What is amazing customer service? What is the ROI? Here’s an outstanding example from a customer service employee of the online British fashion retailer ASOS.
The customer was Jay Whalley, a DJ and big Eminem fan. He had messaged on their Facebook page to enquire on the status of a blazer he had sent back to exchange. He didn’t want to come across as a customer from Hell, so Mr. Whalley had a little fun with it, and wrote it in the style of Eminem’s hit song “Stan.”
Dear Asos,
I sent you my exchange but still it ain’t returning
I left my size, product code and order number at the bottom
I sent a FCUK blazer back in July, you must not-a got ’em…
There probably was a problem at the DPD office or somethin’
Sometimes I scribble addresses too sloppy when I jot ’em … See the whole message here
The amazing customer service agent, Rianna responded almost immediately in kind with:
Yo’ Jay, what’s happenin?
Soz to hear you haven’t received your return,
Hope it’s not not giving you heartburn,
If you pop us a PM,
we’ll get to the bottom of this mayhem,
Include your order number, date of birth and email address,
We’ll get this sorted, no stress. Bless
Yeah marketplace is going smooth,
Hope you’re enjoying our fire in the booth, … See the whole message here
Wow.
The ROI is immediately evident, as news of the experience spreads around the world. It is reminiscent of Amazon’s representative named Thor who, in 2014, channeled the customer service Gods to create an equally inspiring customer service performance. (See that story here). There are a few things we learn from these customer service examples:
Chat Bots, Step Aside
Chat Bots – artificial intelligence designed to replace humans in Live Chat situations – have become a big topic of discussion lately. The promoters talk about the great savings that can be had, with very little negative impact on customer experience. Perhaps, but it’s hard to envision the day that a customer service Chat Bot channels either Eminem or Thor.
Firm Corporate Processes Quench Creativity
It would be hard to imagine this kind of creativity coming out of the tightly scripted, highly controlled contact centres. They are measured on very specific KPIs – none of which include creativity and fun.
Ownership And Recovery Are The Key To Amazing Customer Service
The 2015 Belding Group’s Science of WOW research identified that positive word-of-mouth is created by Employees Taking Ownership (86.7%) and Employees Recovering From A Service Failure (71.0%). The Asos and Amazon examples are terrific examples of these principles in action.
As the push toward self-service, automation and efficiency continues, we need to make sure we never forget the importance of the People side of things – and the tremendous difference skilled, trained, creative and empowered people can make.
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Shaun Belding is CEO of The Belding Group of Companies, an international customer service training and consulting company
