Tag Archives: Transparency

Failing Grade for @BassettUS

Posted on 23 January 2012 by | 4 Comments

Four years ago I made the mistake of purchasing a sofa from Bassett Furniture.  I didn’t know it was a mistake at the time, but I should have.  (Now, I’m kind of blue.)

Bassett Furniture makes me blue

Warning signs I should have considered:

  • No online customer feedback mechanism – Does the company offer online feedback mechanisms and transparency?  Bassett doesn’t and this omission should have spoken volumes to me.
  • Plenty of irate customers making their voices heard anyway – A simple internet search would have yielded many vocal consumers.  (1, 2, you get the idea.)
  • Remember you are buying the brand – In my case I shopped for a product.  Initially, I liked the product.  My perception of the brand is much different now.

Advice for Bassett Furniture:

  • Stop hiding behind your warranty – Instead, stand behind your products.  A company like Bazaarvoice can help provide tools to enable a feedback loop with the purpose of developing loyalty.  Companies that offer a way to communicate (good, bad, or indifferent) demonstrate their customer commitment.
  • Find SOME way to satisfy the customer – Fact: the product is poor.  I didn’t expect a full refund.  However, some financial acknowledgement would have gone a long way towards restoring a rapidly fragmenting relationship.  “Not our problem” may work in a monopoly, but it cannot survive in a competitive, transparent, and vocal marketplace.
  • Own the problem – Local store management, who knew otherwise, suggested I contact the warranty company and indicate that I’d only recently noticed the problem.  Helpful?  Dishonest?  You decide.  A company willing to treat its business partners without integrity is unlikely to treat customers otherwise.
  • Rename your “Customer Service” department – I suggest “Policy Enforcement” but only as the most expedient and honest course of action.  Guaranteed your employees would rather that you improve the products and services instead.

In the final analysis, Bassett Furniture gets failing grades in Product, Service, and Honesty.The pivot point is that Bassett would be better served by treating customer complaints as gifts.  From the looks of things, other customers have gifts for them too.

Before you go, please Tweet or post to Facebook or LinkedIn.  I made a mistake with Bassett Furniture… help ensure others don’t make the same mistake.

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Posted in Culture, Customer Service

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Aligning your Business to Customers: Pillar 4 – Leadership

Posted on 1 August 2011 by | 3 Comments

The fourth and final pillar that helps companies align to customers is leadership.  Leadership is the beginning or the end of customer service just as it is the beginning and end of all victories (or losses).

  • Culture – What are we and how do we behave when no one is watching over our backs?  Start-ups in particular have the ability to set a purposeful course with their companies.  Companies that value customers holistically (i.e. those that value long-term relationships over short-term financial transactions) set the tone.  They ensure that expectations can be met before a sale is made and they make the customer experience a journey that encompasses the entire brand.
  • Focus – Can our people depend on us to execute on a sharp vision of future, or are we tempted to try to do everything at once?  Organizational ADD benefits no one; not customers, not employees, and not shareholders.
  • Honesty/Integrity – Self-evident?  Hope so.  Fact is, words don’t carry same weight/impact that actions do.  Regardless of whether you think personal conduct is relevant to professional capabilities, our people look to leaders.  When leaders fail, organizations slide down the slippery slope to failure also.
  • Transparency – Transparency is a key element in trust.  The more we disclose to employees, the less we hide and the more authentic the conversations become.  For those uncomfortable with the process, read Jack Stack’s book, The Great Game of Business.
  • Outcome Orientation – Want people to give their best each day?  Ask them to deliver results and don’t dictate the method.  People bring different skills to work each day.  When we give them latitude to use those skills they feel better, are more willing to develop and contribute new skills, and add an element of innovation throughout each day.  Take the opposite tack and leave employees with little discretion and you should assume you’ll get little effort and commitment.

The pivot point is that employees (the same ones that interact with customers and deliver service each day) will observe and mimic the customer focus that the leadership team sets.

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Posted in Culture, Customer Service, Leadership

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Strike One… You’re Out

Posted on 7 April 2010 by | 1 Comment

The saying “you get only one chance to make a first impression” has never been truer.  In an age where information flows quickly and freely customer service must be a reason prospects buy from you and customers return to you.  Investing in a positive, memorable customer experience creates a strategic advantage.  Here are two reasons why this is true:

  1. Options – Think about the last time you booked travel.  How much do you care whether you fly American or United?  If you exclude frequent-flyer programs (which with all the blackout periods ought to be renamed frequently disappointed programs) prices are generally the same,  peanuts still come in 0.25 ounce containers, and our surprise is still genuine if our luggage shows up on the baggage carousel.  Airlines have achieved commodity status, consumers have options, and the cost to switch is low.
  2. Transparency – Consumers are able to research experiential information with a few mouse clicks.  Social media magnifies customer service blemishes yet also amplifies outstanding service.  Social media and the blogosphere make information (the good, the bad, and the ugly) instantly available. Nielsen studies show that 90% of consumers trust each other’s recommendations and 70% trust online recommendations.

Sharing the good, the bad and the ugly is seen as a huge risk precisely because it may lure customers to other options.  But those who worry that “negative comments may cost us business” miss the point.  Poor products with dismal service lose business. The choice is whether your company is committed to creating a winning product that customers love and bask in their accolades or hide from faults and slowly lose your customers.

The pivot point is to start with a quality product and continue the experience with transparent customer service.  When you do, transparency becomes a game-changer because companies that make and fix honest mistakes get more than one strike.  Play ball!

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Posted in How to Deliver Customer Service, Influential Factors - Helpful, Necessary for Success, When to Deliver Customer Service

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