Earn (Don’t Ask for) Customers’ Kudos in Business and at Work

Not too long ago, we decided to purchase an additional piece of equipment from an existing vendor. I was told on the phone by our “premier customer concierge” that the equipment would work on our existing wireless connection, and that we also qualified for a free upgrade on our existing equipment. Sweet!  I made an appointment for the technician to come and install our new equipment.

Unfortunately, the phone call did not match reality. The technician (who arrived an hour late), informed us that:

  • The equipment we wanted to purchase could not be installed wirelessly, and that holes would need to be drilled into the building to allow the equipment to function via a wired connection. We declined that option. (Subsequent to that disappointment, I got my geek on, did my research, and installed the equipment we needed myself over a wireless connection for a fraction of the cost and maintenance that our current vendor would have charged for a wired product that did not meet our needs.)
  • And (I know you’re shocked), we did not qualify for the free equipment upgrade.

I asked the technician why our “premier customer concierge” did not have her facts straight. “They never know what’s going on,” he replied. As the technician gathered his equipment, I called our “concierge.” All I received were profuse apologies, and a total waste of almost 3 hours of my time during business hours.  In the meantime, the technician returned to our door, and handed us a customer survey card, below. On the bottom of the card was a heartfelt but misplaced plea:  “All 9’s, please.”

All 9's please1

 

Understandably, it wasn’t the technician’s fault that we were misinformed.  On the other hand, the technician did no work for us. Why would he expect to be rated highly on his customer service, particularly since he revealed a significant and chronic internal communications misfire between the customer service and installation departments of his organization that regularly and negatively impacts his customers? Is this the customer service equivalent of getting an award literally just for showing up?

How will you earn (not ask for) your customers’ kudos this week and beyond, in business and at work?