It’s Broke! …and customer karma

October 18, 2007 by gbrown

I was trying to open a packet of Miso soup last night. The Japanese version has a small nick in the side of the foil so you can open it by hand, but the UK one didn’t. Being lazy, I tried hands and teeth before having to walk 2 metres to rifling through the cutlery draw for scissors. Lazy? Yes, but then that’s your typical customer.

Could such small innovations, such as a nick in the packaging, a smile at the front desk be the difference between customer loyalty and resentment?

Seth Godin shares some even better examples in this video from GEL (Good Experience Live) 2006 - which I hope you’ll find as funny as I did.

What’s it all about?

The point here is that Good Customer Experience (and by the same token bad experience) is often so determined by design.

“Press 1 for sales, 2 for existing billing enquiries”

How many people actually like using these systems? If you live in the UK then there is a website here dedicated to bypassing these IVR systems.

As the Chinese proverb goes, “the fish rots from the head” and most bad customer experiences start at the top… in companies that reward short termism over long term customer loyalty.

The mobile industry is a classic case in point. You are often better off leaving your contract and rejoining as a new subscriber if you want a better deal on a handset. Of course there is the inconvenience of changing number, but the system is bad by design, it penalizes existing subscribers.

Often bad experience goes hand in hand with widescale barriers to competitive market entry - notably legal restrictions (such as licensing, IP ownership) and control of the distribution channels.

Have you ever tried to open CD packaging? No wonder the industry’s market is declining! As the digital age rapidly undermines the label’s role as a much needed distribution channel, customers seek alternatives.

In reaction, labels adopt defensive strategies - suing customers can only be one of the worst violations of customer karma. While their lawyers claim victory on the court room steps claiming to have successfully raised the debate to a moral level, the cycle comes to bear - Madonna, Radiohead, Prince and Nine Inch Nails all have taken steps to manage their own distribution outside of the record label network.

Harry Beckwith’s “What Clients Love” is full of anecdotal evidence that good customer service thrives, along with the companies that provide them. And the most significant misgiving is that those average providers think they are one of them.

The CEO of the hotel chain that thinks “all hotels provide excellent service” is very typical - we all think we provide great service…

Think again… Hyatt Regency, IDC excellent service yes. Le Meridien Piccadilly London, charging 300 pounds a night? - how much would it cost to hire front desk staff that smiled, or didn’t answer the phone when you talked to them?

What cost putting that nick in the miso soup packet?

My nominations for great customer experiences
* Pret A Manger
* Hyatt Regency hotels
* Virgin Atlantic
* Loco Locale restaurant (Fulham and elsewhere)
* Ocado
* Lexus
* Noodle Express (New Malden)
My nominations for broken customer experiences
* Any Windows troubleshooter (do they ever work?)
* EAT (sandwiches)
* British Airways
* Easy Rentacar
* The Post Office, BT, British Gas etc
* Mercedes dealerships
* Most Chinese restaurants in ChinaTown London