Chicago Beta

Dick Costolo had a great post recently about companies’ customer service (Customer Service - Foundation over Platitude).

The airline’s website and official customer service language are all about lines like ‘the customer comes first’, ‘you are [airline name]’s most valuable asset’, etc. The hotel’s website and official customer service language are non-existent. I couldn’t find anything on the site that explicitly mentioned customer service. Of course, the actual customer service experience was first-rate at the hotel and miserable with the airline.

Dick talked about the importance of transparency. How even bad situations can be made significantly better by informing the customer of what the problem is, rather than just leaving them in the dark.

It reminded me of an experience I had the last time I visited IKEA. The principle of transparency can be used by companies, not only to right a wrong, but also as a competitive advantage–by explaining the reasons behind seemingly unacceptable behavior.

IKEA has built an amazing business by providing high quality products at incredibly low costs. I can attest, every time I go there I buy much more than I ever plan to because the products look fantastic and the prices are so unbelievably cheap. Trash cans, pictures, champaign glasses, “I know I don’t really need a new dish scrubbing brush, but this suction cup thing is so cool, and for 50 cents, what the hell.”

But saving money can require cutting corners, and cutting corners isn’t always acceptable to customers. On my last visit I noticed a number of signs posted around the store. (I couldn’t find pictures online, so these are from memory):

In the restaurant/cafeteria:

Please bus your own dishes. This allows us to have less staff on hand, and keeps our prices low for you.

Throughout the store:

Why s it hard to find help at the store?  Not having lots of staff, and not having commission sales people, allows us to keep our prices low. Look around for one of the information booths and someone will be happy to help you there.

In the loading area when you pick up the pieces of your furniture:

Why do you assemble furniture yourself? Having someone in a factory assemble furniture would make our prices more expensive. Although it can be difficult to assemble yourself, it means you get the furniture right away, and for less cost.

Etc…  The cafeteria one struck me the most. When I read it, as I was carrying my tray to the dish bin, it gave me a sense that I was participating in the business model. What would have normally been an unpleasant activity, gives the customer a small sense of pride.

In my own business, I make sure I don’t make the mistake of assuming things have to be a certain way. IKEA gave me evidence that customers will jump through a lot of hoops, and be happy about doing so, if you can give them something they really want. Don’t be too quick to assume, “But the customer wouldn’t like that…”