customer experience<\/a> consultant, hearing this represents an experience failure. \u00a0Organizations may try to whitewash it away by describing it as \u201csomething we\u2019re working on\u201d or \u201ca service irregularity\u201d or \u201cservice exception,\u201d but it is simply, a fail.
\n<\/p>\nReal life \u2013 stranger than fiction (of course).<\/b><\/p>\n
My wife has a chain store charge card and because of that, she receives lots of marketing offers and discounts that we take advantage of. \u00a0Recently this retailer has decided to launch a loyalty program. \u00a0This program is completely separate from being a charge card holder and all the marketing that they\u2019re already directing our way. \u00a0A separate enrollment application is required with no apparent linking to the charge account. \u00a0There\u2019s nothing going on to make it easy to enroll for those customers that have an established relationship with the store already. \u00a0The fact that we may get some additional offers and discounts in addition to what we already receive sounded enticing enough, so we signed up for the program.<\/p>\n
Some months later I\u2019m with my wife and we\u2019re paying for our purchases at this store. \u00a0We\u2019ve had a pretty good shopping experience so far. \u00a0At the end of the transaction I remember that we\u2019re members of this new program and ask the clerk if the purchase can be credited to our loyalty account.<\/p>\n
Then the dreaded words come \u2013 \u201cyou\u2019ll have to call customer service with your receipt number and they will credit you.\u201d \u00a0My response, \u201ccan\u2019t you do that right here?\u201d \u00a0The clerk\u2019s response, \u201cNo, you\u2019ll have to call.\u201d<\/p>\n
So on top of a completely perplexing loyalty program structure that has no tie in to an already loyal customer (who is using the private store charge card), the firm can\u2019t credit purchases to the new program once the sales transaction is done at the point of sale? \u00a0Wow !<\/p>\n
(Note: This fail at the end of the experience also imprints a strong negative impression in memory. \u00a0If this retailer understood the Peak-End Rule as described by Behavioral Economist Daniel Kahneman, they would be doing everything they could to make the end of the experience positive not negative.)<\/p>\n
What it really is.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll have to call customer service.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sometimes you may get three bonus words at the beginning of this phrase – \u201cI\u2019m sorry but\u2026\u201d \u00a0Yeah, but that doesn\u2019t help much, does it? \u00a0(Since you\u2019re not sorry enough to fix it.)<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s call this response what it really is; a decision by an organization that the customer experience isn\u2019t that important or cover for an internal screw-up somewhere along the line or some combination of the two.<\/p>\n
In the era of customer experience, it\u2019s like saying \u201cthank you for choosing us for your one way flight to Siberia, we have now closed the main cabin door\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll have to call customer service.\u201d<\/p>\n
There are a number of translations to the real reason available. <\/b>\u00a0If we could only get the honest truth right off the bat, maybe having to make that phone call wouldn\u2019t feel so insulting. \u00a0Most of the time when you hear this phrase it boils down to a number of core reasons (with extra bonus honesty included). \u00a0I\u2019m using product \/ service \/ issue interchangeably here. Some of these may be combined:<\/p>\n