Just a few days ago my daughter came into my office frustrated with her cell phone carrier. As she spouted off the story I concluded that this cell phone carrier must not have a effective employee engagement program in place. Here is her story:
My daughter was eligble for an upgrade to her cell phone and so “reserved” a new phone at my local cell phone store. In order to “reserve” the phone she was required to purchase a sizable gift card. She was told that if she decided not to purchase the phone the gift card would be refunded. My daughter thought: no problem - she thought wrong.
A week later, the new phone arrived at the store, she tested it out, and decided not to purchase it. So she fished around for the gift card she’d purchased to “reserve” the phone expecting a refund as promised. The lead customer service person stared at her blankly as she told my daughter that she could not give her a refund. Instead, my daughter could use the gift card to purchase a variety of phone accessories from the in-store display.
The cell phone representative went on to explain that my daughter had been mis-informed when she purchased the gift card; even though this representative had the most authority allowed by store policy the cell phone employee could not refund my daughters’ gift card.
Still my daughter pleaded her case, afterall she’d been a customer with this company for more than 10 years, she’d always paid her bill on time, surely this would make a difference. She figured that her longevity would bode in her favor. Again, she thought wrong. Instead, the company respresentative simply reiterated company policy.
My daughters’ patience grew short and ended in a heated debate where she drew a line in the sand: refund the gift card or she leaves for another cell phone company.
The company representative responded by saying, “Ma’am do you expect me to lose my job by going against company policy to give you a refund?” In order to keep a customer, YES that is precisely correct! My daughter left the store and moved her cell phone service to another provider in short order.
If the company had refunded the value of her gift card they would have lost in the short term. However, by the end of a service contract the cell phone company would have made that amount back x 20! The cell phone representative lost sight of this in the midst of the situation.
As you encounter various customer service experiences can you tell which companies have engaged employees and which do not? Engaged employees know what is most important in a given customer service situtaion because they use their head and their heart to make decisions. They also have a better chance of “seeing the big picture” in a situtaion because they know how their actions directly affect the company brand and sales figures.
In this scenerio, the employees at this cell phone company were certainly not engaged. In fact, they could have cared less about retaining a customer or resolving a unpleasant circumstance. As a result, the company lost a chance to make money and build customer loyalty.
My advice is simple: don’t let this happen to you. Engage your employees, your customers will have a better experience and your business will be more likely to succeed.
