I am fascinated by how different companies handle customer experiences. Some companies have great processes and training and the experience they deliver creates loyal customers (i.e. Chick-fil-A, Disney). Other companies do a poor job with their team and those negative interactions make customers want to not do business with the company.

The Good

For an organization I work with, we had made a significant business order. Upon inspecting the items, some were not right. The company took ownership and reached back out to their vendor to make sure we were satisfied. After review, they agreed to exchange any defective items, as well as give us some additional products for the trouble. As a customer I realize mistakes happen, but loved how they handled the situation and would gladly refer the company to others.

The Bad

It is common for cable/streaming companies to enter into disputes with content providers. However, how you handle it matters. A certain streaming service recently stopped showing multiple major channels as result of the dispute. To handle the matter, this service sent an email to subscribers only AFTER the channels were dropped, offered zero alternatives or credits (only a vague $20 discount “if this drags on”). Meanwhile, the company is still charging the customer the same rate, while not providing the removed content that was a major part of the offering. Time will tell how this plays out but my guess is the customer loses either way.

The Ugly

We recently had a delivery that required a customer signature. The shipping company (based in Memphis) gave us a two-hour delivery window, so we made plans to be home at that time. Without notification, they left a note on our front door 90 minutes earlier than the delivewindow that said they tried to deliver. Not a problem, we tried reaching out to customer support to see when the next delivery window would be. We were told it would be another day (one we knew we were unavailable) so we asked could we have it delivered a different day since they missed the window they gave us. We were told that would incur additional fees, that they would be out the next day between 8am-8pm and if we were unavailable on the 2nd and 3rd try the item would be held or sent back. When I asked to speak to a manager to better understand our options, the manager got on the phone to tell me they would be out between 8am-8pm the next day and then hung up the phone. Needless to say, any shipping I have to do will not be with this company.

Customer experience is 100% in your control as a company. Even if a customer has a problem, if you handle it well that can actually generate more customer loyalty than if the issue had never happened!