So, I called Sears at 4:30 to see when the repair person was coming. The customer support person said. "He is running late so he canceled your appointment." I asked, calmly enough, "How would I have found that out if I did not call you?" he responded, "Uhhh...I don't know."
I asked for management and explained how poor this experience has been. She said we were scheduled for tomorrow, but she could not tell me what time we were schedule for until after 6:00 this evening. She promised to call.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Sears: Bad Customer Service, Status Quo, or Both?
Sears is a revered brand. It stands for reliability, solid products, longevity and responsiveness to customers. We buy almost all of our appliances from them, and we have always thought they were the gold standard for customer support and service.
Until now. While trying to get our clothes dryer fixed, I've experienced a series of miss-set expectations, which is the single greatest cause of a bad customer experience, regardless of the eventual expertise of the repair or technical person.
Background: our clothes dryer broke Friday. When I turned it on, something smelled like it was burning and it made an awful racket as the drum rotated. So, since we have an extended warranty, I called Sears.
They said they could come on Wednesday (today) between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Foolishly, I asked if they could narrow the time frame down. The customer service person blithely said the technician would call the day before the service and provide a more specific time.
Yesterday, about 7:30 p.m., I received an automated message from Sears. They narrowed the time down by a half hour. The repairman would be here between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
My husband immediately called Sears to ask if they could provide a little more precision, since we both work and our son had a class and then camp in the morning. They assured him the repairman would call "first thing in the morning" to narrow down the time frame.
Next, my husband called his office to arrange to be late for a meeting this morning. He stayed home while I took our son to his class and camp. I came home and waited. And waited. And waited.
It is 3:00 p.m. and no repairman has appeared or called. I've gotten no work done, skipped my workout, not walked my dogs, and my dryer is still not fixed. Plus, I have no reliable source of information to call to see if the repair person will show up today.
I just called Sears and they told me I am the last repair on the technician's route. I asked why I was not told this before and they said they did not know. I explained that each time we spoke, we asked for a more specific time frame, and no one could provide one. They are going to call the technician and call me back to tell me when he will be here.
If they don't call me back and no one arrives before 4:30, I will have to go pick up my son, secure in the knowledge the repair person will arrive while I am gone. It is a needlessly bad experience.
I suspect anyone reading this has been through the same wasted day I just spent. It's the way home-related business is done, whether repairs, cable installation, appliance delivery or installation, landscaping services, or anything else requiring someone to come to your house. It should not be so time-consuming and uncommunicative.
In a world as connected as ours is, customers should be able to go online, see a reliable window of time in which the repair person is likely to arrive, contact the company if necessary, and not spend eight or nine hours waiting. Most of all, if you tell a customer that something is going to happen - someone will call, someone will be at a certain place, whatever - make sure it happens the way you set the expectation it will. Sears did not follow through today.
Until now. While trying to get our clothes dryer fixed, I've experienced a series of miss-set expectations, which is the single greatest cause of a bad customer experience, regardless of the eventual expertise of the repair or technical person.
Background: our clothes dryer broke Friday. When I turned it on, something smelled like it was burning and it made an awful racket as the drum rotated. So, since we have an extended warranty, I called Sears.
They said they could come on Wednesday (today) between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Foolishly, I asked if they could narrow the time frame down. The customer service person blithely said the technician would call the day before the service and provide a more specific time.
Yesterday, about 7:30 p.m., I received an automated message from Sears. They narrowed the time down by a half hour. The repairman would be here between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.
My husband immediately called Sears to ask if they could provide a little more precision, since we both work and our son had a class and then camp in the morning. They assured him the repairman would call "first thing in the morning" to narrow down the time frame.
Next, my husband called his office to arrange to be late for a meeting this morning. He stayed home while I took our son to his class and camp. I came home and waited. And waited. And waited.
It is 3:00 p.m. and no repairman has appeared or called. I've gotten no work done, skipped my workout, not walked my dogs, and my dryer is still not fixed. Plus, I have no reliable source of information to call to see if the repair person will show up today.
I just called Sears and they told me I am the last repair on the technician's route. I asked why I was not told this before and they said they did not know. I explained that each time we spoke, we asked for a more specific time frame, and no one could provide one. They are going to call the technician and call me back to tell me when he will be here.
If they don't call me back and no one arrives before 4:30, I will have to go pick up my son, secure in the knowledge the repair person will arrive while I am gone. It is a needlessly bad experience.
I suspect anyone reading this has been through the same wasted day I just spent. It's the way home-related business is done, whether repairs, cable installation, appliance delivery or installation, landscaping services, or anything else requiring someone to come to your house. It should not be so time-consuming and uncommunicative.
In a world as connected as ours is, customers should be able to go online, see a reliable window of time in which the repair person is likely to arrive, contact the company if necessary, and not spend eight or nine hours waiting. Most of all, if you tell a customer that something is going to happen - someone will call, someone will be at a certain place, whatever - make sure it happens the way you set the expectation it will. Sears did not follow through today.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Wisdom from a friend
One of my favorite people shared this with me today, and I loved it. Lucky in my relationships, I've experienced more than my share of kindness throughout my life. So, tonight I am particularly thankful for the miles I have yet to travel, the family and friends I've shared the journey with so far, and the ones I've yet to meet.
Never forget to show kindness, to share what you have with others. Give us courage and cheerfulness to go the second mile, and all the miles ahead.
From the New Zealand
Prayer Book
Never forget to show kindness, to share what you have with others. Give us courage and cheerfulness to go the second mile, and all the miles ahead.
From the New Zealand
Prayer Book
Friday, May 30, 2008
Trapster lets you report speed traps, people slow down, everybody wins
I just signed up for Trapster, a free application for your cell phone or PDA that lets you report speed traps - and alerts you to speed traps that others report. I am going to download it to my iPhone and see how well it works. You call an 800 number to report any speed traps. Your alert is relayed to the PDAs and phones of people in the vicinity. They can rate the reliability of the reports. You can add it to Google Maps using Loki. It is an intriguing use of presence awareness.
Maximize your web copy's message: the F-shape and eye scans
Want to write powerful copy for your website? Learn about Jakob Nielsen's studies. The usability guru once categorized the typical way someone reads hypertext as an F.
He found that most of us read text from left to right
==========>===================>==========>
then return ||
<====================<=================<==
then read down the left side
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
\/
then go to the right and back again
==============>=========>
| | | |
| | | |
| |==<=========<=======<==
| |
| |
\/
and then down the left some more, forming a visual "F"
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
\/
He also found that people, unsurprisingly, do not intensively read text (although they do scrutinize small text.) They scan the words.
How is this useful? Well, if you
1. emphasize the first two sentences of your text
2. use clear and powerful language at the beginning of sentences, the beginnings and ends of paragraphs. and
3. use bullets, subheads, and small graphics to highlight your main points
you will increase the likelihood your reader will get the idaes you want to convey.
Interesting expansion on the related usability concepts of eye tracking and heat maps here. I cannot vouch for the company's work, but their video example is very useful to better understand these concepts.
He found that most of us read text from left to right
==========>===================>==========>
then return ||
<====================<=================<==
then read down the left side
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
\/
then go to the right and back again
==============>=========>
| | | |
| | | |
| |==<=========<=======<==
| |
| |
\/
and then down the left some more, forming a visual "F"
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
\/
He also found that people, unsurprisingly, do not intensively read text (although they do scrutinize small text.) They scan the words.
How is this useful? Well, if you
1. emphasize the first two sentences of your text
2. use clear and powerful language at the beginning of sentences, the beginnings and ends of paragraphs. and
3. use bullets, subheads, and small graphics to highlight your main points
you will increase the likelihood your reader will get the idaes you want to convey.
Interesting expansion on the related usability concepts of eye tracking and heat maps here. I cannot vouch for the company's work, but their video example is very useful to better understand these concepts.
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Authenticity
I received an email from a friend not too long ago. The title was "Asking for Help." I did not know this woman very well, but I liked her. Did I open the email? You betcha.
Why did I open it? Because that title was irresistible. It was simple, sincere, and direct.
I not only opened the email, I read it in its entirety. Then I forwarded it to a group of friends. Turns out my friend's niece has a genetic disorder and my friend wanted to host a silent auction to help the family manage the financial burden that comes with those challenges. She wrote a straightforward request for help, for an easily understandable reason, so it was very easy to answer it.
I think we have entered an era where authenticity and simplicity must be a part of your messaging. Potential customers are savvy enough to zip through fluff and hype generated by lazy marketers, salespeople and hucksters. Your value proposition needs to be valid, and it needs to emotionally and intellectually resonate with the prospect. That is, it should pass the BS filter along with the "I want to be a part of that" filter.
PS Emmy's journey is here, if you want to answer the call for help.
Why did I open it? Because that title was irresistible. It was simple, sincere, and direct.
I not only opened the email, I read it in its entirety. Then I forwarded it to a group of friends. Turns out my friend's niece has a genetic disorder and my friend wanted to host a silent auction to help the family manage the financial burden that comes with those challenges. She wrote a straightforward request for help, for an easily understandable reason, so it was very easy to answer it.
I think we have entered an era where authenticity and simplicity must be a part of your messaging. Potential customers are savvy enough to zip through fluff and hype generated by lazy marketers, salespeople and hucksters. Your value proposition needs to be valid, and it needs to emotionally and intellectually resonate with the prospect. That is, it should pass the BS filter along with the "I want to be a part of that" filter.
PS Emmy's journey is here, if you want to answer the call for help.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Quick search engine optimization tip: TITLE tags
Here is a quick boost to improve your website's results in search engines. Take a look at your TITLE tags. How?
1. Go to the page you want to view.
2. Click on the View drop down menu at the top of your browser.
3. Choose Source (in Internet Explorer).
4. Look for TITLE in brackets like this "<>" near the top of all that code. Read the text between TITLE and /TITLE. Both words are surrounded by < and >. The TITLE phrase is what you see in the title bar at the top of your browser.
To optimize:
1. Do recognize that the first 65 characters of your TITLE tag are the most important. Lead with your strongest keywords.
2. Do use plain English. The TITLE needs to be in normal English - sentence structure is optimal.
3. Do NOT stuff your keywords! Do NOT string a ton of keywords together and call it a title.
3. Do standardize your title tags. If you sell products, I'd lead with product, then product category, then company. If you sell services, lead with the service, the company and the call to action.
4. Do make every title different. Vary the products first, of course.
1. Go to the page you want to view.
2. Click on the View drop down menu at the top of your browser.
3. Choose Source (in Internet Explorer).
4. Look for TITLE in brackets like this "<>" near the top of all that code. Read the text between TITLE and /TITLE. Both words are surrounded by < and >. The TITLE phrase is what you see in the title bar at the top of your browser.
To optimize:
1. Do recognize that the first 65 characters of your TITLE tag are the most important. Lead with your strongest keywords.
2. Do use plain English. The TITLE needs to be in normal English - sentence structure is optimal.
3. Do NOT stuff your keywords! Do NOT string a ton of keywords together and call it a title.
3. Do standardize your title tags. If you sell products, I'd lead with product, then product category, then company. If you sell services, lead with the service, the company and the call to action.
4. Do make every title different. Vary the products first, of course.
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