Thinking and Doing
With Apple stock nearing $200 I thought I would relate my Apple shopping experience experience this holiday season. The contrast between that experience and the one I had with Ticket-Master is illuminating.
I wanted to buy an iTunes gift card at my local Apple store. First, there were 3 young guys waiting for me as I entered the store. A little intimidating, but I was on a mission from my wife to purchase Christmas presents. So, I charged in. I explained what I wanted. The clerk was armed with a handheld device. He grabbed an iTunes card from the rack, scanned the bar code, swiped my Visa and asked if I wanted a receipt e-mailed and/or printed. Entire transaction in under 5 minutes and I never got close to a cash register. Brilliant, absolutely bloody brilliant.
On the other side of the coin is Ticket Master. I tried to purchase tickets for a Monty Python show in Milwaukee. First, I went to their web side. I could not find the event. Second, I tried to use their automated phone system. The voice recognition was excellent, but the transaction tree was so complicated that I had to get almost to the end of the transaction to determine if it, in fact, was what I wanted. When I discovered that it was not and said so, the system transferred me back to the beginning. I gave up. Third, I called the box office of the venue where the show will take place. A human being got me the seats I wanted in under five minutes.
What does the contrast tell business people? Your customer is the most important element in your business. Closing the sale is the most important part of the transaction. If you do not take the time to stand in the customer’s shoes at the point of closing the sale and understand how you can help them buy your product or service you will loose a lot of sales. Make it simple and comfortable for clients to say yes to you. If the process of a transaction irritates or confuses you, it will do the same for your client and they will not become your customer.
If you have any examples of great or amazingly bad customer service, I’d love to hear about them.
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