You are the "They" to Whom You Refer

Image by dhammza via Flickr

I ordered a television on the phone last week. I found it online, called to place the order for a local in-store pickup at Sears. The ordering process was pretty slick. But when I went to the store to pick up the television, things started to fall apart.

I went to the electronics department and asked the sales associate. "You've got to go to merchandise pick up. 'They' handle those orders," I was told. So, I went to the merchandise pick up and entered my information in the kiosk. The computer didn't have my information, so I was told by the kiosk that an associate would help me and my name was placed on a queue on the computer screen. I had a seat and waited a few minutes. I looked back at the screen and my name had not been moved to the "completed" list. Something was very wrong.

When the associate came out to help another customer, I interrupted and asked about my order. "'They' have been having problems with the computers all morning. It must not have come through. Go to the sales floor. 'They' have better access to the system than we do. 'They' will look up your order number."

Back at the electronics department I was informed that "they" often have problems with the system. To the sales associate's credit, he apologized and assured me that "one way or another you're going home with a television today." The phoned-in order was never resolved in my visit. I had to purchase the television in the store and then call "them" on the 800 number to cancel my original order.

A common response of human nature is to distance ourselves from responsibility and point blame at another person or entity. It happens in customer service all the time. To the customer, however, you are the "they" to whom you refer. As far as I was concerned, my issue was with Sears. The CSR on the phone, the people in IT, the guy in merchandise pick-up and the sales associate were all "Sears" in my eyes. I don't care where the problem lies or who dropped the ball, I want "Sears" to make it right.

World-class customer service operations understand the subtle difference between "they" and "we" in the customer's experience.

Comments

[Susan Ramsey]

This is a great example for all to learn from. Every employee is responsible for customer relations and maintaining the corporate brand no matter what their title. Are we training them for that role? It's not something that can be mentioned once and never repeated - its a culture for the companies that are the best at it.

[Brian J.]

To Tom Vander,
My name is Brian and I’m part of the Sears Cares Escalations team. You’re absolutely right, “we” failed in handling this issue. That is not acceptable in how you were referred to another team stating “they” need to help you. Our philosophy is “We”. I am very sorry that you had this issue and hope it has not dissuaded you from shopping with us in the future. We would also like to talk with you about this experience and get more details so we can ensure it does not happen to you or any other customer. At your convenience, please contact my office via email at searscares@searshc.com so we can talk. In the email, please provide a contact phone number and the phone number the TV was purchased under (if different than the contact phone number) and we will call you directly. Also, please provide the screen name (Tom Vander) used to post here for reference to your issue, and we do look forward to talking to you soon.

Thank you,
Brian J.
Senior Case Manager
Sears Cares