You’ll Have to Come Back
When Angie went to Frank’s Copy/Ship Store, this was her first experience in years at Frank’s – and she was dreading it. Angie needed some binding done quickly, she needed the item shipped, and she needed to avoid the hassle she had experienced repeatedly in the past at Frank’s that led her to find alternative sources of binding and shipping.
But she had no alternatives to Frank’s for this particular project. Since Frank’s had a well-earned reputation for terrible customer service attitudes, Angie braced herself as she walked in.
As she entered the store, she noticed there were no other customers. “Great!”, she thought. “No wait!”
Two employees were carrying on a conversation with each other near the register. One nodded to her, but neither approached. Finally, one walked over and asked what he could do for her. She had printed 3 reports which needed to be bound and shipped, with 3 special tabs inserted in each.
The employee proceeded to enter the order into the computer without ever again making eye contact with her. Then, he finally looked up and told her “You’ll have to come back.”
“Why?” she asked. The employee said because she doesn’t have an account at Frank’s, so she needs to come back in and pay for it with a credit card in a separate transaction from the binding once it’s ready to ship.
She asked how to create an account, and he said she had to go to the company website. She asked how she could get the item bound and shipped without returning to the store. And after an all-employee conference, they stated that she could leave a credit card, and they could try to ship it that way.
After 20 minutes in a store which had no other customers, needing 3 already-printed reports simply bound and shipped, she left. Without a smile ever being given by an employee. Without a thanks being offered from an employee. Without the intention of her ever returning again.
Sometimes you can differentiate yourself with a smile, eye contact, and a statement of appreciation. But mostly, look for ways to differentiate yourself by making life EASY on the customer.
Find out how to make the customer do less.
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