Our Mom’s not a crier. She’s kind, hard-working, helpful, thoughtful, volunteers at a local clinic, reads books, cooks, and gardens. She is not technically savvy. She does not cry.
Best Buy made our mom cry.
Is it any wonder reports of their slow demise litter the inter webs?
Okay, technically the corporation didn’t make our mom cry. Trish did.
Trish – in the Geek Squad – at the Champaign, Illinois location. I’m not redacting her last name to be polite. I just don’t know it. If I did, I’d include it, along with her home phone, address, social security number, PIN #, blood type and known allergies.
After years of good customer service with Geek Squad – and a very pleasant and apologetic follow-up from someone else after Poopface Trish brought my mom to tears – it only took one bad experience for mom to tell me and for me to tell you.
Appropriately, I’m delivering a talk on Tuesday to one of my client’s company meetings about what it takes to perform legendary customer service.
Guess what little anecdote I’m starting with to put them in the right frame of mind?
But, what my client may not yet know, is that legendary customer service has a whole lot more to do with the employer than the employees.
As Roy used to say, “A fish stinks from the head down.”
What’s the story, Tim? What did they do that made her cry?
Enquiring minds . . .
Tim,
When I traveled as a sales rep, depending on what state I was in and if there was a Crate and Barrel I would always make a stop. It was very intentional. My dream was to put one in Bloomongton, Il. After investigating the history of the company, etc, sadly I knew that dream was just a cloud! 25 yrs, ago they had top notch customer service in my opinion and still have that today. Sometime I walk out of there wondering what kind of interview questions they put their candidates through. Employees are consistently patient, very passionate about what their doing and where they work. Characteristics that are hard to find today I think.
Hope your all doing well.
Deb Holstein
I remember Clay Campbell visited some place and asked them how they taught their people to be so nice. Roughly paraphrased response: “we don’t teach them to be nice; we hire nice people and teach them to do/be X.” And I think that’s the heart of this, as my guess is that Trish’s attitude or latent ability to be nasty was known by her peers and direct managers but they let it slide because “she’s a techy” or some such. Well, she’s a customer facing techie, and today’s job market is tough enough that they could darn well afford to hire NICE techies.
The other thing that comes to mind is what Seth Godin calls “Krulak’s Law” after an old blog post of mine: the closer you are to the front-lines of customer service, the more power you have over the brand. Trish may be a near-minimum wage worker, but she just had more impact over Best Buy’s brand than any PR or marketing schmuck working at corporate, earning 10X what she makes. That’s the new reality of the world we live in. How is YOUR business dealing with it?
Mom had dropped off her laptop. It wasn’t working. Boogerface called mom and talked 100 miles-per-hour and assumed my mom was technically savvy. When mom asked her to slow down and clarify, she was mean to my mom – she started patronizing her and talking to her like she was 3 years old. She said it would be $300 and mom needed to authorize the charges if she wanted to get her pictures off her laptop (the only thing on there that really mattered to her).
Mom told her not to do anything. Stinkmouth pressured her. Mom said ‘no.’
Interestingly, when mom called back a few days later and talked to someone else, that person said it would only be $89 for a new hard drive and they could save her pictures with no problem.
TOTALLY starts with interviewing, doesn’t it??
I remember good ole’ Pages For All Ages in Champaign. A friend of mine applied for a job there and interviewed … FIVE TIMES.
They were so protective of their culture, they wanted to make sure you were a great fit.
Thanks for sharing. I’m presently coveting a new desk from Crate and Barrel. She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed insists she can make one just like it. : )
Jeff – I firmly believe customer service is just going to be huger and huger as we get less of it by the day. Wait … is that how you spell ‘huger?’
Did you get trash-talkin’ Trish terminated? Seems like it would be a service to humanity. My mom just turned seventy. If someone did that to her, I think I would want to fork their eyeballs out. (Not that I’m violent or anything.) But I’d certainly want her job.
I learned this hiring lesson from reading about pottery. A potter will tell you that you cannot make fine china with earthenware grade clay. Likewise, you wouldn’t make an earthenware pot with fine kaolin clay.
It all starts with the right raw ingredients. Follow the steps of the potter and you’ll have a staff that is strong, useful and beautiful – just like pottery.