One of the top topics in the business blog world is customer service or as I like to call it “customer experience”. If your business deals with customers (which the event & entertainment business does) then everything you do should revolve around customer service. I believe you can take the temperature of a company by its customer service. If the experience is bad then this usually means the business is not managed correctly and is in trouble. I saw this happen with Circuit City and I saw it with a company I used to work for. Both are now out of business.
Yesterday I had a horrible customer experience with Dell. Here is a computer company that was once on top of the world. Everything about them was great. They had great marketing, great products and great customer service. They were right up there with Starbucks in terms of overall experience. Over the last 12 months I have needed their services twice. My Dell laptop is getting old. The first time I contacted them several months ago I noticed a slip in customer service. But yesterday took the cake. I spent my entire morning on the phone with four different departments all of them I think were in India. Each one always apologized and then tried to sell me something. I was calling them to fix a problem. Because my computer is out of warranty I had to pay for an over the phone service. Once they decided what the issue was they sent me to the sales department. The part was in stock and would be sent out. Of course the delivery date would be 10 days from now. Are they kidding me? Can they go 10 days in their business without a computer? I had to press them about express shipping. Of course they will for a bigger fee. I’m ok with that. The woman could not get my address right. She asked me if I was sure that was my address. Like I don’t know where I live? When I got the email confirmation it showed the wrong address with the word “cancelled” next to the status. This prompted another 10 minute call to Customer Care who claimed she fixed it. Another email confirmation and more mistakes. Still a wrong address and no mention of express shipping. Guess what, another call. You would think by now they would feel sorry for me and do something. Nope, except another apology. Do you think I am going to buy another Dell?
This type of experience is what will ruin a company. If they are doing this to me then how many other customers are getting the same service?
You can produce the best event in the world. Create the best marketing plan and sell out venues. But if your customer experience is bad, you are going to have to work three times harder to do it next time. A bad customer experience is like getting sea sick on a boat. You never forget that feeling.
Tags: Circuit City, customer experience, Customer service, Dell, Starbucks
