We can recall how many times we had to wait and wait for someone to deliver our LCD, AC unit, furtniture and anything we had purchased from the store. Waiting is always enduring and not endearing and it will test our patience to the maximum as practically we feel helpless and out of control. In this manner, Domino Pizza's had been successful. It's service delivery concept is plain and simple. 30 minutes free delivery or you will get a coupon to redeem for a free pizza. It is important to set expectation of service delivery and this was done exceptionaly well by Domino Pizza.
Two weeks ago on Monday I received a call from my broadband service provider offering me to upgrade my house modem. The offer was attractive to me and my family as it provides a higher bandwidth with a lower price. I accepted the offer and as part of the set up, the service provider dispatcher will collect my house modem and replace it with a 3G modem. Although I have to pay them RM100, I will receive a rebate of the same amount in my first bill. So we agreed for the dispatcher to come over to my house in Gombak before 11 am on Saturday and I specifically informed the sales person that is the period I will be at home. The sales person agreed.
Saturday came and by 11.30 am the dispatcher still did not turn up. As my wife and I had to attend to an engagement at 1 pm, we then made our move. At about 1.00 pm I received a call by the dispatcher. He asked me whether he could come over to my house to deliver the modem. I informed the dispatcher that he was late as he was suppose to come at 11 am. He retorted that he did not promise as such. Hearing this, I pointed out to him that the sales person I spoke on Monday agreed to this and I would expect this as it would inconvenient me otherwise. He then apologised to me and we then agreed to another delivery date and time, this time on Monday at my office in Cyberjaya.
Later that evening I received a call from the sales person asking why did I requested for another delivery on Monday and at Cyberjaya. This really dismayed me terribly. Over a period of a week I had to speak thrice for a simple service of collecting and delivering a modem. I expressed my dissatisfaction and threaten to cancel the order. The sales person quickly apologised for the misunderstanding and confirmed that the delivery date and time.
Service is easy if the target and focus is to please the customer. How would we please the customer? There are many aspect of service delivery such as quality of product, timeliness of delivery, responsiveness, providing attention and assurance. However the most important one is commitment to serve.
In the case I related earlier, the commitment is in the form of a promise to deliver the product at a specific period of time. Though the promise was made by the sales person, the sales person need then to inform and direct the dispatcher accordingly. They need to act together behind the scene to deliver the product according to the promise. This is because, from my view point as a customer, the promise was made by the company and not by the sales person alone. As both the sales person and the dispatcher are working and representing the company, I as a customer expect that the promise to be delivered by both of them.
The biggest mistake both the sales person and the dispatcher did was reacting as if the promise the other made was not a commitment the other will take. The dispatcher did this when he said that he did not promise to come by 11 am on Saturday while the sales person did this when he questioned me why I need the delivery on Monday at Cyberjaya.
Probably there was a work relationship strain between them but to approach the customer and showed that they mistrust another was a great risk as I almost cancel the order out of anger and disappointment. Indeed I was and I started to doubt the service I would receive from the company. What saved both of them was the manner both quickly offered an apology when I informed them of my displeasure
In conclusion, in a service orientated encounter with the customer, it is important to be aware of the promise made to the customer as this is a commitment made on behalf of the company. This is especially important when there were more than one who had engaged with the customer. It would be most efficient to put a remark of the promise made on the service or sales form when handing over the order from the order taker to the service delivery unit. This can be made manually on the order form or in a system that the company uses for sales activities. Fulfilling the promise will provide confidence and delight to the customer and avoid a recovery effort in order to regain the customer's confidence.
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