Sometimes our customers really want to do business with us but we just make it too difficult. As Donald Trump reiterated over and over in the season premiere of The Apprentice this week, "… it’s all about the point of sale."
I experienced this problem just yesterday. Instead of taking the time to make coffee at home, I thought I’d treat myself to Starbucks. Our local franchise is located a short drive away, inside of an Albertson’s grocery store. Upon approaching the counter the clerk ("barista") told me that her cash register wasn’t working, therefore she couldn’t serve me.
You’re kidding me, I thought. I pointed out that her register was literally surrounded by a dozen or more Albertson’s cash registers, but apparently the partnership between Albertson’s and Starbucks doesn’t allow each company to help the other out in a bind. So I offered cash. Almost exact change, but round up just to be safe, and keep the change. Nope. How about an extra buck or two just so I wouldn’t have to go search for a coffee elsewhere. Sorry. She refused to take my money… while the fresh coffee brewed right behind her.
I wanted to give Starbucks cash business, even with some additional profit. I wanted to take some of their excess, perishable inventory off their hands for significantly more than it was worth. But they didn’t want it.
So I went elsewhere, and not only did they lose my business for the day but they have a customer who will be a little hesitant about taking the risk to drive to that store again. Starbucks could have taken my cash and kept a paper journal until the register was fixed. They could have engendered considerable loyalty by even taking less from customers intending to charge their drink.
Great products and fantastic marketing will bring customers to you, but you still have to make doing business an easy and pleasant experience. What sort of pain do we put our customers through when they have already decided to give us cold hard cash?
Something to think about as we value stream map our processes. Keep the customer in mind, and specify value from their perspective.
Steve Maxwell says
I read your article on ATT customer service and it was very appropriate as that afternoon i had a similar experience with our US mail service. Being a government run business you expect some inefficiencies but usually i have never had the door shut in my face. I went to a small post office in Reidville SC to get postage and deliver a package. After a 10 minute drive from work i just made it there prior to closing. There were 2 cars in the parking lot so the outlook appeared bright that i would send my package. As i am walking into the post office the desk attendant is closing the gate while she still has another customer in the counter area. I said can i just mail my package, i just need postage. There was no response. As i am standing there in stunned silence i hear the clerk talking to the other customer that she wants to get out on time so some people are not seen. Now the post office front wall is all windows so i am sure she saw me pull in and this is a very small post office so it was not like there was a large line stretching out the front. As i was heading for the door the other customer pops out of a side door with a look that said “Sorry you had to go through that buddy”.
This was not a case of process constraints causing work to back up or bad work instructions but was a lack of appreciation for the customers that keep them in business. Following my visit to the post office i then decided to call them and complain and you guessed it their phone number was not listed. I then called the national 1-800 number to get the local post office phone number from the US government. After going through 20 minutes of menu questions i was still no closer to getting the phone number and quit in frustration.
I am a manager of a continuous improvement group for a auto company in the southeast and have been taught that the customer is king both in my formal training and through your Evolving Excellence Blog. I am sure others have experienced this kind of treatment. I am sure you were deluged with similar emails of bad customer service but I hope the individuals who complain also look at it as a learning experience and say to themselves if this was my customer what would I do to improve that customer’s experience with my company?