Saturday, February 15. 2014
Sometimes We Create Our Own Dissapointments
“Great Customer Service” the holy grail of the 90’s. If you shipped FedEx, bought an 'anything at the Art Shoppe,r Nordstrom, or even Amazon, in the mid to late 90’s you likely experienced a wonderful and informed engagement. Best-in-class.
“We” the Consumer have reinvented Customer Service to mean, “no matter how wrong I am – you will fix this, take it back, exchange, and you will do it for free and with a smile.
Then, We the Consumer, added a term – “Compensation”. We order a widget, not a widget we need, just a widget.
The Merchant says “out of stock. But we will order for you this one single widget and have it by Tuesday. They call us Friday and say there will be a delay until Wednesday, so please don’t come till Thursday so we can be sure. “TWO MORE DAYS!” This is outrageous (remember for a widget we don’t even really need) “I want compensation” the retailer is told. “For what” the retailer politely asks…. “For your absolute failure to manage my excitement and for completely flattening my week”. “ummm” says the retailer. “Don’t umm me…I now expect it for free, plus a credit-note for 2 more”.
We have flattened our own experience. When something does not work (as advertised), stops you from actually performing – then go get ‘em. But today, we, the consumer, have in so many cases turned simple good intentions into often unobtainable expectations. We sometimes fight just to win. Too often we lose sight of “what is right”. I’ll even by-pass “reasonable” and allow the bar to be set at “right”. We don’t look at right, wrong or even reasonable – we just want to win, at anybody’s cost, except our own. And that has little difference from sport hunting.
“We” the Consumer have reinvented Customer Service to mean, “no matter how wrong I am – you will fix this, take it back, exchange, and you will do it for free and with a smile.
Then, We the Consumer, added a term – “Compensation”. We order a widget, not a widget we need, just a widget.
The Merchant says “out of stock. But we will order for you this one single widget and have it by Tuesday. They call us Friday and say there will be a delay until Wednesday, so please don’t come till Thursday so we can be sure. “TWO MORE DAYS!” This is outrageous (remember for a widget we don’t even really need) “I want compensation” the retailer is told. “For what” the retailer politely asks…. “For your absolute failure to manage my excitement and for completely flattening my week”. “ummm” says the retailer. “Don’t umm me…I now expect it for free, plus a credit-note for 2 more”.
We have flattened our own experience. When something does not work (as advertised), stops you from actually performing – then go get ‘em. But today, we, the consumer, have in so many cases turned simple good intentions into often unobtainable expectations. We sometimes fight just to win. Too often we lose sight of “what is right”. I’ll even by-pass “reasonable” and allow the bar to be set at “right”. We don’t look at right, wrong or even reasonable – we just want to win, at anybody’s cost, except our own. And that has little difference from sport hunting.
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