Why are you not caring about your customer?
Last week I had to send a letter via
DHL to Mozambique. I thought this was a small task and would cost me
half an hour. I could not have been more wrong as it cost me actually
a few days.
First I did go to a DHL Service Point,
as I thought that would be the easiest way to do it. However, they
told me that they only process packaged inside The netherlands and
not abroad. The employee recommended me to go to the local post
office. Clearly he had no confidence in his own organization.
Then I did go to the DHL website and
did find a number to call. The customer service person helped me fine
and recommended me to use the web instead of the phone, as that would
be 20% cheaper. I had to use their application called 'Ship Now'.
Midway into the application I could not proceed to the next screen as
one button didn't work. So, I did try two different browsers, only to
find out that they all had the same problem. So, I called again, but
it was weekend and the e-commerce customer service people are not
working during the weekend! Interesting. On Monday I called again and
the CS person immediately understood the problem. Many customers are
calling about this problem. He knew how to solve it. So, I did ask
why they hadn't fix the bug on the site. His answer was that
management had decided to retire that product and so they would no
longer invest in it.
Also he gave me a good tip, to book the
order at around 2.30pm. The reason is that you have to stay at home
for the pickup between 8am and 6pm. So, if you book later in the
afternoon (but before 3pm, otherwise your order will be processed the
next day) you less time to wait for the pick-up.
Anyway, I proceeded with my order and
at the end I had to print the labels. That didn't work either because
the file that they had sent was corrupt.
With a lot of perseverance and
tolerance, I managed to send the letter to Mozambique. It is clear
that DHLsees the customer as nuisance. It looks like you have to be
very grateful as a customer that they are willing to serve you.
Product-centricity rules customer centricity, still! By the way this
was also the case with FedEx. When I did call them in the weekend I
only get an answering machine, as there was nobody available in the
weekend.
These old mammoths will not survive the
new way of doing business. I expect that a new player is already in
the works who will beat them on customer service and
customer-centricity!
Are you really caring about your
customer?
GROW
YOUR PEOPLE, GROW YOUR BUSINESS!
