Here's what Radial believes about good customer service.
It's not what you do when the sun is shining and everyone's happy. It's all about how you handle the situation when something goes wrong.
First, some background:
We've lived in Dallas almost twenty years. One of our family traditions is a local theater's production of "A Christmas Carol."
So since we moved here, we've spent over $1000 on these tickets.
Here's what happened this year:
Part 1: September 30, 2008....I buy two tickets totaling $60 to a Thanksgiving week performance.
Part 2: Three weeks later, I get an email promotion offering tickets on that exact date for 25% off - a $15 savings.
Kicking myself for having ordered early, I email the theater - we'll call it XYZ:
This special offer is a terrific idea and I hope it will encourage everyone to continue this wonderful tradition even though economic times are scary right now.
We recently bought our tickets to the 11/28 show and now I feel like a bit of a dope for doing it early.
Would you consider extending this discount to us, in the spirit of the season and as a goodwill gesture for our early support?
I'd really appreciate any flexibility you have, as we're long-time Christmas Carol fans.
Many thanks for considering my request...
I didn't demand the discount. I just asked them to consider the possibility. Frankly, I figured they'd say no - and I was OK if that was the outcome.
Part 3: That same day, I receive the following reply:
Unfortunately all single tickets are final, there are no exchanges, refunds or cancellations.
That's it. No acknowledgement of a single point from my original email, and no signature. In fact, it was sent from an "info" email address.
Now I'm getting testy. Not because the answer is no, but because the reply is terse and unresponsive. In fact, it's downright rude.
Here's how they should have said "no":
We're so happy that A Christmas Carol is part of your family's tradition and thank you very much for your business over the years. We would be happy to offer you the special pricing retroactively had you purchased your tickets within seven days of this promotion.
However, we cannot extend it to purchases prior to that time because as a community theater, we rely on predictable ticket sales and want to make sure that we treat all of our customers consistently. I appreciate your understanding and truly wish that we could have met your request.
Wishing you a peaceful holiday,
Jane Smith, Box Office Manager
(Frankly, if I ran their box office, I would grant this request in a heartbeat. What's a $15 discount to a customer who's spent over $1000 in the past? Wouldn't a rational businessperson happily give up $15 now to keep a loyal customer happy, knowing that I'll be back in 2009, 2010, 2011, etc.?)
Part 4: So I reply:
I'm not sure who this response is from, since it's unsigned and seems to be the email equivalent of a form letter, but I would appreciate your forwarding my request to XYZ's business manager.
I understand the policy and I'm not asking for an exchange, refund or cancellation.
I'm wondering, as a loyal customer, if it would be possible to extend the same 25% discount to me that you did to people who are actually *less* interested in seeing the show.
It seems odd, doesn't it, to treat people who haven't bought tickets at all better than someone who actually recently bought tickets?
Otherwise, this feels like a penalty for being a loyal customer and makes me think that next year, I definitely won't make the same mistake again.
I'm sure that isn't really the reaction that XYZ was hoping for when it decided to extend this special offer. And of course, businesses that have flexibility in handling the unexpected are those most likely to have happy, loyal customers.
Thanks for any help you can provide...
Notice what's happened. Initially willing to accept a possible "No", I'm now clearly upset and determined to argue the point.
Do I care that much about the $15 discount? Nope. But rude and unresponsive service really steams me.
However, the situation's still salvageable. Send me a note that sounds like this and I'm happy again:
We truly value your business. I'm so sorry our reply seemed rude. I appreciate your feedback and we will incorporate it into our customer service training.
If you had bought your ticket within seven days of the special offer, we would happily extend the discount retroactively.
However, we do not extend discounts beyond that seven-day window.
I hear your frustration at receiving a special offer when you had already paid a higher price. We normally don't send these promotions to people who have already bought tickets and I truly apologize that you received this promotion in error. We are investigating where our processes went wrong and will fix it.
Part 5: Days pass. No reply. However, I receive two more emails promoting the discount - plus a telephone pitch! Grrrr.
Part 6: Seventeen days later...
It's November 9. I remember that I've heard nothing and go looking on their website for another person to escalate to. Then I follow up with with someone who sounds like a logical contact:
I'm not sure if you're the right person to reach out to, or not....so would appreciate your forwarding this email to whoever's appropriate.
I've never received a response to my 10/23 email, and in the meantime have received THREE more discount offers for Christmas Carol tickets - two emails and one phone call.
To be honest, it's salt in the wound.
Can you help? We love this show but it's quickly turning into something we'll never feel the same about.
I'm very grateful for any flexibility [the theater] has in response to my original request, below..."
Part 7: I get a prompt reply:
Unfortunately your tickets to “A Christmas Carol” were purchased on 9/30/08, which was far in advance of either offer.
I am not sure how your email address was tagged to receive these offers; we suppressed all current “Christmas Carol” buyers for 2008.
As you know from your patronage with XYZ, all sales are final, there are no refunds, exchanges or cancellations.
Thank you.
[sender's name and title]
They still haven't acknowledged any of my original points. Nor have they apologized for the response delay and failure to honor my request to escalate. Nor have they apologized for deluging me with ongoing discount offers.
At this point, they've dropped the ball on several issues. Even if the original answer was "no", the smart move would be to switch directions and give me the credit simply as an apology for the delay, the failure to escalate, and the failure of their "suppression" process.
Part 8: So I reply, copying the theater's managing director:
Thanks for your prompt reply. I'm not sure why three weeks is equivalent to "far in advance", but so be it.
I hope forfeiting my entire $60 in 2009 (and 2010, 2011, etc.) is worth the $15 you saved in 2008, because XYZ 's poor customer service and stubborn insistence have cost you a customer. It's not a light decision, because we've attended every year that we've been in Dallas.
If XYZ had responded courteously and sympathetically to my request, I would have accepted "no" as the answer and continued on as a happy customer.
The dealbreaker for me is XYZ's lousy customer service.
For example:
I'm sure you intended to apologize for XYZ's seventeen-day delay in responding to my email below...
And for the fact that I had to escalate to you - a stranger whose name I had to search for on XYZ's website - simply to get a response...
And for the fact that since my original purchase, you have emailed and called me with no fewer than three solicitations for tickets at lower prices.
I also didn't appreciate getting an unsigned and extremely curt single-line boiler-plate response to my original 10/23 email. It was completely unresponsive and frankly, rude.
Is this really how *you* would want to be treated as a customer?
Other companies learned a long time ago that HOW you respond to a customer at least as important as what you actually say.
Part 9: The very next morning I get ANOTHER marketing email, this one for 50% off! Words fail me - at least the ones suitable for this audience.
Part 10: That afternoon, the marketing director calls to tell me that she's giving us the 50% discount retroactively. My guess is that the managing director saw my email, thought it was ridiculous to tick off a regular customer over $15, and said "Fix this."
Have they kept me as a customer?
One thing's for sure: their poor customer service has transformed my practically automatic ticket purchases of the last 20 years - which contributed over $1,000 to their bottom line! - into a buying decision I'll think hard about in 2009.
Dumb, dumb, dumb.
Customer service takeaways from this experience:
You do not have to grant your customer's request. However, whether you agree with the customer's position or not:
1) Reply promptly. Customer issues need immediate acknowledgement and prompt resolution. Otherwise, you're leaving a unwatched pot on the stove as it gets hotter and hotter and eventually boils over.
2) Reply meaningfully. Acknowledge the specific issues raised by your customer. Avoid canned cut-and-paste responses and boilerplate. Prove to the customer that you really did hear and understand their issue.
3) Reply sympathetically. You would help if you could, right? So say that. Apologize for any shortcomings in how your business has handled the situation so far. Do not attempt to score points at the customer's expense or prove you're right.
4) Reply courteously. Identify yourself and your role in the organization. Express appreciation for the customer's business. Thank them for taking the time to raise a concern.
5) Reply honestly. If you can't meet the customer request, share the real reason. Don't blame it on policy. Most customer service policies were created in response to customer abuses of your business. So if it's a reasonable request from an otherwise good customer, override the policy and do what actually makes sense.
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