The other day Drew McLellan sent out a newsletter about “Is Your Customer Experience On Purpose”. A recent purchase of mine got me thinking about this in context to the sale process. I was buying a mattress for my bed at the local Slumberland Furniture Store. My wife and I had picked out the mattress, bought the mattress cover and were ready to leave. There was just the matter of paying for the mattress and arranging for delivery.
The sales person let us know they could deliver the mattress on Monday. That is when Slumberland’s brand changed. My wife mentioned that afternoon would be better for us. That was the moment. Right then. When the sales person said something to the effect of “we are not allowed to make requests for delivery times”.
Let’s be honest. How many of you have a day to just hang out and wait for the delivery person? Especially when you PAID for the delivery. We went home scratching our heads over this lack of customer service.
Slumberland, in one moment went from “customer oriented, desiring to help find the best way to sleep” to dictatorial. Even worse is the written information they included with our “receipt folder”. Stapled inside is a sheet of paper titled “Customer Expectations for Home Delivery”. Here are paragraphs two and three for your review. When reading these, think about the brand experience:
Q: How is my two-hour time calculated?A: The two-hour time frame is based up on our truck’s route. Your two-hour time frame will be assigned to you. Slumberland will call you two days before the scheduled delivery date and give you a two hour time frame, (i.e. 1-3 pm). This means the delivery could occur anytime during the scheduled two hours.
Q: If my two-hour time frame does not work for me, what other options do I have?A: Once the truck is routed, we are unable to change time frames. You have a few options: (1) Leave a key in a safe place for our delivery drivers. (2) Is it possible to have a neighbor, apartment manager or family member help? (3) Also, our delivery drivers can call you when they are on their way to give you time to meet them. (4) If these options do not work, we can help you reschedule your deliver to the next available day.
I especially like (4) above. In essence, if this delivery system will not work, we will put you through it one more time.
Personally, I am guessing that Slumberland outsourced their delivery and then squeezed the margins on the delivery company. The delivery company found the most efficient method of delivering furniture and implemented it.
No matter why this is the case, the entire customer experience that was positive is quickly forgotten.
In your business, remember that the customer experience is an ongoing experience. It does not end until the customer stops using your product or service. Make sure that your customer experience is what you planned it to be through out the entire customer experience.
- Mike Colwell
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