something similar and just wanted cash back.
The clerk behind the counter said, "Sorry, sir, but we don't sell this item in the store. This is going to have to go back." "What do you mean, 'go back'?" I asked. "It has to go back to the catalog. We don't sell that item in the store." I showed the clerk the purchase receipt. "This is Williams-Sonoma, right?" "Right. But as I told you, there are some items that the catalog sells and we don't sell. This has to go back to the catalog." I remembered the website stating that returns could be made in a store, so I asked for a manager. When he arrived, I stated my intention to return the product. "Unfortunately," he said, "we don't sell that product in the store, so it has to go back." This went on for a couple more minutes until, in exasperation, the manager said, "Sir, I'm telling you, it has to go back, so if you want to return it to us, we can only issue store credit for it." I paused. "You mean I can return it here?" "Yes, of course. We'll just have to return it to the catalog, so we can only issue store credit. If we sold it in the store, we could give you cash back." Mystery solved: it was all a difference in perspective. The clerks were explaining to me how the product return affected them (they would have to call the catalog and manage the return) and not how it affected me (I could only get store credit). Had they simply communicated in my language, the interaction would have gone much better all around: "We'll be happy to take that back, sir, though we can only issue store credit for it." I know that I'm not the only customer to experience this frustration: while I was at the counter, a woman came up with a gift return and began having the exact same conversation ("It has to go back") with the first clerk. As a story about a confusing gift return, it's an amusing vignette, reminiscent of the old "Who's on first?" Abbott and Costello routine. But the ramifications are much, much larger. The clerk took the company's perspective, and lost the opportunity to create a good customer experience. A difference in perspective: think of everywhere you've come across that in your dealings with businesses. Customer-hostile websites that mirror the organization's internal structure; tax forms filled with jargon and needless complexity; cell phone rate plans that are structured for the benefit of the carrier's network; health insurance claims rejected for arbitrary bureaucratic reasons; the list is endless. A colleague likens it to the pre-Copernican view of the world. Like the misguided early notion that the universe revolves around the earth, many business executives today still think that business revolves around companies. If that belief ever was true in the past, it certainly isn't true today, in the Internet era. Whether online or offline, customers now have unparalleled power to research and transact with companies exactly when, where, and how they choose. There is a new worldview at work that companies must either embrace, or ignore at their peril. The Customer-Centric Worldview: 1. Business revolves around the Customer. 2. Companies that focus on creating a good Customer experience will succeed far above those that do not. 3. This is the primary determinant of business success over the next several decades. This is no management fad, though management will play a role. This is not another name for the "information revolution," though information technology plays a central part in it. And this is not a tactical issue that can be solved with a laundry list of 218 guidelines. To the contrary, this should be the central strategic issue of your company, starting now. It's not a problem to be solved as much as a way of doing business. Stated another way: If you are in business, THIS IS YOUR LIFE for the foreseeable future. |
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Our purpose is to help small businesses, institutions and agencies deliver remarkable Customer Service which results in improved profit, Customer satisfaction and loyalty. |
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PO Box 617468 • Orlando, FL 32861 • 407-668-6466
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