WOW Word-Of-the-Week #412: ABCD
June 27, 2012 by Susan Clarke
ABCD – Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
When was the last time you experienced an unhappy customer, guest, client or member because of poor service? Did you do everything you could to fix the situation? Would you say your “service recovery” was successful? Was your customer, guest, client or member happy and are they continuing to do business with you?
Well, once again, I had a “little problem” with a poor service issue. As you know from prior WOW’s over the past couple of months things have been breaking. To make a long story short, this time it was an electronic issue with my car and so I had to take it to the dealership. And since I was there I wanted them to also figure out why the unlock button feature on my key that controls my trunk was not working correctly.
My car was in the shop for five days (they did give me a loaner car) and within days the trunk was acting up again. Only this time it randomly wouldn’t shut. I called and got an appointment to bring it in two weeks later. This time it was in the shop for only a day.
I picked it up, drove off, and when I made my first stop realized that my key buttons would not lock or unlock anything – doors or trunk. I was livid! How could they tell me my car was ready without checking?
Above and Beyond the Call of Duty
I called my service advisor and got voice mail. Then I called the person in charge of the Service Department. Poor Glenn! I was so upset and he was wonderfully apologetic and said, “I will take care of this. And I will detail your car or give you a tank of gas. Whatever you want.” When I brought my car back both Glenn and my service advisor met me. They noticed that my trunk lid button panel was loose and Glenn said, “We’ll fix that too. It will have to be ordered and custom painted so it will take a little longer.”
Glenn took care of me by going Above and Beyond the Call of Duty! I called him on Monday afternoon to thank him for everything he did. His responses was, “Thank you for calling. I really needed to hear that after today.”
This week’s focus is on ABCD – Going Above the Call of Duty. Have you ever had a bad service experience and have them do more than you expected to fix the situation? Are you like me and feel a strong sense of loyalty when that happens? Did you take the time to personally thank them?
Reader Responses
“I had the exact same problem with my trunk. The main problem was the latch that the lock hooked onto was out of line. The service guys at the dealership fixed it, but when I went home and tried to open the trunk with my fob, it would not click open. It was frustrating. So, I called back and the guy told me that my fob was not reprogrammed after my appointment. So, they reprogrammed it, and then everything was fine. The service guys know me well and appreciate my business. So, they want to make sure that I am happy with their service. And Susan, it is the little things with cars that can really annoy me. To your point, the service guys have always gone above and beyond the call of duty when it comes to service. Your story about taking care of clients reminds me of when I was a salesman in the sporting goods department of Sears, Roebuck, when it was the anchor store at the Northbrook Court shopping center in Northbrook, IL. After one purchase, I carried the woman’s bags out to her car in the parking lot. Now, I did not have to do it, but it made her trip easier. Customers remember these little things, as you know, and it keeps them coming back. We need more of that in business.” – “Warrior” Joe