Marketing is the promise we make, customer service is the promise we keep.
A service promise (brand promise) is the devotion of every member of staff to and all a company does to meet the customer’s expectations.
In simple terms, it is what you promise to do for your customers.
Some of the promises that have been made to me recently are:
We will get back to you within 24 hours- Contact Us on the Website
Two weeks ago, I was trying to get some information from a website but as I was minding my business, a pop up prompting me to enter my contact information and inquiry appeared. I was so happy because my work had been made easier.
The promise was the company contacting me within 24 hours but sadly, it is now 2 weeks. I am still waiting for that call.
Live Chat
In the past week, I clicked on chat icons on three different websites only for me to get pop-up windows asking me to enter my contact information so that I am contacted later.
On another different website, there was an icon that did not respond or give any message when I clicked on it.
Why give a promise of real-time customer support when there is no representative to actualize the brand promise?
It is better not to have the icon altogether but give alternative ways that customers can use to contact you.
Email
I sent an email to *** company asking for some clarification and 53 hours later, I received this response:
Your email has been assigned a tracking number **** and will be addressed by **** (07********).
Today marks 9 days since I sent my email and no one has gotten in touch. I am left wondering what shortly means.
Long-distance goodies: Wi-Fi, snacks, water, movies on board
Ever boarded a bus ready to watch a movie only to realize that the bus has no TV screens and since you do not have any back up plan or bundles to browse you ended up eavesdropping on conversations mostly from the guys seating in front or behind you, listening to taarab music, sleep or bond with your seatmate for the entire journey? That was me during mid term breaks and closing/opening days.
How about when you try to connect to a Wi-Fi only to get the message: Connected but no internet.
Then there are times you plug in your charger and your device does not charge. Mostly the power has been switched off and only the driver can switch it on or there is a problem with the connection.
A while back while traveling from Mombasa to Nairobi I was made to choose between water, soda, and peanuts. Poor me! I had not taken breakfast and had not carried any snack with me because I wanted to travel light and because I knew there was pilau in transit. To my surprise, things had changed.
Some of the companies even promise to have a shuttle dropping you outside your home but when it is time to actualize the promise, the shuttle somehow always has mechanical issues.
Delivery within 3-5 days
This is common with online shopping. Most of the online vendors keep their word but we still have this special set of vendors who will not deliver on time and will not bother updating you on why the delivery was delayed.
5 minutes Away- Cab Companies
On several occasions, I have waited for a cab that indicated a few minutes away only for the driver to call me after a few minutes to say that they are far away or they do not wish to go to the route I am requesting for.
There is a specific app I uninstalled because I had encountered rude drivers on several occasions and on another different day, I alighted along the highway because of how rude the driver spoke to me after insisting on the route I wanted to use. He clearly stated that it was his car and he would use the route of his choice, I did not understand why he had asked of the route to use in the first place!
Then there is this new company that is giving free rides and since my friend has their app and has a couple of free rides, we decided to use a free ride to town. Who does not love free things!
We were at the designated pick up point 5 minutes before time. We waited and waited under the scorching sun till about 7 minutes after the agreed pick up time. From the app, the vehicle was not moving so I asked my friend to call the driver. He was at the garage and was not going to take us to town. By then, I justed wanted to hop into the next matatu but my friend decided to book another free ride which was 3 minutes away but this time we called the driver immediately after booking. He was at home sleeping and was also not going.
I was almost convinced to install the app based on my friend’s previous stories but after two cabs bouncing without us getting any notification…
Before making a promise, go through your promise and ensure that what you are about to promise is SMART and everyone in the organization will do what is required for the promise to be met. It is also important to have promises that will improve customer experiences while doing business with you. Having a customer experience strategy in place will play a big role in this.
Keeping a service promise will create a good customer experience.
Good customer experience will, in turn, lead to customer loyalty, repeat business and referrals through word of mouth.