(this post is adapted from my regular column Better Business in 'The Westerner', a newspaper servicing the Pine Rivers Region in Brisbane).
I’m taking a different approach this week... I want to tell you a story.
It’s a story of a tech-savvy business owner, who, after much research decided that an iPhone would be a fun new tech-toy AND it would help her improve her personal effectiveness. Her name was Cat.
Like any time-poor person, Cat had utilised the research of her colleagues and friends, not only on the utility of the phone, but also the best network, plan and place to buy. And so she did.
Unfortunately, what Cat had not anticipated was the ‘coverage-hole’ (that’s what the Telco called it) directly over her home-office.
So, facing the disappointment of not having a working iPhone, Cat set about activating the Telco’s ‘coverage guarantee return policy’.
What followed is a typical ‘Telco story’ of being shunted from department to department, ‘Customer Service Operator’ to Operator, trying to action what should have been a very straight-forward process. Needless to say, being such a typical Telco story, there is not enough space in this entire paper, let alone my little column to give you the details.
The refreshing twist in this story is the service Cat received from the reseller. Despite now receiving absolutely no commission, no account revenue and losing an ongoing customer they did what few are willing to do – whatever it took to make the customer happy (in this case, returning the customer to her previous network). It worth noting to do so, they also faced the exhausting game of ‘hot potato’ and the mind-boggling (or was it mind-numbing) experience of countless ‘Customer Service Operators’ not knowing what to do.
My ‘Better Business Tip’ from this sorry tale:
The cost of looking after a customer beyond the call of duty – some time and $$
The price of forever losing a customer because your service systems suck - $ 000’s
The customer loyalty gained from sorting out a mistake (even if it’s not yours) – PRICELESS.
(Thank you to Joel & Luke at AllPhones Brookside for exceeding my service expectations.)
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All it takes is to care about your customers....
Cat
