Providing Service Versus an Exceptional Customer Experience

I recently had an interaction with a customer service person that left me baffled. We remodeled our bathroom in early 2020 and our matte black faucets are already chipping, so I looked online and the manufacturer’s finish warranty is for 10 years. I reached out through the manufacturer’s website to provide pictures, a receipt, and all of the details they requested to determine a remedy.

Thank you for your feedback

According to my assigned customer service rep, the faucets were covered and they were willing to replace them. I told them I did not want the same finish since it is evident that this type of finish was no match for our hard water. I requested if I could get the same faucet, but in a different finish (they have five finishes). Diana, my customer service representative replied via email, “We will be sending the replacement faucets at no charge to you and they should arrive in 7-10 days.”  I asked again, “Is there any way I can get a different, more durable finish?” She replied, “Thank you for your feedback, we will get your replacements in the mail soon.” “But wait Diana, can I get the same faucet style but in a different finish? They are the same price.” “Thank you for your feedback, we will be mailing those in a day or so.”

It has an AI feel to it, doesn’t it? But I am pretty sure Diana is a real person (or people manning their helpdesk) based on some of the email interactions we had along this process. While I am happy this didn’t cost me anything to replace the faucets, I will have to hire a plumber to install them and in two years they will need to be replaced again. Did Pfister fulfill their promise as outlined in the warranty document? Yes, they did. Would it have cost them anything to send me the same faucet in a different finish? No, it would have cost them zero additional dollars and I would have been happy that they cared enough about my feedback to accommodate me.

Now that’s how you do it

I had an exact opposite experience with Smith and Noble, the window covering company. I ordered a shade online from them about five years ago. The string inside the mechanism that raises and lowers them broke and we couldn’t repair it ourselves. Any local repair people wanted to charge me more than the shade actually cost to repair it.

I reached out to their customer service to see if anything could be done. I didn’t even know if they did repairs and I had no idea when I had purchased it or if there was a warranty. They had all of my information in their system and were easily able to access the warranty information. Even though my warranty had expired about three months before, they happily offered to repair it. I returned the shade and they repaired it at no charge. I only had to pay $18 for shipping one way. The customer service woman I worked with throughout this process, Diane, was lovely and even followed up by phone to make sure I was happy with the repair. That actually did cost them the labor to repair the shade and ship it back, but they happily did it. Boom!

Empower people to exceed expectations

My point of these stories is that we can easily provide a service that delivers as expected. Pfister fulfilled their end of the deal as outlined by their warranty. But it takes so little effort to exceed those expectations and Smith and Noble did just that. If their customer service person would have said something like “Let me check with my supervisor and I’ll let you know if we can change the faucet for the finish you would prefer.” And if the company really wanted to make people happy, doing something that took little effort and no added expense should have been within Diana’s power to make happen.

It's safe to say that when it comes time to replace those faucets, I won’t be buying anything Pfister again. Even if they try and send me the same faucets again at no charge. Why would I? They showed no effort to do something they knew would have made me happy and would have exceeded my expectations. Now Smith and Noble is another story, I am a client for life. We can all deliver service as expected. It’s the unexpected extra that builds loyalty.

“If you don’t take care of your customer, your competitor will.” ~Bob ‘Idea Man’ Hooey, is a motivational keynote speaker, sales success coach, corporate success trainer, and strategic business coach.