In business, a consistent experience is often the key to establishing comfort among your consumers. While I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't surprise them by going above and beyond their expectations, it's important to get the basics right first and deliver on your promises.


Here's a recent example of a situation that didn't add up. I recently visited Toronto for a family event. And, while standing at the check-in counter of our hotel, I listened to a woman explain her problem to the attendant at the desk. Seems the representative she spoke to when she called the hotel's reservation line had told her something about this particular location that wasn't true.
So here she stood pleading her case to the person on site .... and that person was stuck in the unenviable position of having to explain that what she was told wasn't true. Of course, she explained, the only reason she had booked at this particular hotel was because of the promise that had been made to her. While the attendant was very apologetic, it hardly solved the problem.
So why did this stand out so much to me? Because I was waiting at the desk to clear up a similar issue. We were told something through the reservation line that wasn't true at this location either.
It's a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. And here's why this is so troublesome.
1. You're creating an expectation that can't be met, leading to frustration, wasted time and a negative experience.
2. You're giving the consumer reason to doubt anything you say in the future. After all, why should they ever trust the reservation line again?
3. Worst of all, you're giving your customer a reason to go to the competition.
And, within your organization, you're making things very hard for the people on the front lines who have to clean up the mess.
The lesson? On a smaller scale, make sure not to arm one team with generic answers to questions that will give people a reason to doubt the overall experience (or make another team look bad or worse, stupid.) On a bigger scale, if you're going to departmentalize any aspect of your business, make sure all the departments are in sync, so you're all set to offer a consistent experience. Rightfully so, that's what people expect.
What about you, have you ever experienced a case where one hand didn't know what the other was doing?


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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After 10 years working in marketing as a copywriter at several traditional advertising agencies, enough was enough. Fed up with writing at people, I turned my attention and creative thinking to the field of social network marketing, all so I can talk to people – and help businesses do the same.

Since going out on my own, I’ve helped launch a makeup brand at a national department store, been retained to develop, plan and brand a careers website for the Canadian trucking industry, and formed strategic partnerships with a few local agencies.

Clients I’ve worked with include: Air Canada, Air Canada Technical Services, Michelin North America (Canada) + BFGoodrich Tires, Aeroplan, Alcatel, and The Gazette (Montreal’s English language daily newspaper). My non-profit work includes an award-winning campaign for The Youville Centre (Ottawa), Home Hospice (Toronto), The Old Brewery Mission (Montreal) and The Gazette Christmas Fund.

Like so many other MP Daily Fix bloggers, I’m also particularly proud to have contributed to the groundbreaking “The Age of Conversation”, the unprecedented book project that saw over 100 bloggers contribute one-page chapters related to conversation marketing. Proceeds from the book, which launched July 16, 2007, are earmarked for Variety, the children’s charity. To date, over US$11,000 has been raised.

Many thanks to Ann for inviting me to post alongside some of the brightest minds in the biz.