It’s Genius to offer good customer service
I was in Portland (Oregon) visiting some friends over the thanksgiving break, one of the things on my to-do list was to buy a new phone. I return back to New York and about 4 days into owning my new device I notice that the screen has completely frozen. Panic, anxiety and an odd calmness start to well up in me. The calmness was an odd feeling for the conundrum I eventually found myself in — the practically brand new iPhone 7 had completely stopped responding to my desperate screen tapping.
I’m not alone, revenues from iPhone sales in November and December 2016 were up 66.9% from the same period last year. Looking at holiday sales of all available iPhone models, the iPhone 7 series phones accounted for most of the sales.
However, that sense of calmness and confidence went down like a led balloon when I attempted to get this issue sorted.
Here is how apple supported me when my new iPhone 7 just shut down. *Also included are some practical suggestions about how the company can begin to overhaul its customer care experience.
The stages of frustration
Stage 1: Online My first reaction was to check Apple’s website, which kept suggesting that I spend more money on Apple care. This quadruples frustration when you have just spent $700 on a device (that’s 3 days old) and is already backed up by 60 days of coverage. Suggestion: Build A content strategy that is designed to support Moments of Need. Infuse the Support section of the website with ‘How-To’ content — In moments of need users are more likely turn to online forums before trekking to the genius bar, searches related to “how to” on YouTube are growing 70% year over year.
Stage 2: In store Got to the nearest apple store at 10 am and was told I would have to wait for half an hour, as I did not have an appointment. While I sat drumming my fingers on the sleek wooden panels, observed red shirts (apple employees) approx. 10 that stood around in groups, staring at their iPads. I am sure that each is designated to specific tasks however for a stressed out customer this all meant ‘Zilch’. Suggestion: All Channels, All the Time. Make it easy for users to reach out and set up an express appointment from their first touchpoint with your brand. One of the the top trends in customer service for 2016 is an — All Channels, All the time approach. A customer should not be kept waiting.
Stage 3: The Name Drop After patiently waiting for 25mins I checked back with the representative, with a confused look he asked for my name all over again, as if we were meeting for the very first time.
Stage 4: Things are looking up Things finally got better when I sat with the technician and he calmly ran a diagnostics test on my device and found the glitch with the software. We spoke about what my options were and he assured me that he would write a note about this problem as a reference point for any further interactions with the Genius bar. Finally at this very last stage of interaction it felt someone cared and was offering me dedicated support.
Apple is recognized as one of the world’s most valuable tech companies, it’s a brand that is known to put immense consideration into every detail of its product design. All of this effort (it took Apple 5 years to create its first phone in 2002) is lost when customers don’t feel valued, 66% of consumers who switched brands did so because of poor service source.
The modern market place demands good service, your loyal customers just plainly deserve it.
