Is poor customer service an early indicator of impending doom for a company? When it comes to Blockbuster, I am beginning to think so. Over the last couple of months, I wonder how long Blockbuster will remain in business. A recent experience at Bear Rock Cafe could cast a similar level of doubt in my mind.
I frequent the local Blockbuster in my neighborhood for a larger and more spontaneous selection of movies. But, if a movie is available as pay per view on my local cable provider, I will gladly save the extra $1.00 in rental fees, lost time, and gas. Where I used to enjoy the cheerful ‘hello’ from employees as I entered the store, I now experience a less enthusiastic welcome. As customers stack up in the queue waiting to be served, employees can be found playing the game "Guitar Hero" in a demo area.
When they recently charged me $0.99 as an overdue fee – I missed the deadline by hours - I decided they have completely lost touch with the customer; even the local library cuts you slack on fees. Somewhere along the line I missed the part about no more Rewards Card for you; they used to give me 7 days past due, free. I think it’s only a matter of time, and they’ll be history (closing two stores near me is another good indicator). BTW – Redbox, if you happen to be listening, I know a couple of good locations for you – maybe that’s why it looks like Redbox will be filing for an IPO in the near future.
On to Bear Rock Cafe. Readers and subscribers of this blog may recall that Bear Rock Cafe has been featured as the “Entrepreneur’s Conference Room” in the on-going series, “Small Group Wisdom”. Well, it was that time again for the group to go to the conference room. The only problem was, the conference room lost sight of the objective. We thought they opened at 7 a.m.; we discovered it was 7:30 a.m. – you would think the hours of operation would be on the Web site; not. This seems rather late to me for a coffee and muffin experience. Oh, well; let’s wait outside for 30 minutes. Upon entering, no coffee was brewing; in most restaurants, you bring staff in early to be ready for opening. The server told us it would be ready in 5 minutes. Ten minutes later, after calling out for someone – they were in the back someplace – we discovered it still was not ready, and the plastic wrap remained as a tent over the pastries. Sorry, I couldn’t take it anymore, and we headed off to another conference room; there’s a Bruegger’s not far from here.
I am beginning to think that we have reached a point in customer service where those who do it well surprise us. In reading Greg Hopper’s recent experiences reflected in his blog - Time Warner Cable vs. that of Apple - I share his sentiment about Apple. I had a delightful telephone order experience with the Apple Store. Unlike those who answer with, “If you would only go online, you could …”, the Apple customer service rep was more than happy to answer questions and place my order. Why the phone? Well, it’s easier for me to multitask; I am accustomed to being ‘on-hold’, so I plan to type on my computer in the background. With Apple, it backfired; they got my full and undivided attention – good sign of excellent customer service.
How about the Bruegger’s folks? As we bounded through the door, looking left and right for a line, we headed straight for the cashier. Efficient service eliminates wait; there was no line. She was more than happy to take our order, and we were able to get right to work. Looks like we have moved to new digs when it comes to calling for a meeting.
So, I am left wondering, “Why doesn’t a company, or their employees, understand the importance of good customer service?” It seems so obvious to me. From the company perspective, there’s plenty of competition to keep all of us on our toes. From the employees’ perspective, it only seems natural that they would want to treat customers, as they would like to be treated by others.
p.s. I would encourage you to read Greg’s Time Warner Cable experience; it’s priceless. Not just from the perspective of we’ve all been there at some point, but look at the company response; think of all the companies that have multiple lines of business. Is this any reason for poor service?
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