You may have lots of customer service processes and procedures in your company but they are worthless if they’re not working correctly. The can create obstacles that will keep your customers from ever coming back.
Recently, I had to rent a tuxedo. Due to changing fashions and my ever changing size, I’ve never bought one. After doing a quick online search, I realized that a nearby Men’s Wearhouse store rents tuxedos.
Placing the rental was relatively easy. When I asked when the tux would be ready for pickup, I was told that it might be in on Tuesday.
When Tuesday came, I called the store and was told that it was in. As soon as said I would be over to pick it up, there was a click on the phone. No “goodbye” or anything like that. It’s kind of rude but maybe it was a busy time or someone was having a heart attack in the store.
When I entered the store a short while later, there were a lot of clerks standing around. I said I was the guy who had called earlier and was here to pick up my tux. The clerk checked the list which clearly showed that it had not arrived. There was no apology or any explanation. To me, this is a sign of a poorly managed store. Apparently, lists can’t be checked over the phone.
I look around, don’t see any management types so I decided to go home and voice my concerns through a direct message on Twitter. I tweet that I had a disappointing customer experience at that particular store. Men’s Wearhouse is made up of many stores so I figure it’s best to approach the central authority with my concerns.
Before long I get a response, through Twitter:
Look closely at the email address. Does something seem a little off? To my eyes, it looks like there’s an extra space between the “dot” and the “com.” So I message back, mentioning my observation. Here’s the response:
Moments later, I summarize my experience, cut and paste the address, and hit send on the email. And it comes back as undeliverable. Why? Because there is a space between the “dot” and the “com.” I resend the message as I think it should be typed. Voila! It goes through.
So the company has people monitoring messages that come in through Twitter. But they are not empowered to make any decisions and apparently are unaware of the correct email for their own customer service.
A day or so later, I do get a phone message from a representative from that department. It’s kind of a weird system, where I have to call her back, leave a message, and then she’ll return my call as soon as she can. Evidently, the Men’s Wearhouse believes in delayed gratification as a customer service tool.
The customer service rep and I eventually do connect. She listens to my concerns, apologizes for the problems, and says my experiences will be relayed to the store manager. This person is doing her job as listening to complaints is a big part of it. Still, I’ve never heard a peep from the store manager and there was a mention of some coupons, which have never appeared.
In this part of the process, I was able to have my concerns addressed but there does not appear to have been much in the way of followup. I was asked if I’d ever return to that store. My response was, “Probably not.” When asked if I’d ever go to another store, I had to say, “I don’t know,” despite the promise of discounts and future coupons.
Is the point of this post to pummel a business for poor customer service? Well, to an extent but it’s not like I’m naming the company The Whiner of the Week.
Obviously someone in this organization has considered the customer service experience and how to respond to problems. But while there are processes in place, they don’t seem to be working effectively or as a whole. I wonder if anyone from the organization has walked through this process and experienced its ineffectiveness. The puzzle pieces are there but they are not put together correctly.
Have you done this in your company? Why not? Is there no better way to find out if your processes are working? It’s something you need to do if you want to Clear the Path to repeat business.
All of this obscures the fact that the tux from the rental was good and met my needs. But a great outfit can’t dress up a poor experience. Too many obstacles are in the way.
