Often times when choosing vendors and business partners, little thought is given to how these vendors will affect your brand image and your customer experience creation. Too often vendors and business associates are chosen based on price, terms of contract, and other variables that do little to enhance the customer’s experience. This is unfortunate because even vendors who do not have regular interaction with your customers can turn out to have a huge impact on their perception of your brand through the Customer Experience they offer. Consider the following example:
This past summer I took my family to a small, but widely renowned pizza franchise in Central Minnesota - Zorbaz Pizza. Zorbaz is known for its excellent pizza and Mexican food as well as its laid back, fun atmosphere that fares well in the fun-loving lakes region of Minnesota.
The kids were excited for the great food Zorbaz is known for, while my wife and I still couldn’t believe we had gotten our 21-year-old son, and 16-year-old daughter to come on a family vacation. We were sitting in a corner of the restaurant with a TV positioned over us. We had finished eating our excellent food and were enjoying each other’s company after the meal, when out of nowhere a 10 – 15 pound trophy fell off of the TV stand above us. The trophy struck my daughter’s purse and then her hand. She immediately grasped her hand and began to cry. It was an incredibly frightening moment, and could have been much worse: the massive trophy had missed my daughter’s head by mere inches. It all happened so fast; we were stunned.
I grabbed the first server passing by and told her what happened. She responded with the slack jawed look of a teenage boy playing video games. My response to her was, “Get the manager, NOW!” In about 5 minutes the manager came, very embarrassed. He then took another 5 minutes to get some ice and then another 15 minutes to round up some insurance information.
The manager did the right thing and sent us to the hospital to have her hand examined, telling us that the hospital would send them the bill. We had her hand checked and found out nothing was broken and preceded back to the lake. On the way back to our place we discovered that my daughter’s cellular phone had been smashed by the trophy.
The manager called us later that night, as promised, and I informed him that her hand was OK but her cell phone was smashed. He told me to buy a new one and send him the bill. This ends the good part of the story if you want to call it that.
Three months after the incident the hospital bills had not been paid and we still had not been reimbursed for the cell phone. The issue was finally settled 4 months after the fact but not until I had to become extremely nasty to get their attention. I called the owner of Zorbaz, the insurance agent and the insurance adjuster to yell at all of them and basically had to threaten to sue them to get them to act. The amazing thing is that not one of them could understand why I was so upset.
Zorbaz, the insurance adjuster, the insurance agent and the insurance company all now played a part in this debacle. None of them had enough sense to think about what had happened from the perspective of the customer.
So think about the vendors you choose that may come in contact with your customers. Do they share your thoughts on how you wish your customers to be treated or do they want to win the battle but lose the war? Their version of your Customer Experience must be your version.
I have already forgotten the name of the insurance company, the insurance adjuster and the insurance agent but I will never forget that Zorbaz dropped a trophy on my daughter and didn’t pay for her phone or hospital bills until I threatened to sue them.
This same idea holds true in all industries, be it construction, shipping, offshore customer service and help desks, or even the janitor who cleans the floor of your restaurant. All of your associates have the potential to have an impact on your Customer Experience, good or bad, and therefore should be seen as an extension of your organization.
So, even though your vendors may be forgotten or not even known by your customers, their failures are your failures. So, as the knight protecting the Holy Grail in the Indiana Jones movie said, “Choose carefully."
Now go Maximize Possibility!
Other blog posts you may be interested in:
- What is Poor Customer Service Costing You?
- No Problem is a Customer Service Phrase Problem
- The Worst F-Word: FINE
- Cultural Change Begins with Personal Accountability
Chris Young helps organizations Maximize Possibility through talent management, cultural transformation, and strategic intervention. Bring Chris in today!
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