When Customer Service Becomes Customer Experience

Put our customers first. Give our customers the best experience. The customer is always right.

You’ve probably heard it all before. Everyone says it, and everyone "sells" it to their employees and ultimately to their customers. But does the message actually get cascaded down to everyone in the organisation - to the people who actually deal with the customers?

Customer service and customer experience are two distinct areas - one is bound by policies and metrics, whilst the other goes beyond norm to bring a positively memorable episode. More often than not, both does not co-exist. And in many instances, for "service" to become "experience", it requires escalation.

Two of such examples happened to me this week with two large customer service organisations, individually distinct in their services but were eerily similar in their end results - both requiring escalation to provide a better customer experience.

Experience 1 : A Leading Airline

My wife purchased two tickets for her young nephew and niece to travel from Malaysia to Hong Kong in December for a couple of days to attend my daughter's birthday. There were no economy tickets available, and surprisingly the business class ones were seemingly cheaper. Easy decision. The kids were 10 and 13 respectively, and we realised that they would need Unaccompanied Minor Services (UMS) to get them through immigration and the boarding gate.

The website showed that the service was ‘optional’ with a minimal additional cost. Again easy enough. So she contacted the airline’s customer service to make arrangements.

Surprisingly, the service representative came back with a firm ‘no’ stating that the UMS is only available for those who purchased an economy class ticket and the only option would either be to purchase an economy class ticket or ensure an adult accompanied them.

Err..? What's wrong with offering the same optional service for business class (it’s a higher class you know!), especially since we are willing to pay the additional fees?

"That’s not possible as it's our company policy. If you want to get the service, you need to cancel these tickets and buy economy tickets"

"But there are no more economy tickets. Why can't you offer the same service for business class? It doesn't say anywhere on the website that I need to have an economy ticket for the service and I am willing to forego any lounge service. I just need someone to accompany them from the ticketing counter to the plane."

"Sorry, it's our company policy. If you still want it, the alternative is to purchase a higher class Business class ticket which is an additional RM8000 each”. 

“Is there someone that you can escalate this matter to? Is there someone that I can speak to?”

“If you are unhappy, you can write a complaint via the website but just to let you know that if you don’t arrange for this service or get an adult to travel, they can’t board the plane at the airport."

Of course the above conversation is summarised quite a bit for a call that lasted a long time, and you can already imagine the frustration my wife was experiencing at this moment. Not a good place to be!

She wrote that complaint, and got the standard response that it will be reviewed and the airline will revert within 14 days! And the flight is next week!  

I got a call from my very cross wife and reached out to a friend who knew someone in the airline to escalate the matter. Lo and behold, the matter was resolved within the next few hours with the airline admitting that their website was not explicit about the T&C for UMS. As a gesture of goodwill, they were willing to waive the fee for the service and promised to ensure that system enhancements were carried out.

Service reinstated, problem solved - but only after escalation.

Experience 2 : A Leading Consumer Electronics Company

Later in the afternoon, I went over to a rather famous consumer electronics company in IFC to replace a faulty TV remote (that thing just died on me a year after use!). Went up to the third floor of their fancy store and was greeted by a very friendly staff looking all Christmassy in his red uniform and was assigned a service rep. 

Friendly guy came over, greeted me well, and took down my details and asked what the problem was. I told him the remote wasn't working and would like to have it checked. 

He took a look and just said that the remote was out of warranty by 23 days, and he can't do anything about it - which means I'd have to buy a new remote. This is where I was blinking in shock. A brand new media player (which comes with a remote) is HKD1100 and the cost of the remote is half of that? I was asking him for options, and there was none.

"Sorry sir, I can't do anything as it's our policy. Your warranty is over, and you'd have to buy a new remote or buy a new media player that comes with one. Sorry that I can't help you".

Well it was my fault, and the guy was right. As I was walking out dismayed, along comes another staffer asking me if he can help. So I told him what happened and how disappointed I was that I missed my warranty to replace the remote and that I may need to buy another device. He called me back in, and told me to have a seat while he checked through my case. So I sat and a few minutes later he comes back…

"Sir, we checked your records and know that you're an avid customer with many of our devices on record. As a gesture of goodwill, we will replace the remote for free. My staffer was only following policy, and therefore it was not his fault for not offering this. Hope this resolves your concern, and that you're able to enjoy watching your shows tonight."

Seriously?! Totally unexpected, but more importantly, he made me feel special. That was a clear memorable experience for me. Not only did I get a new remote, but also an assurance from the store manager that I could contact him in the future for any assistance or support. 

Remote replaced, problem solved - but only after escalation.

Escalations as one of the root causes of service failures? 

It's easy to blame policy and procedures for not being able to deliver the right outcome. People in the service line do want to offer the best service for their customers, but sometimes feel they are bound by hard-coded rules. And most customers just give up because of all the red tape involved. Remember the famous "Computer says NO…"?

More often than not, once an issue is escalated or raised as a complaint, things just start moving and the resolution just happens like magic.

Must this always be the case? Would the solution not lie in empowering your front liners enough for them to make the right call to deliver an exceptional service for their customers?

The more you allow escalation, the more you make your service teams dependent on it. Service staff need to be empowered, and need to feel that they own the customer's pain and can help to alleviate it. It's all about "first call resolution". The customer service pledge is not just something on a shiny plaque on the wall that the teams should memorise everyday at work in case someone from top management quizzes them. It is a form of art that not everyone can do, but if you do it right, you'll have a steady stream of fans and followers who will preach about you for free. You can save on marketing cost, that's for sure.

Ok, so how much to empower them?

That's completely up to you. It's all about trial and error. Simple steps to follow:

• Look at your call or complaint volumes and see which is the highest.
• Empower your teams for certain outcomes based on these volumes.
• Check volumes again and see if it worked. If not, try again.

Staff should feel that they are able to resolve a customer’s concern without having to expect their managers to solve it. 

It's an amazing feeling being able to provide solutions to an anxious customer. Humans love to solve problems, it makes us feel proud and content. Imagine giving that ability to your frontline staff....

Ok, stop thinking about potential abuse and this and that - it's when you think that way, rules and red tape sets in. Have guidelines, not rules. Give your staff a sandbox to play in. It has boundaries, but they can operate freely within their play area.

It's all about the experience, but not just any experience. It has to be a positively memorable experience. Create fans and advocates, and enlist brand ambassadors amongst your customers - all for free. Let your customers tell you about your brand values, not what you tell your shareholders. That'll work.

"Computer says NO…..!"

Watch out for Part 2 of my series of thoughts on CX (customer experience and not the airline!)