Word of Mouth Archives

It's Not All Bad in Customer Service

Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 9:54 pm  
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Lately, I’ve been harsh on a few companies for their lack of service or, far worse, uncommitted executive leadership. Today, I experienced the flip side of that and wanted to share the experience to demonstrate equality.

I just returned from a visit to the local Big-O Tire Center around the corner from me because my Cherokee driver’s side front tire had been losing air the past few days and was affecting the drive-ability of the vehicle. I figured I must have run over a nail, glass or whatever and was prepared to have to shell out for at least one new tire if it was glass which meant two new tires (to me) to balance everything out. I felt guilty for not visiting the Goodyear store a friend of mine happens to work, but the tire was awfully low (i.e. flat) so I didn’t want to push it. The Goodyear is at least 15 miles away so that eliminated that from consideration rather quickly today. Not many gas stations offer tire repair these days so the choices are rather limited.

To my surprise, according to the technician, there was nothing wrong with the tire other than the lip had slightly bubbled under the rim just enough to allow air to slowly escape. He said SUVs and trucks have that happen every now and again. Ok, great! The beauty of it all–they didn’t charge me a dime to fix it! Even though I have that friend that works at a tire shop some 15 miles away that would undoubtedly give me a good deal should I need tires or work done on my vehicle, I’ll likely go to Big-O the next time I need tires for two reasons: 1) this act of uncommon kindness and 2) it’s within walking distance of my home so it’s extremely convenient.

Big-O has at least earned my business the next time I need tires without even doing anything to market to me or hook me to come in. They showed me they might actually care about their customers and doing the right thing even if it doesn’t translate into immediate revenue or profits. I’ve already told three people (friend, girlfriend, and dad) about this without prompting from the folks at Big-O–I’m happy to share this kind of news because it’s so rare. It beats the hell out of griping about something, too.

What’s the last uncommonly good encounter you’ve had with a business lately? Hopefully some folks find working with my consulting company worthy of frequent unprompted praise at some point along the way.

When Sought Out Criticism Fails Miserably

Monday, January 15th, 2007 at 7:52 pm  
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Yesterday, I noticed a television ad for a local Tex-Mex chain named Tumbleweed that is based here in Louisville promoting a website (Tell Terry What You Think) to tell their CEO (Terry Smith) what you think. A couple of months ago, I had a rotten experience in one of their restaurants simply trying to place a carry out order when I dropped in on my way home one night, and I wanted to tell someone higher up within their company in hopes they’d do something about it. I decided to tell the CEO about my experience via his new website. I figured if the guy was willing to shell out the money to generate a television ad, he must be serious about fixing the company’s many problems.

Tumbleweed’s Main Problems: Tumbleweed used to be a thriving chain that packed customers in every day. There have been several upper level management changes over the years, and the chain has struggled mightily due to Authentic Mexican restaurants sprouting up all around in addition to the fast casual Mexican segment including Q-Doba, Moe’s, LaBamba, etc. I used to LOVE Tumbleweed, but their customer service has been consistently poor, and their chips (always stale tasting) and salsa pale in comparison to their top competitors. Their burritos are good, but that’s not enough anymore. Anyone can make a pretty good burrito–it’s a lot like pizza. Even when it’s bad, it’s still good enough.

Back to the story: my e-mail outlined my experience in pretty good detail and even offered to help by consulting with the company since that’s what I do. I tried to offer solutions to the problems, but it’s apparent that all the money spent advertising the website is in hopes that the complimentary e-mails come flooding in because the complaints will be dealt with much like this:
—————————————-
Roger,

Thank you for making use of my new website and for providing comments on your experience at our Springhurst Tumbleweed. I will pass your comments on to our team in Springhurst and know that they will be disappointed to hear of your experience. It does sound as if one of our team members “dropped the ball” during your carry out order and for that I am deeply sorry and apologize for the inconvenience that it caused you.

If you were to visit one of our restaurants today you would find a guest comment card asking that you request a manager’s presence at the first sign of a difficulty in one of our restaurants. We have a new management team in Springhurst and the performance at this restaurant has been well above average over the past few months.

Again, I appreciate your comments and hope you have an opportunity to try Tumbleweed again and tell me what you think.

Terry
—————————————-

First off, how does his recommended solution of trying Tumbleweed again (on my dime I might add) benefit me in any way? Obviously, in spite of his website and TV ad designed to welcome feedback, the guy doesn’t get it! I have little desire to go back, and that’s why I e-mailed him in the first place about my unpleasant experience and to offer consulting help. The place needs someone that understands placing the customer first, and this guy is out to lunch if that’s really his genuine recommendation and not some detached assistant’s. I sincerely hope a CEO doesn’t think that’s a viable solution to a customer service problem!

I don’t like Tumbleweed enough to tolerate rotten service and a brush off from their CEO that basically says to me “get over it” and “visit again because we have new management.” Who gives a damn that you have new management? How does that help me with my daily decision making when it comes to choosing a place to eat? I don’t choose eateries based on their management team! There are far too many quality competitors out there to lower my expectations to help some self serving organization that doesn’t give a rat’s ass whether I tell you about my bad experience or not.

Guess what? I’m now telling anyone who will listen in the most public of forums because they neither listened nor cared enough to pay attention. I honestly could care less if they take me up on my consulting offer–I have plenty to do without having to educate this chain that customers pay the bills, and poor customer service is a sign of poor training, poor management, and/or poor hiring practices. In Tumbleweed’s case, I vote for all of the above. Add to that: lack of committed leadership.

Lesson to be learned: if you’re going to give people a forum to tell you what they think, be prepared for people to take you up on it by telling you exactly what they think–good and bad. If someone complains, take the time to listen and try to provide a legitimate solution as quickly as possible. Don’t waste people’s time with some canned response that shows you don’t really read the complaints. If you only want compliments and positive referrals, it’s best to selectively target only those folks which will tell you what you want to hear. Those that tell you what you need to hear are obviously of little value to you anyway so why bother opening up the lines of communication to everyone?

Tumbleweed, you let me down. I honestly thought you might be trying to recapture some of your past glory by welcoming feedback of all sorts this time and actually doing something about the poor customer service that has marred your chain for years now. Oh well, have fun filing for bankruptcy within the next 3-5 years. It was good knowing you!

UPDATE: IT GETS BETTER!

I just received another e-mail from Terry (or is it one of his assistants?)

——————–

Roger,

Here’s what’s in it for you; a juicy USDA choice ribeye steak aged 21 days and grilled over a superhot mesquite wood fire until it’s juicy flavor is just right for he your palate. Get this with two great sides and you have one of the best meals for the money found anywhere in Louisville.

If that’s not reason enough to visit Tumbleweed you’ll just have to guess at what you are missing.

Terry
——————–

WTF?!? If he actually is the one reading and responding to the e-mails, he’s more out to lunch than one could ever imagine. This is getting downright comical!

Attempting to Buy Word of Mouth? Bad Idea!

Saturday, December 30th, 2006 at 5:25 am  
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I’m sure many of you have read or heard about the Microsoft blogger “scandal.” If not, click here to read an E-Week piece on it if you wish. To summarize, Microsoft and AMD sent some prominent bloggers a honking Vista based laptops for them to test out. Initially they said the folks receiving the machines could keep them, give them away, or send them back upon completion of the “testing.” The next day, after some public outcry, they requested the PCs back. Good marketing idea; bad execution. Or was it really a good marketing idea? I say it’s terrible especially because of the execution–it backfired completely!

What were Microsoft and AMD really attempting? They were hoping to buy a favorable review from a few influential bloggers and gain some word of mouth marketing. This isn’t uncommon, but it’s a delicate tightrope to walk in order to keep things pure. The key to word of mouth marketing is honesty and the natural progression of the message. Once the public gets a sniff of anything that smells remotely of dishonesty, the word of mouth suddenly turns against the offender. Why is that? You’ve made the people who thought they were spreading something natural and believable look foolish. You’ve jeopardized their reputations. Buying word of mouth won’t work–it’s unnatural, and it makes people feel sleazy for engaging in such tactics.

Microsoft has been a pretty good marketer over the years, but this is a misstep for them that is disappointing to say the least. What did they really think would happen? Did they think the people getting the souped up laptops would write completely honest reviews after receiving a “free” machine? Of course not. Receiving anything of value for free is always well received, and it’s a great way to initiate a word of mouth campaign. If the goal was to gain positive word of mouth, the machines should have been given to some random folks in some sort of drawing without any mention of a review or how the machine was to be used. Let people naturally decide what they wish to do with the thing and if they determine they wish to write a good or bad review, let it occur naturally without trying to influence it in any way. Imagine how much someone would talk up such a product if they “won” the thing fair and square in a drawing of some sort. By picking out people with popular review based blogs, the motivation behind such product placement is rather obvious so any reviews would likely be met with a heavy dose of skepticism unless the products were sent without any prompting whatsoever.

Imagine answering your door and seeing UPS there with a set of boxes that you had zero idea about before hand. Your first reaction would probably be “I didn’t order this” then you’d probably open the boxes, look for clues as to what was in the boxes, then you’d try to convince yourself that someone made a big mistake in your favor. Eventually you’d begin to use the goods in time or try to send them back to the sender. Unless of course there was a letter outlining expectations–that’s where Mr. Softy screwed up. They obviously engaged the review bloggers in some sort of sign up process prior to sending these laptops out so there were expectations implied. That ruined the whole thing.

If you’re hoping to initiate a word of mouth campaign, allow it to happen organically and surprise people by doing something out of the ordinary. Then back away and let things progress on their own. That’s the best bet if you want things to spread quickly and keep foul play suspicions out of the equation.