Quick, answer these questions:
- When someone calls your company, what’s the first thing that’s said to them either from a live person or an automated system?
- Do all the prompts on your automated phone system lead somewhere or can the call be randomly disconnected?
- Is the information contained in your Frequently Asked Questions section correct?
- Could a customer receive different answers to the same problem from different members of an organization?
Many of these scenarios are considered by management when a new process is put into place. But then, they tend to be forgotten. No one checks back to review the customer experience. When a customer realizes that they’ve been basically given directions to nowhere, they get upset and often leave your business, never to return.
To Clear the Path of this problem, let’s consider how amusement parks treat their roller coasters.
Every day, before the park opens, the rides are checked. Someone walks the track and inspects the machinery. Employees preview the customer experience. It takes time and a strong attention to detail.
An amusement park can’t afford to have something go wrong that could have been prevented. So why are you relying on fate to make sure your customers will have good interactions with your business?
Review your processes and don’t be afraid to “walk the track.” For an example a recent customer service encounter I had with American Express that illustrates what can go wrong when you don’t do this, click here.
Breaking News: GameStop won last week’s Whiner of the Week award. GameStop management earned the title by telling employees to remove a competitor’s coupon from a sealed, new video game release. Employees were told to open the game and throw the coupon in the trash.
Now the company has not only apologized for the act but also followed my advice for fixing the situation.
