I had another experience of this the other day. After many radio commercials by a computer store about how they offer a nice alternative to the typical name-brand computer service experience (if you’ve been “helped” by an offshore call center rep, you know what they’re referring to), I decided to check them out.
My long term Dell-loyalty had been damaged by many teeth-grinding experiences with tech support people who could barely speak English and some who seemed to be less familiar with PCs then I. So, I did what was once unthinkable for me: go for a computer other than Dell.

But then… the plot thickened…

The man at the store was very helpful and clearly knew his stuff. We talked for a while and I wrote out the types of processes I would need my new computer for, leaving it up to him to translate that into system components. He said he would get back to me with an estimate.

A week went by. No call. Another week. No call. Now, I’m thinking “If they’re that cavalier toward me BEFORE they have my money, how are they going to treat me AFTER they have my money?”

Knowing that we all make mistakes and drop the ball, I called to follow-up. When I explained what had happened, the young man answering the phone explained that the man I had talked to wasn’t in, and that he would take a message.

There was no “I’m sorry about that” or any indication that he it registered on his radar screen that this was a blooper, a dropped ball.

It’s now been 3 days and still no call back. How safe do you think I feel about dong business with them? How safe do you think I feel that if something goes wrong, I can count on them to return my call or to make things right?

Question: Do your processes let customer’s fall through the cracks? Do you spend money to get leads or to get people to come through your door, and then let shoddy service processes, and/or indifferent clerks, drive them back out the door?

Or… do your processes create the desired: “I wish everyone was this heads up!” experience?

Don't be so quick to assume the latter. How about if you ask your customers, former customers, and your employees?

E-mail this entry to a friend