Chase sent me an email apologizing for a website outage that I never noticed. Great move: I’ll trust them more. I’ll be more patient and forgiving next time it happens.
Tag Archives: customer service
Don’t overcomplicate usernames and passwords
Amazon has a gazillion customers. They use email for usernames and any simple password you want. It works just fine. Don’t let your techies convince you that you need some crazy-complicated password scheme. You’ll just annoy your users and make it less likely that they will come back. (Unless you have something extra-super-sensitive. But if [...]
Does the payoff justify the risk?
Today my waiter read my order back to me, item by item. This is a good thing. Getting the order right is how you have happy customers and great service. I’m always annoyed by the waiters who try to memorize your order. Are we supposed to be impressed? Let’s do a risk analysis: Best: A [...]
The economics of great customer service
My friend Rishi Rawat sent me this great story of common-sense customer service. From: Rishi Rawat To: Andy Sernovitz Subject: My Keurig story Hi Andy, Just over a year ago we purchased a Keurig coffee machine. It gave us superb service right up to the day when it unexpectedly died. I dreaded calling customer support [...]
What’s the simplest way to make life easier?
How do you find your car in the parking lot? This little paper reminder will help. Other garages probably came up with some much more complicated schemes. This works well, and it’s easy. So ask yourself: Is there an easier way to solve the problem? Is there something we can do for a few bucks [...]
Show your customers that you really get them
The American Girl store is an astonishing place. Every detail is designed to make a little girl feel that it’s her store. This one is my favorite: A doll holder in each bathroom stall. Because my baby girl does not want to put her baby on the floor by the toilet, and she doesn’t want [...]
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend?
That question may be the most important question you can ask — and the business innovation of the decade. It comes from Fred Reichheld‘s Net Promoter Score concept and his book The Ultimate Question. You should read the book and start using it immediately. Of course, I love it because it’s a word of mouth [...]
Big basket of thanks
There is a big basket of blank thank-you notes at the end of every row of cubicles at Zappos. Guess what? The employees send a lot of thank you notes to customers. How easy can you make it for your employees to make customers happy? (Start reading Switch by Chip & Dan Heath for the [...]
Imagine if every store sent you a nice follow-up note
From Costco: Congratulations on your recent purchase of the VIZIO 371080p 60Hz LCD HDTV (item #: 810370) from Costco.com. We want you to get the most out of your product so we offer FREE Technical Support. If you experience any problems during set-up, installation or any time thereafter, please call Costco’s Concierge Service at 1-866-861-0450. [...]
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