Category: Mystery Shopping

 

Zappos has always been a leader in innovation when it comes to online shopping. Remember the days where “Timmy” was in the news? If you’ve forgotten, you can read about it here. Basically, Zappos believes that customers should take the lead when it comes to customer service – at the time, an exchange between a customer and Zappos rep went viral, as the customer tested this theory by insisting on being referred to in the third person, and the rep obliged without missing a beat.

 

Now they’ve taken to the mall – no, they’re not planning to open a retail location. Instead, they spent time people watching to learn more about the shopping experience, hoping to find the key elements to bring to the online world. Of course they are interested in taking people from brick and mortar stores and swaying them to shop online.

 

Zappos sets the bar high, and taking on this task is no surprise. However, the jury is still out on whether or not the company can identify and recreate those key aspects that make shopping enjoyable. I think the one area that will be a challenge is the social aspect, as well as appealing to the senses. Part of the allure of shopping is in the environment – a bright, clean store with music in the background. Another aspect is the actual look and feel of the items people shop for – being able to touch items, try them on, and show them to others is something that will be very difficult to replicate online.

 

I give credit to Zappos for taking this initiative and am excited to see what they come up with. While online shopping has grown significantly since its inception, I don’t see it replacing brick and mortar shopping completely, or at a rate to hurt those brick and mortar businesses. You never know though, and if anyone can raise the bar, it’s Zappos.

 

 

Or any industry still using paper surveys.

 

With three kids, it’s typical to visit the doctor’s office somewhat frequently, especially before school starts. It’s physical time, and when a parent loses track of time, this sometimes means it’s off to a quick clinic within a drug or grocery store.

 

I recently had this experience myself. When visiting a quick clinic for my child’s sports physical. As we were going into the first room, I noticed the practitioner handing a paper survey to the last patient. He asked her to fill it out before she left, as paper surveys never tend to make it back to them.

 

I had heard of a similar experience when a family member was discharged from the hospital. He was asked to complete a paper survey to share feedback on the experience.

 

I thought that I can understand why they want patients to provide feedback while they are still in the moment, but doing so in paper format can be downright painful, especially in the case of a hospital stay when the form can be long and a recovering patient may not be up to the task.

 

This is where it would be useful and much more efficient to transfer to a tablet based survey – imagine how easy it would be to hand a tablet to a patient to get the same feedback. It can be less time consuming, as answering questions will be a few taps and there is the ability to capture voice sentiments, which reduces the time spent writing out answers to open ended questions.

 

With all of the technology that is available, it’s a good time to start taking advantage of what’s available, making it easier on patients (and customers) while continuing to get feedback while the experience is fresh in their minds.

 

 

 

It seems everyone is quick to point out when customer service goes bad, or fails all together – whether it be in blog posts, social media status updates, or in casual conversation. How often do we focus on the great things that happen?

 

Today’s post will highlight two great examples of outstanding customer service, ones that “saved the day” in two very different ways.

 

1. Recently, a customer and her daughter visited Kohl’s to purchase a backpack for the start of the school year. Unfortunately, the handle broke two days later and it needed to be exchanged. Everything happened uneventfully until two days later, when the customer’s daughter realized that there was a good chance she left her very expensive graphing calculator in the backpack. Since days had passed, the customer realized it was probably long gone.

 

The customer contacted the store and was happy to learn that because it was a defective item, and it was just after a long weekend, the backpack may still be in the store. After being placed on hold, the customer learned that it was not in the area. The employee was extremely empathetic to the situation, and shared that she had asked her manager if it could be anywhere else in the store. They offered to take the customer’s name and number and would do some additional digging.

 

The customer received a call shortly thereafter. The manager had gone through the defective shipment that was scheduled to leave and found the backpack. She quickly brought it to the service desk and was thrilled to be able to call the customer and share the great news. This was above and beyond customer service – it could have stopped with the customer service employee simply saying the backpack was not in the area and apologizing for the situation. However, she took the initiative to take the extra time and work to track it down and make a customer’s day.

 

2. A bank customer was throwing a baby shower for her daughter, and wanted to rent the clubhouse of the association they belonged to in another state. The policy, which was not clearly stated during the planning process, stated that a certified or cashier’s check must be provided in order to rent the clubhouse. The bank customer was notified by the clubhouse with a day to spare – despite everything else being in order, and having a standard check in hand for the deposit – that they could not release the keys to the customer’s family member without the certified or cashier’s check.

Given that it was late in the day on Friday, and the association would be closed the following day, with the shower to be held within the next 24 hours, the bank customer did not know what to do or where to turn for help. The association would not accept a standard check, or even cash. Defeated, the customer called Chase Bank at a branch in the state where the shower was to be held.

 

When talking with the bank representative, he was empathetic to the customer’s situation and tried to find a resolution. While he stated that it was not typically allowed, he would help her out by issuing a cashier’s check and releasing it to a family member, who was able to deliver it to the association within minutes of closing for the weekend, and the shower was saved!

 

These are great examples of taking the customer’s needs to heart and going above and beyond to resolve issues. You can bet that in each case, the customer contacted the business to share their positive experience, and word of mouth spread.

 

As a customer, it’s always good practice to do this. Take the extra time to let a company know you’ve had a great experience with their employees. This is a practice I hold true to whenever I experience great things. Companies hear a lot of negative comments, problems, and issues on a daily basis – if we’re so quick to share a negative experience, we should be equally as quick to share a positive one. In most cases, the company is thrilled to hear your experience and accolades the appropriate staff – this is a great way to make someone’s day and let them realize how much their actions positive impacted your day.