Ford comes up trumps – or people matter most…..

I railed against my local Ford dealer in an earlier post, and in conclusion noted that the misfire was still evident when I drove away. I’ve just finished a “thank you” letter to the dealer’s service agent who has, he said with crossed fingers, etc, etc., finally fixed my car. Copied to the General Manager of course.

An update.

It got worse, much worse. The engine light came on again, and stayed on this time. I took the car in and they diagnosed a faulty coil and replaced it. A mere $460.

I picked up the car and after less than three hours, the engine light is sneering at me. In goes the car again. Ah, a coil is faulty they tell me. It turns out that, since i last turned a spanner (wrench in US parlance), cars now have not a single coil, but one for each cylinder. Mine has eight…. This was sounding expensive…..

This time though, I talked to Jack the service advisor who was suitably sympathetic and reassuring. No bull, but sensible conversation and an acceptance that things were not as they should be.

Each day the car was in, Jack called with a status update, even when there was little positive he could say. That takes guts – a majority of service reps of all ilks seem to avoid the hard calls – and Jack was not bringing good news most of the time. The problem was that the fault was hard to pin down. The engine light would come on, but with little information as to why, apparently. Nonetheless Jack called, assuring me that it would go out only when he would be happy for his wife to drive it.

They ended up replacing TWO more coils, at a much (and I do mean much) reduced rate, and that seemed reasonable to me.

Within 24 hours the engine light is doing it’s thing. “How are you?” says Jack. “Very unhappy.” says I. He got it, and said all that could. This time it was three days. They could not pin down any fault, though they could consistently replicate the engine light. The short version – they replaced an injector. Free of charge. And since then (two weeks now) it has been like driving a different car.

As I told Jack in the letter, I was ready for never going back after the brake episode. So does all end well? Yes, but….

It fascinates me that I got a flyer via regular mail for service – they do that all the time – that proclaimed in big, bold letters “Jack’s Back!”. Which got me a-thinking. They obviously recognize his talent and abilities, and reading between the lines, regard it as a coup to have him back. So if they know that his skills mean better service, happier customers, etc. etc. why don’t they recruit more like him and/or train the other reps to be similar? Superstars are always interesting, but you can’t rely on them to hold up an otherwise mediocre team. Every interaction with a customer moulds their perception of your brand. Negatives are easy to accumulate – and one good or positive experience doe not erase a negative one.

{advertising, Customer Service, Marketing, WOM}

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Customer Service, User Experience, WOM

KQED – the tale continues…..

I keep thinking that, perhaps, I’m being a little harsh on KQED. But every time I have the slightest doubt, they manage to reinforce that they are at least as bad, if not worse, as I portray them.

After my previous two experiences (documented earlier in this blog), this week I got a letter. “Yay, I’ve finally got through to them” I thought. I open the letter.

“Dear Mr. Graham Bird
On behalf of all of us at KQED, I want to thank you for your continued support. Clearly, it is members like you who are the real strength behind outstanding Northern California Public Television and Radio.”

What can I say? This is from Robin Smith, with whom I have not communicated directly, but it still says a lot about KQED and it’s ‘customer’ responsiveness. A letter to the General Manager (with a copy of the associated blog), followed by a pack to the member department (two blog entries, a copy of the GM letter, plus another letter explaining the previous ones, and still they charge me and thank me for my continuing support!

The PS to the letter is interesting,

“ Due to revised circulation requirements set by the publisher of San Francisco Magazine, KQED can only provide this benefit to members who give $150 or more annually. In its place, we will send you The Guide, KQED’s complete printed program schedule.”

KQED is so in tune with its members that it spends the hard earned member subscriptions to print and mail a program schedule. Haven’t they checked on how many of us have the internet and check program listings that way? They could save a huge amount by checking and confirming, if I’m right, that most of us throw them away as they deliver zero value.

But alas, the problem is a bigger one really. I’m describing symptoms. KQED has real issues and problems in communicating (that is, a two way dialog) with their ‘members’, but I don’t see what could be done to get them to realize that there even is a disconnect. And there, my diligent reader, is the problem that many organizations face. To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, they don’t even know that they have an ‘unknown unknown’ – what their customers really think.

{WOM, Bad Customer Service, Marketing, Product}

{WOM, Bad Customer Service, Marketing, Product}

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Bad Customer Service, Brand, Customer Service, Marketing, Media, User Experience, WOM