Finding the Silver Lining; A Customer Service Success Story Thanks to Covid-19

As I have shared in previous blogs, particularly the series I wrote last spring and summer, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic and the quarantine period as I was out of work, one of the things that helped me maintain a positive outlook while in the throes of the most challenging time of my career if not my entire life, was that as far back as I can remember, I've tried to see things with a glass half-full mentality.

There was an old family joke many years ago that the words "it's fine" should be engraved on my tombstone someday since it seemed, no matter the scenario, I'd be quick to come up with an "it's fine" immediately followed by some sort of silver lining view of the situation. Long before Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper (along with Robert De Niro) were lighting up the silver screen in the 2012 David O'Russel film, I too had built quite the "Silver Linings Playbook" of my own over the years, with my almost annoying propensity to find a bit of positive in an otherwise negative situation.

And the aforementioned Covid 19 pandemic and the events associated with it is probably where I have done it the most in recent months. I'll pause here and say I fully acknowledge the pandemic is still a very real issue and the fact I am fortunate enough to be working again is not why I referred to the "height" of it in the past tense at the top of this post. I did so because I am hopeful and fairly confident, not only based on the continued advancements in medicine with respect to vaccination success, but also because of the tangible evidence that we are making progress with regard to our ability to adapt to the "new normals" brought on by the pandemic itself, that the worst is behind us. And so it is in that vein - adapting to the new normals - where these silver linings come into play most.

My 6-year-old daughter, Emma, becoming proficient in the Microsoft Office Suite as a first grader as she mastered MS Teams probably more quickly than I did, being a primary example and one I've shared before. And that sort of technology in particular is really where we have seen and experienced the most positives in terms of how we now engage with companies and live our lives on a daily basis. Curbside pick-up at restaurants and retail stores is another example that comes to mind. While not necessarily new or implemented directly as a result of the pandemic, it wouldn't be a stretch to say companies have been forced to enhance, expand or improve their competencies in this space and create greater efficiencies that enable their customers to take advantage of this style of shopping to where it went from being more or less an experimental way to shop to becoming - to use the word again - the norm.

Here though is perhaps my best customer service success story that was only made possible thanks to the Covid world in which we still find ourselves living. Last Sunday, for the Super Bowl, with my wife under the weather (not Covid related) and me having other items I needed to check off the to-do list at home, rather than going to the grocery store to pick up snacks for the game that evening, along with other items for the week, I went back to an old stand-by I took great advantage of last spring. And do my grocery shopping via InstaCart and have the groceries delivered to me while I tackled (no Super Bowl pun intended) other tasks.

I whipped out my iPhone, opened the InstaCart app, added the items, selected my desired delivery window, checked out, and went about my day. Later that morning, I got a notification my "shopper" was at the store. One of my favorite things about InstaCart is if something on your list is considered popular, they ask in advance if you'd be willing to accept a similar product as a replacement. Full disclosure, I generally do not do that and didn't in this instance either. So, when my shopper noticed a few such items were sold out, she sent me a chat within the InstaCart app asking for my "permission" for her to pick out something else or give me the option to receive a refund for the item. But since I was, as I planned to do, multi-tasking, I did not see the chat messages. Rather than making the decision for me and just process the refund on those items (which is probably what most people would have done), she called me using the number in my InstaCart profile.

Upon answering, it was evident English was not her native language. But she was able to get the message across that I should check my app. First, let me say that this level of service - her taking the initiative to call me - is significant in itself and commendable. But it gets better. Over the course of the next 30 minutes or so, we exchanged many messages. It seemed as though the types of snacks I selected (along with the rest of the groceries I needed for the rest of the week) were high on everyone else's list that day too. I responded to each suggestion with my "direction" (replace or refund) along with my continued appreciation and gratitude with each reply.

At one point, I felt the need to attempt to respond in Spanish. Because here was a person doing her best to communicate in English while going above and beyond in her customer service to meet my needs. And I felt as though it was a courtesy she deserved. So, I did so once or twice and apologized if I got it wrong if I did, and that I hoped she didn't take it as a sign of disrespect, rather the opposite. To show her I too was trying to accommodate her much the same way she was trying to accommodate me.

"Not to worry," she replied. She then finished shopping and within a few minutes, I received the notification she had checked out and I was given an ETA of when to expect her. As soon as she pulled into the driveway, I greeted her outside and said something along the lines of "Claudia, I feel like we are old friends!"

To which she held up one finger, to signify "one second," as she pulled out her phone and asked me to text her instead. I thought, just like with the shopping experience, she must have an easier time reading English and typing in English than she does hearing someone speak it and speaking it herself. No problem. So, I texted her. But, my assumption was off by a little bit. Turns out, she didn't read or type in English necessarily any better than she could speak it, but she had an app on her phone that translated it on the fly. And as my texts came into her in English, she would be able to read them in Spanish. And when she replied to me in Spanish, the app would translate them into English and she would copy and paste that into the InstaCart chat every time she sent me a reply.

Wow. Again, the lengths at which she went to serve and take care of her customer (me) and presumably all of her customers is beyond commendable. Regardless of the industry she is in or the technology she was using to assist her in her effort, it was her customer service acumen and her proactive and positive attitude and spirit that stood out the most. However, going back to the theme of the story - the technology used and the notion of a "story that would not be possible in a non-Covid world" - think about this for a moment.

I am chatting in real-time, on an app on my phone, with a person grocery shopping on my behalf and giving me options for replacement products, sending me photos of those replacement options, and then confirming my choices on my list for me to "approve" - this in itself is enough to make one marvel at this new way of shopping and the technology that enables us to do it. The fact that we were doing this the whole time, speaking two different languages - literally - and aided by yet a second app is remarkable.

If I look at things with a glass-half-full lens anyway, to use that expression from earlier, then by the end of that experience, my glass of positivity was spilling over. Again, first and foremost, because of this individual and her incredible approach to service, but also because it was made possible thanks to technology that didn't exist even five years ago. And sure, InstaCart was not created as a result of the pandemic, and presumably her translation app was not either, but I can say without hesitation, I would not have ever used InstaCart, had it not been for the quarantine period last spring. Thus, why I say, a customer service success story only made possible due to the pandemic.

There is only one more thing that makes this story that much better, which I hesitated sharing because I am fairly confident Claudia was not supposed to do this. And now is a good time to tell you that Claudia is not her name. After she was at the store, and my shopping was in progress, as InstaCart allows you to do (add products up until your shopper checks out), I tried to add a 6-pack of hard seltzer to the order. It didn't allow me to. So, I texted the request to her along with a picture of the product, and asked if maybe she could help ask a manager or someone there to authorize it.

As in, "if I text you a picture of my ID, maybe they will allow it." She said she tried to get someone to help her but could not and apologized. "Please don't worry at all. I'll run out later or just go without it." I hated even asking but figured maybe there was a glitch in the app more than anything else. I later learned you cannot add alcohol to an order in progress, only at the start of one because of how they confirm your age before you check out (and later validate it when the driver arrives at your house).

Fast forward to when she arrived and after all the groceries were unloaded, before she left my house, she pulled a 6-pack out of her car, and using the limited English she had, told me it was her gift to me. Again, wow doesn't begin to cut it. This part of the story, as you can surmise, once again has nothing to do with technology either, but I was speechless. I refused to accept it. I told her it was not at all necessary and that I felt there was no way in heck I would allow myself to take it. At least not without paying her for it. But she was insistent. In any language, I can tell when I am going to lose an argument to someone who is determined to get their way! And she was.

So, once again, I pulled out my phone, sent her a gracious text of gratitude and appreciation, that she was then able to translate and read to herself and as she did, put her hands to her heart, similar to the "one second" sign, as a universal symbol that to me indicated she too was appreciative of me (for what, not sure?). But perhaps just the fact I acknowledged her efforts, thanked her for them (profusely) and maybe also because I treated her with respect and admiration, even after I learned she didn't speak English. Not that my treatment of her is praise-worthy, but potentially it could be assumed not everyone is as kind. Let's put it that way. Regardless, our lack of being able to speak the same language was not too much to overcome our shared understanding and mutual respect for one another.

As I sat back later that night and watched Tom Brady make history, and enjoyed the game, along with the snacks and beverages that my new friend delivered to me hours earlier, I came the conclusion that Brady may have been named the game's Most Valuable Player, but it's folks like "Claudia" that belong in their own special Hall of Fame. That is not only a silver lining of this pandemic, but enough to make anyone realize that people like her, are the "gold lining" of the world.