Wow, I sure do shop at Guitar Center often enough.
My most recent post Tune Into Quality Customer Service from last week needs a follow up post. Then, Jeremy commented about how I’ve definitely shared Guitar Center stories in the past. So, why not jam them all into one musical post?
After purchasing a guitar just last week, I ended up bringing it back because well, it just didn’t feel right. And, as musicians, the feel of our instrument does matter.
I was greeted right away in the busy store (my dumb mistake forgetting it was black Friday) and the guitar was taken back to the shelf.
David, the man who originally helped me, was there, went through the crowd up to me and said, “Ah you’re back. Looking for an upgrade, are we? Let me help!”
He helped me test out a few additional guitars in my price range and I ended up with a delightful little Fender.
While this experience was a gem–there were some in the past that were not, such as:
The Waiting Line from April 2013 in which the experience I was given at that time told me, “Let’s just help everyone as quickly as we can [with NO thought to being kind or friendly] because there’s always going to be someone else behind them.” I ended up rushed and with no explanation of how to use the product from the salesman.
However, the story shifts here because I wrote another follow up post to a positive turn around from that experience in Customer Service Revival. I return to the store and my questions are answered with a positive attitude (when they totally could have made me feel stupid for not knowing how to use the product).
How many of your customers are repeat customers?
How many of your customers have had inconsistent experiences with your company?
If my little Guitar Center can make an impact, imagine what is happening out there with the rest of the customer service world?
3 (Not So Easy But Important) Ways To Create a Consistent Customer Experience
*Define Your Mission: What are you striving for? Is everyone on board, sharing this vision and working toward it? Having a clearly defined customer service mission that everyone is aware of and shares, helps to guide your team toward consistent experiences. Defining a mission is a big undertaking–it’s not easy and may not come to you at first. For some great guidance on how to kick this off, check out our friend Jeff Toister’s (@Toister) post about creating your own Customer Service Vision.
*Training and Resources: Make sure your team has all the training they need before they jump into the battlefield of calls. And, once they do, give them lots of resources to access information quickly and efficiently. It also helps to have others around to ask questions to. Encourage your team to use their resources and ask questions when they don’t know the answers.
*Feedback: You may not have a clue that there is not so wonderful service going on down there with your customers. Give your customers the ability to share their feedback about their experience with you. And read it. Really read it. Take notes on what they say, work with the reps they write about and understand the opportunities for improvement you have been given. Feedback gives you insight in no other way–it’s such a gift!
