To the Extreme

Today before my clock hit 9 AM, I had the pleasure of experiencing the best and worst of the customer service wheel. As a result, I once again learned something new.

My day started with a trip to my local car dealer, Covert Cadillac, now I may have mentioned it before, but just in case I haven't it is worth restating. This place is truly 5 Star! They make every trip to get my car repaired enjoyable. Yes, I said enjoyable. They offer candy, popcorn, water, soda…whatever you want. Everyone in the place speaks to you with respect and good manners. They don't waste time, and this morning I was asked if I was in a hurry or not because they wanted to wash my car before they returned it. Now that is great, but the best part of it is they asked before assuming I had nothing better to do! I smiled the whole way to work. I thought about how I would probably buy my next car from them, and how I would make it a point to share how wonderful they are with as many people as possible.

When I got the work, I started my normal routine of checking emails, and returning phone calls. One of the things on my "to-do" list was to schedule a cleaning service that I had purchased on a Living Social deal. (I love all of these deal sites.)

Anyway, I called and was told:

Cleaner Way: "Are you a living social deal?"

Me: "Yes, I am."

Cleaner Way: "Ugh…can YOU call me back in 5 minutes?"

Me: "Sure, but is it ok for me to just wait on hold" (I knew I would forget to call back)

Cleaner Way: "I guess." (One minute passes)

Cleaner Way: "Ok, I can't clean for you until June 17th."

Me: "That sounds great."

Cleaner Way: "You know, I am not making any money off of these deals. They only give me half of the total. Where is your house?"

Me: "My address is...."

Cleaner Way: "That's going to be an extra $35 for gas. Do you tip?"

Me: "As a matter of fact I do tip for good work, but I don't understand why I am being charged an extra $35 for a house that is inside the limits of your service?"

Cleaner Way: "Because otherwise I won't make enough money."

Blah, Blah, Blah…

Me: "You know, I would recommend that you not do another Living Social
Deal because the primary purpose is to give new clients an opportunity to try
your service. And, I am going to be honest with you, based on this conversation;
it is unlikely that I will be doing business with yourcompany in the future."

Cleaner Way: "So, do you want me to put you down or not?"

Me: "I think, not!"

(Three seconds pass- I call Living Social, they refund my money, thanks Living Social!)
Now, I am confident that the first and last are conversations many of you have had. It's important to remember that all of these conversations do matter and they do have an impact on people's decisions to purchase or give.

So, here are some hard and fast rules for experience:
1. Delight your customers
2. Don't place your problems on your customers
3. Remember, a customer is deciding to give to you or do business with you ever time you interact with them, so consistency is KING!

Take-Away: Next time you have an interaction with one of your customer's choose to operate like Cadillac instead of like The Cleaner Way!