Customer Defection to Customer Delight

My topic today is customer service and how front-line employees can dramatically impact brand perception. I experienced this first-hand yesterday at the Sears at Marketplace Mall and want to share it with you (although it is a bit long).

I had stopped by the store to look at some patio furniture (now that Spring seems to be here to stay), and while I was there I wanted to pay my bill. Now the majority of my balance was a deferred interest account for a major purchase -- however there was also a $35 fee that had been placed in a "regular" interest bearing account. I didn't want to get stuck paying interest on that fee, so I asked an associate how I could allocate my payment to make sure I paid off the $35. Tim, the associate in the lawn and garden area who was helping me, wasn't sure and directed me to a phone where I could call the credit department and ask.

So far, this had been a positive experience, but that was all about to change. I called the credit department and asked my question, and the customer service rep said they could not designate a specific payment to a specific account. That didn't make much sense to me, but I politely asked her to tell me what formula they use to allocate payments between accounts == I figured I would just pay whatever extra I needed to in order to make sure I covered the $35 and avoid any interest. The rep didn't know and politely connected me to a supervisor, whom I will not name here.

The next few minutes completely changed my perception of Sears. No matter how nicely I asked my question or explained what I was trying to accomplish, the supervisor was rude and kept insisting that NO ONE in the entire company knows how payments are allocated. I told her that I would not pay interest on a fee, and there must be some way to make sure I paid the entire $35. She told me I would have to pay off the entire account balance including a substantial balance on the deferred interest account. At this point I was very frustrated, and told the supervisor if that there was no way to resolve this, I would not be buying the patio furniture and grill I had picked out, nor would I be shopping at Sears again. Was she really willing to risk a customer defection instead of figuring out a way to help me? Her response was very rude and needless to say, I hung up in frustration. Instead of a great day shopping I was now upset and ready to walk out of Sears and possibly never come back -- my perception of the Sears brand had changed and I did not feel they had any interest in my business. I was ready to defect ...

Then an associate in the men's department who had heard my side of the whole conversation apologized to me for the treatment I had received ... now she had absolutely nothing to do with it and no reason to apologize, but she cared enough to do so (I really wish I had caught her name -- I would love to recognize her in this post). Then, even though I had planned to walk out, I waited while she called her manager over. A shift in perception had begun ...

Sally, the manager, has fantastic. She listened to the whole situation and pointed out that the credit department (which I found out is not Sears at all -- it is Citibank) is not always consistent in their answers, so she offered to call them and see if she could get an answer for me. After a couple of tries, she got through to someone who easily explained how my payment would be allocated and told Sally what payment was needed to cover the full $35. Sally then took my payment and even gave me an invitation to a special friends and family event that included a 10% discount. She blew me away with her treatment -- this is the type of service that I would associate with a high-end store like Nordstrom, not Sears!

The lesson to me as a marketer is how much a customer service or sales team can influence the customer's perception of the brand -- and how we need to pick our partners carefully (since it was actually a Citibank employee that changed how I felt about Sears)! Also by listening to a customer's negative experience (in person, via customer service calls/emails, even blogs), we can find a way to turn the situation around and possibly even create a brand evangelist ... especially in the world of social marketing that we live in. After all, isn't that really what this blog post has been?

Comments

[Denis]

Katharine, I am right with you on the customer service issue. Companies have "outsourced" so much of their critical customer touchpoints it is amazing. In this case, CitiBank is apparently the first contact for anyone calling the Sears credit department, vs. you talking directly to a Sears employee.
It never ceases to amaze me how companies outsource the contact with their most important asset, their customers, in the name of saving a few dollars. And Sears apparently does not hold CitiBank to the standards of quality that you would expect from a Sears employee. You're lucky that someone in the store heard your plight and tried to make a recovery.