I've been watching intently to see how Menu Foods (the manufacturer of wet dog and cat food sold by the millions under private label brands at major stores such as Petco and Walmart) is stepping up to help their customers with the growing illness and losses of their beloved pets. This page on their Web site is what I found. Another majorly missed opportunity. For a number of reasons.


1. TOO LITTLE - WAAAY TOO LATE. The first precautionary recall announcement was made on March 16. In the above site we see that they got their call centers in gear and began contacing customers on March 23rd.
2. NO APOLOGY. So sad that this is a case of animals who are beloved members of their customers' families -- and there appears to be little emotion in the delivery or content of the informaiton or messaging from this company. Instead, customers are referred to the standard FAQ's section in the recall part of the Web site.
3. NOT DOING A FULL-COURT PRESS ON CUSTOMER SERVICE. Rather than supplying enough human capital to help their customers get through -- the FAQs guide customers on when to call -- when the volumes are lower.
4,5,6,7,8,9 and 10. NOT SHOWING EMOTION - OR RELATING TO THEIR CUSTOMERS WITH THE HUMAN TOUCH THEY SEEK. People want to see a dog and cat food company share the emotional connection and emotional journey that they are going through as a result of this situation. This is an opportunity to embrace and guide their customers through this tough time with action and humanity. Instead, customers are experiencing an orchestrated set of antiseptic-feeling actions that seem to have gone through the legal review process ad nauseum before being released for public consumption.
"She truly was my best friend. And because of this food I don't have her anymore."
former dog owner Laura Iskowitz
Menu foods is just plain barking up the wrong tree if this is the plan to make things right for their customers.


Enter your email address to continue reading

Menu Foods' Apology Goes to the Dogs

Don't worry...it's free!

Already a member? Sign in now.

Sign in with your preferred account, below.

Did you like this article?
Know someone who would enjoy it too? Share with your friends, free of charge, no sign up required! Simply share this link, and they will get instant access…
  • Copy Link

  • Email

  • Twitter

  • Facebook

  • Pinterest

  • Linkedin


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Jeanne Bliss
Jeanne Bliss began her career at Lands’ End where she reported to founder Gary Comer and the company’s executive committee, ensuring that in the formative years of the organization, the company stayed focused on its core principles of customer and employee focus. She was the first leader of the Lands’ End Customer Experience. In addition to Lands’ End, she has served Allstate, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker Corporation and Mazda Corporations as its executive leading customer focus and customer experience. Jeanne has helped achieve 95% retention rates across 50,000 person organizations, harnessing businesses to work across their silos to deliver a united and deliberate experience customers (and employees) want to repeat. Jeanne now runs CustomerBliss (https://www.customerbliss.com), an international consulting business where she coaches executive leadership teams and customer leadership executives on how to put customer profitability at the center of their business, by getting past lip service; to operationally relevant, operationally executable plans and processes. Her clients include Johnson & Johnson, TD Ameritrade, St. Jude’s Children’s Hospitals, Bombardier Aircraft and many others. Her two best-selling books are Chief Customer Officer: Getting Past Lip Service to Passionate Action and I Love You More than My Dog: Five Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad. Her blog is https://www.ccocoach.com She is Co-founder of the Customer Experience Professionals Association. www.cxpa.org