Customer No Service - How to Lose a Loyal Customer!

So today was the day where I almost stopped going to my favorite supermarket here in Milwaukee. If you're in Milwaukee, you know the one I'm talking about: the cool one downtown that has 1000 different types of produce, and a whole aisle dedicated to gourmet coffee and teas. The one with the free samples, the wine tasting and cooking courses. Yeah, that one.

Anyway, today I went to the market to buy a few things for dinner. I knew it was going to go wrong because my usual entrance to the parking lot was gated off by shopping carts lying on the ground to block my path. OK, I'm flexible, I'll drive around.

The second thing was when they were out of my favorite glass bottles of skim milk. It's the best way to drink milk, in my humble opinion. They had every flavor except for mine.

Next, I tried to check out by "paying by touch." Let me tell you, this can be the best system in the world, you just sign up with your driver's license number, your credit card number, your preferred customer number, and your phone number, and away you go. Notice I said CAN be the best. Many times, my preferred card number doesn't work in the system, and it doesn't take the savings off of the bill, and tonight was one of those nights.

Now this would have been okay, had the checker just used the house card and given me the lower price so my debit card would be billed the correct amount, however she did not know how to do this. Instead, she said to go over to the service counter and someone over there would help me out.

Skeptical, I walked over to the service desk to see 3 clerks talking to each other and cutting out something that was much more urgent than me and the 4 other people in line. For some reason, after a few minutes, one girl asked to help me. Not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, I told her my dilemma, and she proceeded to go through my bags, re-scanning things and writing down what she thought was the correct cents off. I'm no cheapskate, but five dollars is 2 gallons of gas! Of course, she was doing all of this in her head, and didn't let me see the slip, and of course didn't do it correct, ripping me off to the tune of about 20 cents, plus I had to re-pack my own groceries.

To add insult to injury, there was no ramp open to go down to the parking structure I was forced to use, so I had to grab my bags and carry them, with my wife, down 3 flights of 10 stairs.

This is maddening to me! It's so easy to do things right. Here's how I would provide customer service.

• Plainly mark the entrances that are closed, and advertise it on your stores website, thus alleviating some of your customers' frustrations, and provide the alternative entrances.

• If you're out of something, put a sign up that lets me know when it's going to be back so I can return and buy it then, and apologize that you're out. A little sign is all I ask, not a big production.

• Make the error in favor of your customers, and scan the house savings card whenever in doubt. And give your checkers the ability to fix this, instead of sending us over to the service desk.

• Offer something extra to customers when your computer systems don't work as planned. It doesn't have to be a lot, but give me a coupon for a free loaf of bread, a free deli sandwich, or something nice. It's not my fault your preferred system doesn't work.

• Use loyalty cards for EXTRA things, not to get the every day lowest price. Why am I going to scan my preferred customer card if I know I don't have anything that's on sale? I'm not, that's why.

That's all I've got. See, it wasn't so hard, was it? Making customer service great is a lot easier than you though. And oh yeah, you won't lose me as a customer if you at least try. Thanks!

Phil Gerbyshak publishes the Make it Great! blog at http://MakeItGreat.blogspot.com. It's updated many days with thoughts about how to take control of your life and stop letting it take control of you! He also has a personal website at http://Gerbyshak.com. Feel free to stop in anytime or give me a call at 414.640.7445 so I can help you make it a great day!

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Customer Service Information:

Related Articles

How Do You Create Customer Loyalty?
Another sad fact of life is that these days, very few customers are loyal. Most of their loyalties lie with their bank accounts, and you can't blame people for watching their shrinking dollars.
Quality vs. Quantity
There is a battle in Call Centers. The teams are Quality vs.
Be A Resource
What is one of the greatest ways to add value to your business? Nope, it's not giving away free merchandise, offering special discounts, or even creating a preferred customer club. One of the most valuable commodities that you can provide your customers is INFORMATION.
Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction
Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client.
7 Bits Of Critical Information You Cant Afford NOT To Know About Your Customers
If you think customer relationship management is just a piece of software, you're dead wrong. Customer relationship management is about understanding your customers.
Creating the Right 'Viral Reputation'
Unless you are brand new to business, or have been under a rock for quite some time - one key marketing technique (which isn't new) - is called 'Viral'.Based on the word 'virus' - viral marketing or viral business simply means it 'spreads' like a virus.
Whats For Lunch?
As an entrepreneur, I'm always intrigued by small businesses, home-based or not, that exceed the expectations of their customers in a big way.Let me tell you about one of them.
Communicating Value
Abstract: People buy for their reasons, not yours. This article covers the key elements that prospects want to hear you talk about.
How CRM Software Works -- Creating Customer Satisfaction with a Click
When people ask, "What is CRM?" the literal answer is, "Customer Relationship Management," but that doesn't really convey much in terms of what all CRM does for a business. This CRM definition is too narrow to really explain everything the system does if it is working to its fullest potential and is user-friendly enough to expand and grow as a customer-client relationship changes and grows.
Making Your Contacts Work For You
The best way to explain this concept is to tell you a story. While calling for lease purchasing property, I spoke with an older widowed woman.
4 Things Your Clients Want From Your Company
Sure, all clients are different. They have different kinds of strengths, weaknesses, cultures and goals.
Have You Hugged a Customer Today?
It all started a couple of weeks ago when a friend asked me if I could scan and print some of her slides. No problem, I said.
Customer Satisfaction Is Your Business
Regardless of what business you are in - you are really in the business of satisfying customers. The degree of customer satisfaction you deliver determines the level of long-term success you will achieve in business.
Loyalty Programs May Keep Customers Coming Back - But First You've Got to Earn their Trust
Remember trading stamps? If you're over 40, chances are you will. Every time you shopped at a participating grocery store or gas station they gave you stamps to paste into a book.
Modern Call Center Solutions - Keeping in Touch is the Key
Call center solutions solve a range of age-old problems. As far back as ancient times, the success of a business has always depended on how well that business can communicate with clients and meet their needs.
Sorry, No Customer Service After 4:00 P.M.
A few months ago, I wrote about ingenious styles of customer service that every business should know about, mostly because their employees were inflicting them on their customers.For instance, I warned about "in your face customer service" and "run for cover customer service", two equally effective opposites.
Debt Elimination Scam
May people these days have a problem with mounting debt. The average person is well below the bad credit limit and is in desperate need to fix it.
Aint We Wonderful!
It may come as a surprise to you to discover that customers don't buy your products or services because they feel that you have a right to make a profit. In other words, their motive for doing business with you is not to help you buy the latest Jaguar or put your children through college.
How to Walk the Floor and Talk to Customers
This may seem a strange topic to introduce. Yet, it is the most under-used skill by many retail managers, but one of the most important roles in their supervision.
Customer Satisfaction and the Service Business
The relationship between customer satisfaction and success of a service business is a direct one. Customer satisfaction measurement, however, is a much more complex matter.