Last week, I wrote about the difference in service I received at Comp USA and Best Buy when I was in need of a new power cord for my laptop. If you missed it, Comp USA kicked Best Buy’s butt when it came to service.
I sent an e mail to the Comp USA and Best Buy customer service folks, telling them about the blog post. Here are the responses I received…
Comp USA, Wednesday August 23
Bud:
Hi. My name is Don Ireland and I’m the regional admin for CompUSA Region 14, which serves the Denver market. I just wanted to say thanks for the nice words in your Blog about Our Central Denver location at I-25 and Colorado Boulevard. I’ve known your salesperson, David Phluff, for years and am glad to know he took a common-sense approach to making sure you got what you needed.
If we can ever help you with any business needs, please let me know. Thanks again for shopping at CompUSA.
Have a great day!
Don Ireland
303-412-3068
Best Buy, Monday August 21
Best Buy Customer,
This is an auto-response indicating we have received your inquiry.
We will respond to your inquiry within 3 business days.
You can also find answers to many questions about Best Buy services and policies at http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat12073&type=page
.
Thank you for your patience.
Best wishes from Best Buy,
Your Customer Care Team
Monday, August 28, 2006
Dear Bud Bilanch,
On 08/23/06, you contacted Best Buy. As part of Best Buy's commitment to excellence, we want to make sure we met your needs during that conversation. Would you please take a minute to answer a few questions to let us know how we did?
To respond to our survey, please click on the web address above. If that does not work, please cut and paste the entire web address into the address field of your browser.
NOTE: Please respond within five days so that you can provide timely feedback to me. After 5 days, this invitation will expire.
Thank you for your help!
Best Buy Customer Support
Let's take a look at these two responses. Best Buy responded first -- but with an auto responder. Comp USA responded within two days -- with a personal note from their Regional Administrator, including his phone number.
Best Buy followed up, wanting to know how my conversation went with one of their customer service folks. The only problem is that I've never had a conversation with anyone at Best Buy about the poor service I received. I find it very difficult to complete a survey on a conversation that never happened. Also, if you'll note, Best Buy gave me a deadline to respond to their request for feedback. I'm not sure about you, but I found it pretty strange for a company to give deadlines to unhappy customers. In this case, I had five days to respond to the survey or “this invitation will expire”.
I post this here, to make a point about congruence -- how clarity of purpose and direction tends to set the tone for an entire organization. The in store service at Comp USA was great. At Best Buy, it was terrible. The response from Comp USA was good. Best Buy's CRM system is so bad, it generates e mails asking people to comment on a phone call that never happened.
The common sense point here: great service (or lack thereof) is not isolated. Great service begins with clarity from the top, and plays out in every customer interaction, regardless of the department. In this case, Comp USA did great at the store level, and even better in responding to customer comments. Best Buy did poorly at the store level, and terrible in responding to cusotmer comments. There is a connection.
If you want to run a customer friendly business, make sure that you set the proper expectations -- then hold people accountable for meeting them.
That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Log on to my website www.BudBilanich.com for more leadership common sense. Check out my other blog www.CareerSuperStar.com for common sense advice on becoming the life and career star you are meant to be.
I’ll see you around the web, and at Alex’s Lemonade Stand.
Bud
PS: Speaking of Alex’s Lemonade Stand – my fundraising page is still open. Please go to www.FirstGiving.com/TheCommonSenseGuy to read Alex’s inspiring story and to donate if you can.
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