I’ve been on a shopping spree lately. A lot of online purchasing has led to a few returns. And the returns experience has varied so massively, that I am compelled to post 3 stories.

1-MACY’S BLAMES BUYERS

From Macy’s I ordered white dishes and changed my mind shortly after I ordered them. It happens.

So I went back to the site and learned that cancellation online is not available. I have to call. And, my call must come within an hour after the purchase. But its nighttime and they aren’t open “after hours”. So I have to wait until the morning. Surely the 1 hour limit begins when they actually open, right?

At 8:59 a.m. I dialed customer service who told me she was unable to cancel the order because the 1-hour time limit had passed. “But you weren’t open!” I explained. She politely replied: “That’s the risk you take when you order online.” She recommended I refuse to accept the package when UPS arrives.

How strange. The receipt showed the products would not be picked and packed for a few days. Why not make a request and solve my problem? Why not save Macy’s the cost of handling? She explained that she was unable to help.

So I tried another avenue. I completed an online customer comment card and explained my point of view. Twenty-four hours later, no response to my written comment.

Another full day passed before I received the email thanking me for my comment. And what did it have pasted into it? The written text from their website explaining that I had only an hour after placing the order to cancel.

Here’s what they sent me (copied and pasted for your reading pleasure):

Thank you for your interest in macys.com. Please be advised of the following notice on our website:

Finalize method & review your order. You’re almost done! Please ensure all information is correct before placing your order, as you’ll only have one hour to make changes after it’s submitted. NOTE - order changes can only be made during Customer Service business hours. Don’t forget to confirm the Shipping Address before clicking “Place Order.”

So here’s my question about Macy’s online delivery: Do you know the consequences of telling customers that a problem is their fault?

2 BED, BATH & BEYOND SOLVES PROBLEMS

Major contrast to Bed, Bath & Beyond who, when faced with the same situation, took ownership of my problem and used their tools and resources rather than telling me to use mine.

Here’s what transpired with Bed, Bath & Beyond:

1. I clicked on the link from the order confirmation and sent an email explaining I no longer needed the item.

2. 2 hours later I got a reply. It apologized for the delayed response. (Apparently 2 hours is outside of their quality standards. Are you listening Macy’s?) It explained that a message had been sent to cancel the order.

3. Another 2 hours later I got the automatic announcement that the item had been shipped. It provided a tracking number. “Oh well”, I thought. “At least they tried!”

4. But they had done more than just try to cancel the shipment. I tracked the shipment at UPS and found the notice: THE SHIPPER HAS REQUESTED A DELIVERY INTERCEPT FOR THIS PACKAGE / RETURN TO SENDER PENDING.

Why does BB&B know how to recall a package if they can’t prevent it from going out, yet Macy’s does not? And, more importantly, what does BB&B understand about the benefit of making shopping easy that Macy’s has yet to grasp?

3- LANDS’ END VS AMAZON & ZAPPOS?

My final story made me sad and annoyed at a seller whose products I love. I didn’t stop this order. I just tried it on and it did not fit. And I have managed to lose the packing slip. So I reached out to customer service to get a return label using the method most convenient for me – “Online Chat”. I will provide the details to you using the live chat transcript.

customer : I need to return something but have lost my slip. What do I do?
Cheyenne : Good morning. I would be happy to assist you. You enclose your name and full address, reason for return, what you want credit or exchange and mail it to
Cheyenne : Lands’ End Returns 2 Lands’ End Lane
Cheyenne : Dodgeville WI 53595.
customer : Doesn’t the slip usually have free shipping?
Cheyenne : No, it does not. Customers are responsible for return shipping costs. There is sometimes a label that reduces your return by $6.95 if you use it.
customer : I did not realize. How disappointing.
customer : How do I get the $6.95 discount?
Cheyenne : If you do not have your receipt with a label on it you would have to mail it back by shipper of your choice. It is not a discount. Either you would have to use USPS, UPS or Fed Ex to make your return. Usually the post office is the cheapest.
customer : You cannot send me a label like Amazon or Zappos do?
Cheyenne : No.
Cheyenne : You can use a shipper of your choice and mail it back to us. We do not provide free shipping on returns. Sorry.
customer : What a shame. I thought Lands End provided better service. Not your fault unless I find out you are mistaken.
customer : Good luck to you. Take care. Thanks.
Cheyenne : Thank you for chatting with Lands’ End! Have a great day!

Bed Bath & Beyond,  Zappos, Amazon… you are my “go to” sellers. And I am not alone. Here’s hoping that the leadership at Macy’s and Lands’ End catch on and make the small adjustments needed to survive in the new world where customers rule.

Today I threw away my fifth Talbot’s catalog in a row without opening it. I am mad at Talbot’s. They have betrayed my trust and made me feel cheated. So I do not shop there anymore.

My checkbook shows $6548.35 was spent at Talbots between January and October 2008. But that is the end.  

So even though it has been more than a month since the events that led up to our relationship’s demise, as a sales and service professional and business owner I can’t stop thinking… Why doesn’t Talbots care about losing my business?

So far, I have come to two conclusions. Two reasons I can think of that Talbot’s does not care that Ronna Caras will not buy from them anymore:

1. When they changed their return policies and left me stuck with $200 of outlet merchandise they refused to take back (because it was 35 days old and not 30 days), they created no mechanism for their employees to report or escalate the incidents of really pissed off customers. Cashier and Manager both told me the new software did not allow for exceptions and there was nothing they could do. They pointed to the pale gray writing on the back of my sales slip explaining the change of return policy and agreed a store sign, a warning from a cashier, or a letter would have prevented my surprise. But neither of them had the training or tools to take my name and number and alert someone that something had hit the fan.
   
2. When I called Customer Service, searched the internet, and inquired in two stores, I was unable to learn the name of the Director or Vice President of Customer Relations. This person is well hidden. Maybe the job does not exist. Either way, Talbot’s has failed to create a channel to communicate with customers during a time of extraordinary change in their long-held policies.

So, kind readers, I think Talbot’s doesn’t care about losing my business, because Talbot’s doesn’t realize… yet. But they will. Because I cannot possibly be the only customer who was treated badly as a result of their covert policy change, and refuses to stand for it.

I am willing to bet there are thousands of customers like me, maybe tens of thousands of us, whose $650 a month clothing budget is about to be spent at Lord & Taylor or another store who still understands how to treat busy women who have more money than time.

It’s too late to warn Talbot’s that they need to communicate with loyal customers to avoid losing us. And it’s too late for them to train employees to handle situations effectively.

But it’s not too late for other companies to take a lesson. Policies change for good business reasons and consumers understand that. We want our favorite stores to stay in business and that means the stores need to be profitable.

So, take the time to be thorough when making changes that impact the way customers do business with you. Write, email, post big signs. Empower staff to make exceptions for a little while so your customers know you have not become our enemy.

It seems like everyone is complaining about the airlines these days, but recently a colleague reported receiving some great customer service from Delta.  I would like to share it with you. Here is the letter that he received:

For a company to be ahead of a potential complaint is revolutionary.   Being proactive will save a company from being skewered in the social media circles and can provide a big win. Good for Delta to go the “extra mile” to recognize customer loyalty.   

Technorati Tags: airlines, customer loyalty, customer service, Delta

I’ve been blogging a lot on customer service lately because we are actively involved with 2 firms aiming to change their cultures to improve the customer experience. So customer service standards and strategies and training are on my mind. Everything I read, see and hear stimulates an idea.

I also have a prospective “culture change” client whose legal department just finished reviewing my company’s contract. Their reaction was to make almost no changes. I was told they appreciated the “fairness and flexibility” they found in our service agreements. We don’t charge for time they don’t use, even when the change occurs at the last minute. We don’t ask reimbursement for every bottle of water and bagel we eat in airport….  I get the impression this was a bit of a surprise.

And it got me thinking… is it possible to have a culture of customer service when standards do not seem “fair and flexible” to customers? How do companies around the world even pretend to be customer-centric when they have terms like these 10 examples:

1. A posted policy says “returns must include a receipt and be within 15 days of purchase.” If the merchandise is made of strawberries, then I can understand it, but silk blouses don’t grow mold….
2. 0% financing is voided when 1 payment is even 1 day late. And bank has the right to select any interest rate it chooses to take effect immediately.
3. Personnel will travel through airport security lines to make sure passengers are not carrying too much stuff on board. (check out this Wall Street Journal article on the subject)
4. Sign on an office wall says, “Your failure to plan does not create an automatic emergency for me.”
5. Personal training appointments cancelled on the day of service will be charged full rate. But if the personal trainer cancels on the day of service no compensation exists for the customer.
6. We only serve burgers well done. (A policy I learned about in a restaurant that also serves sushi.)
7. New customers pay $1 for the same phone that current customers pay $100 for.
8. We only accept MC and VISA.
9. Training materials instruct staff to never say “I’m sorry,” unless it has been determined that the company is actually at fault.
10. Managers devote no time at all to observing and developing direct reports yet when it comes time for performance reviews, they list skills that are lacking and mistakes that were made.

This is a pretty short list of common practices that make it hard for customers - both external and internal - to believe the “powers that be” have their best interests at heart.

And if you show customers that you’re all about protecting your own interests, no matter how it impacts your customers, can you ever call yourself a “great customer service organization”?

There’s no doubt that creating a culture of service must include reviewing every written policy and contract. The unwritten ones need review too. They impact the way employees behave toward each other and business or consumer clientele. Small changes can go along way toward setting a fresh tone for the future.

Now, believe me when I say I am not trying to discourage the development and implementation of training - obviously. But let’s be sure the training focuses on supporting systems that let customers know they matter.

Technorati Tags: Ronna Caras, Customer Service Culture, Customer Service Policies, Training

As much as I try to take a day off from work, even a trip to the paint store sparks a realization about why customer service folks need to do a little selling in order to give really good service. Here’s what happened:

Memorial Day Weekend is a big clean-up spruce-up time here in New England. This year we had perfect weather - 70 degrees with nary a cloud. Not too hot for heavy lifting and a pleasure to be outdoors. My contribution to the “make it pretty again” efforts was to repaint my black front door and all its shiny white trim. To make sure I got everything I needed, on Saturday, I went to the best paint store I know, Walls of Décor on Lowell Street not far from my house.

The gentleman got me the right paint for the black door and casement, not too shiny, not too flat. He knew just what I needed as soon as I asked. He found me the white trim paint and I got a gallon so there’d be plenty for the trim around the garage doors too. I asked about brushes and he helped me select a thin angled brush for tight corners and a wider brush for large surfaces. Here’s where my problem started.

“I can use the same brushes for the black and the white, can’t I?” I asked him. “As long as you clean them well,” he replied and carried my merchandise to the counter to ring it up. $90 later I was on my way.

If you are an experienced painter you already know what happened.

On Sunday I painted the door black and gave it three good coats. Then I tried to clean the brushes. I washed and washed and of course, their once-beige bristles still looked blackish.

“Why didn’t I spend another $10 on more brushes?” I wondered. And with my annoyance growing, “Why didn’t the nice gentleman at Walls of Décor warn me how difficult it would be to change from black to white?”

Obviously, trying to re-use the brushes would be more hassle than it was worth. But now it was Sunday and Walls of Décor was closed. Good bet they’d be closed on Memorial Day Monday, too.

Have you been to a home maintenance super store on Memorial Day weekend? 15 minutes just to park and another hour to find the brushes and get through the checkout line. Not exactly the delightful shopping experience that had made me choose Walls of Décor in the first place.

But what of that initial customer service? In this day and age, when businesses fight to increase their sales by just a few percent, wouldn’t an additional $10 sale have been a good thing?

It certainly would have improved this customer’s experience to have been warned by a pro that black paint and white paint deserved their own separate brushes.

So what can retailers do to make sure they are capturing the business they deserve and making their customers loyal at the same time?

1. Coach their staff to think big. When a customer describes a project or a need, they should be offering suggestions for all of the supplies that will save a customer time and make sure the outcome is right.
2. Coach their staff to identify customers who need extra help. “I came here because you folks always help me”, was my obvious cue. That’s a request for expert advice.  Staff should not be afraid to give it.

Forcing customers to go elsewhere for the rest of the stuff they need reduces profits and long term loyalty. Just a bit of coaching here can go a long way.

Technorati Tags: customer service, customer service training, Ronna Caras, sales training

We can’t expect companies to do everything right all the time. Problems arise, mistakes occur. Service providers are human. Equipment breaks. Accidents happen.

The test of a company’s service takes place after the problem, mistake, breakage or accident. That’s when consumers and business clients notice what you did to make it right. Want to get noticed? Let something go wrong. And fix it.

If you want to see an example of great customer service, read “Another Fairmont Moment” an earlier post in this blog. Their management made sure at least one guest had a fantastic recovery story to tell.

If you want to learn about a totally different hotel experience, read my story:

Last month I stayed at the Renaissance Hotel, Times Square. On the first morning I was 5 minutes into a 40-minute hair drying session using the hair dryer they provided. Suddenly, the lights in my room went out.

I called the front desk. I explained my problem. “Were you using the hair dryer?” she asked. “Yes, was I not supposed to?” “No, I didn’t say that. Do you want me to send someone up there?”

 “Do I want you to send someone up here?” I tried not to yell and was only partially successful. “I want the lights back on so I can finish getting ready and go to my meeting. Does that involve sending someone up here?”

“I’ll get someone up there,” she said talking fast. “And you have a nice day.” She hung up before I barked my thanks.

I sat for a moment thinking about her sarcastic “Have a nice day,” and the lack of apology or ownership of the problem - an obviously known problem that could have been prevented with a small note of warning. There are notes about re-using towels. Why not a note about hair dryers that blow out fuses?

I wondered what kind of management let this happen and forced front line staff to deal with the problems. Are they lazy or crazy?

I wondered what kind of customer service training this woman received (can’t help myself). Are they a prospect for my company’s services, or don’t they invest in their staff’s development at all?

Then her comment about the hair dryer registered. I have very thick hair that needed some serious drying. If it shut off every 5 minutes I was in big trouble.

I called back and asked if using the dryer was going to continue to cause a problem if I plugged it back in and used it. “I didn’t say that,” she responded. I’ll get someone up there.” “When should I expect someone?” I asked. “I’ll call him as soon as you let me off the phone.” Nice. Really nice.

2 minutes passed and the lights went back on. Then a knock at the door. “I reset your lights.” The man told me. So I asked him about the hair dryer. “Will it keep shutting off?” “Only if you plug it in the same outlet.” “But it’s the only one near a mirror.” “Oh,” he said. Then he scanned the room and decided he could move the dresser and plug in the hair dryer behind there. I thanked him and he left. I dried my hair standing in the small space between the bed and the cabinet with a tiny bit of light. It worked fine and I left for a great day in Manhattan.

Now, I realize I was only delayed by 10 minutes. It could have been a lot worse. But I had just read about how the Fairmont, Newport Beach had jumped through hoops to satisfy Gary Connor who was complaining about the noise of a party outside. Mine was a known problem - something they could have prevented and just didn’t. And no one had even apologized to me.

But I remained hopeful and I waited for my hoop-jumps. Would someone leave a note apologizing for not warning me that hair dryers could not be used in the bathroom? Would I get the promise of an upgrade at my next Marriott property visit? A free night’s stay? Would my $25 bagel and coffee be provided at no charge? Would anyone even acknowledge my problem or experience?

So far the answer is “no” “nothing” “nada”. It’s been a few weeks so my hope for their service recovery has been replaced by pity. They’ve lost my business and don’t even seem to know about it or care about it.

When I travel to Manhattan again next month I’ll be staying elsewhere. I advise you, kind readers, to do the same.

Technorati Tags: ronna caras, customer service, renaissance hotel

To say the public is frustrated by customer service is an understatement. But the idea that service is dead and that corporate execs are just paying lip service to the public and not trying to improve the customer experience - well that’s just not true. So I respectfully disagree with Fred Yeomans whose blog “fredspace” tells a compelling story about bad policies and bad treatment from a telescope manufacturer. Customer service is on its way up, not down.

I just returned from Socap (Society for Consumer Affairs Professionals) Annual Symposium. Not much of a “return” actually because it was held at the new Westin Boston Waterfront all of 15 miles from my house. By the way, excellent customer service at this property. And I owe someone there an apology - I forgot to leave a tip for the housekeeper who kept the crisp white room and poofy bed linens from looking like a dumpsite during my whirlwind stay. If anyone knows what I can do about my bad manners in this situation, please write and tell me how I can fix this.

But back to the point of this post. Here’s what I observed, learned and concluded about Customer Service in America today:

OBSERVATION
More than 100 of the largest consumer product companies in the US and abroad spent about $1.5 million to bring their service leaders together to collaborate on ways to make customers happier without raising the prices of their products. Learning from the trials, errors and solutions of the companies in our network is much less expensive for a manufacturer or retailer than putting programs in place that may or may not succeed. This was leadership development at its best. Without forward-thinking leaders who actively try to improve themselves and their businesses, things will only get worse. In that respect, I agree with Fred. If companies don’t invest in professional development at the top they will not improve their policies or the behavior and effectiveness of their customer-facing folks.

LEARNING
Companies are improving the customer experience by improving the employee experience first. BJ McDonald, who leads a team of 2000 customer care agents at Continental Airlines, spoke about what it took for his company to go from “Worst to First” in service. They addressed the fundamental needs of the company - people need to show up to work every day so bags have the right amount of handlers and maintenance takes no longer than planned - with the fundamental needs of the employees - it’s hard to go a year without calling out sick when sick days are part of a basic comp plan.

If you’re thinking Continental took sick days out of the comp plan then I really hope you are not a Customer Care or HR Manager.

What did Continental do? They started a lottery for 100% attendance employees that gives away 8 fully loaded Ford Explorers twice a year. We saw the pictures of the cars with their big bows waiting for their new owners. It was ingenious. I had never thought about employee attendance as being one of the major problems that caused customer dissatisfaction, but, as Fred points out in his blog post, we’ve all waited around in airports thinking the delay made no sense…

CONCLUSIONS
Above and beyond employee satisfaction, there was a lot of talk about customer satisfaction surveys. Most companies are actively asking customers what they experienced. A large percentage of them are even making changes based on the information they received.

In our session on Blogging, Susan Getgood shared the model Dell Computer uses for tracking customer satisfaction and how the 50 different companies in the audience can use the internet to make sure the quality of their customer care is improved by the efforts they are making. Based on the mob of executives waiting to talk with her further, I conclude many more Socap member companies will be participating in the conversations and taking action to make customers happier on the first try.

So, if you have begun to think that clipping coupons in the Sunday paper should be abandoned because those companies don’t care about you, think again. They are listening as long as we are talking. Don’t quit yet. The conversation is just getting interesting.

Technorati Tags: customer service, continental airlines, dell computer, susan getgood, bj mcdonald, ronnna caras, socap

Coupons and rebate programs bring customers into stores and onto websites. Marketing knows the give-away is typically spent on a much larger purchase. Management signs off because they see how well their generosity yields customer loyalty and larger orders at the same time.

But sometimes, the message is not filtered down to the front line. A recent post at consumerist.com caught my attention because it applauded Staples (our wonderful client and friend whom we love) and criticized another large office supplies chain. The topic? The $3 rebates for turning in empty or unwanted printer ink cartridges.

The story is simple: A computer repair business owner was accused of stealing the ink cartridges he is turning in because his volume is so high. He was threatened by a front line employee and told his activity “has to stop”. The employee went so far as to threaten to circulate his picture around so he could no longer acquire hundreds of dollars in merchandise credit coupons through the cartridge recycling program.

This is not the first time I have heard front line staff acting as though the use of a coupon or discount should not be allowed. In environments where dimes are watched closely and raises are practically non-existent, employees can mistakenly associate customer incentive programs with their own inadequate paychecks.

Companies can fix this problem by doing 3 things:

1. Encourage generosity. Toward customers and toward each other. Teach staff to err on the side of kindness and to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Organizations create more customer loyalty and a better image when they empower the front line to accept an expired coupon or to give a customer a slightly larger credit than the customer expects.
2. Coach employees to mention coupon programs or special promotions to their customers. Marketing spent a lot of valuable time creating the offer so everyone should be promoting it. When your customers start looking in the newspaper or on line for the coupon your team member mentioned, you get a repeat visit and that is always a win. Why shouldn’t an office supply store with an ink recycling program tell customers about it whenever the sale includes a printer or ink?
3. Don’t make customer #2 live without a discount they saw customer #1 receive. Sometimes coupon offers get lost in the mail or lost in the pile. We consumers know the stores that keep this week’s 20% off coupon behind each cashier stand and we shop them more frequently. Their employees get to act like heroes and save us from overpaying. It feels good to everyone and that atmosphere improves every aspect of the customer experience.

It may be too late for the offending store in the ink cartridge story to fix what they have done. They’ve already closed in my neighborhood. But there’s plenty of time for consumer relations and marketing and sales to bond together to make special offers a winning experience for everyone. And it’s easy.

Ronna Caras 

Technorati Tags: 10 tips for better sales and service, sales, customer service, coupons, consumerist, marketing, ronna caras

The best feature or the most wonderful amenity is worthless if you don’t tell the customer about it.

I was reminded of this recently during a trip to New York City. My travel power supply broke on the train from Boston, leaving me with no way to charge my phone and laptop. You can read all the gory details of my search for power on my blog — it was not pretty — but it is not necessary to understand this post.

The important bit for today is that my hotel had a program to provide travelers with power supplies in just this sort of circumstance. What a great benefit.

Unfortunately, neither the registration clerk nor the concierge, both of whom I mentioned my specific problem to, told me about it. I didn’t learn of the program until after I had returned home and blogged the entire saga. A missed opportunity to please a customer.

Why didn’t they tell me about the program? Either the company didn’t give them the information, or it did and the employees did not retain it. Either way, a training mistake. What can companies do to avoid this sort of mistake?

A similar effect often happens during customer service calls. The customer calls with a problem, the rep solves it, the call ends and everyone is happy. Except: the company may have missed an opportunity to make the customer even happier. It is quite common during routine service transactions for customers to drop large clues about additional products or services they need. How can companies train their service employees to hear those clues and act upon them appropriately?

Ronna recently joined us on Business Forward, a podcast I produce for SAP reseller GuideMark, with some great answers to these very questions. In the March 26th podcast, she and host Gene Mehr discussed how small to mid size businesses can avoid training mistakes and in this week’s episode, she provides some insight on how we can teach customer service employees to recognize selling opportunities.

Each podcast is about 20 minutes long, and you can listen online or download them to your MP3 player.

Technorati Tags: Ronna Caras, customer service, sales training, Business Forward

14 years ago, I was a Customer Service Manager in a small, privately owned company.  Of course it was not small to us. My team of 10 supported $12 million each year in sales, but in 1993 we still had no voicemail.

You may remember those days (or perhaps you are too young). Receptionists answered the phone. You gave a clear, detailed message so the person you needed to reach had the facts and could call you back with a solution. The receptionist filed her nails while you spoke writing only your name and number when you finally gave it. Not exactly the “world class customer service” I had hoped to offer our clients.

Because the receptionist did not work for me I had no authority over her abrupt manner. She was a local hire. Probably someone’s friend’s niece like many of the folks we employed.  I wasn’t allowed to teach her how important her contact with our customers could be to the company’s bottom line.

So instead, my creative approach was to ask her to transfer all client calls directly to Customer Service. She was thrilled to have fewer names and numbers to write on those little pink message pads.

And the training of my staff began. Please understand that they were locals too.  If asked, half my team would tell you they chose their job because the bus stopped right out front.  Now they would be handling every inbound client call.

We drilled on empathy, caring tones, thorough note-taking, and commitment to making sure the clients felt heard and helped. My team rose to the challenge. The sales staff started to get complete messages detailing the client’s issues.  They got fewer messages in general because my staff was able to handle many of the client’s immediate needs without involving the sales rep at all. And they got more sales. A quick increase in repeat business.

All because customer service took over reception duties.

I was brought back to old times today. I called a business and reached “customer service” according to the woman who answered the phone. I asked for the President who was at lunch.  But in this company no one asked if they could help me.

“Do you want his voice mail?” was all she offered. And I was stunned. Although I wasn’t an angry customer calling with demands, isn’t it customary to at least ask about the nature of calls to the President?  Shouldn’t someone that answers the phone with the words, “Customer Service” care even a little about the customer or the service?

So I ask you today, to share your thoughts about voice mail. Is voice mail making it harder for companies to provide real service to callers?

Technorati Tags: customer service, voicemail, reception, training, quality