“We’re Building Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company” – this was the statement in the Amazon.com customer rep’s email signature. I had just had anything but a “customer centric” experience. Receiving this statement in the automatic response email didn’t make be feel any better.
Beware Of Making Bold Statements You Don’t Live Up To
I order frequently from Amazon.com. Most of my experiences are pretty seamless, which is “customer centric.” In this circumstance, I needed to find out more as to why a book was late. I use their Prime service which ships via two-day air. My book didn’t arrive as scheduled and UPS said that it was labeled as ground delivery. If that’s the case, it was an Amazon.com mistake.
Going through the Amazon.com website didn’t provide me any answers so I needed to speak to someone. Good luck with finding that easily (which would be “customer centric.”) Finally, I did a Google search and found a customer service telephone number. Upon reaching a real person, I pretty much got the same spiel as I did with UPS.
The problem was that I didn’t receive the service I paid for. Then I had to press the Amazon.com rep to at least give me something for their screw-up. I got a $5 credit to use against a future purchase. Since the Prime program is a flat rate on shipping for a year, invoices do not have a charge for shipping so I wasn’t expecting a refund. However, I shouldn’t have to ask for something to compensate me for my aggravation. A “customer centric” company should have been proactive in wanting ease my inconvenience. At least that’s my expectation when I hear that terminology. Consequently, I judged the experience by my expectation. That’s what your customers will do too.
4 Lessons For Creating A Positive Customer Experience:
- Do what you say you’re going to do. Don’t make a bold statement and then not deliver on it.
- Make it easy for people to interact with your business. Don’t make them search Google for contact info.
- Don’t hide behind fine print or use business speak (say customer service, not customer centric.)
- If you make a mistake, take initiative in offering the customer a discount, provide a service or offer a freebie to compensate for the negative experience.
It’s always a challenge to win customers, especially in the economy of the last two years, but creating a positive customer experience shouldn’t be a challenge. The four lessons above are no-brainers (maybe that’s why more businesses don’t take these steps.)
A positive customer experience is a competitive advantage. What are you going to do to create one for your customers?
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