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Customer Experience is in the Details
Author: Peggy Entrop
September 17, 2008
Or… How Staples lost my Confidence
Brand values are powerful tools that help create an emotional connection with customers. Focused ad campaigns can draw in customers by the thousands, but how well does your company live by these brand values? Just as important, how well does your company communicate that to your customers?
I order office supplies for my company - Vox. When I started working here, Officemax was our office supply retailer. But, among other issues, I felt they were consistently wasteful with packaging materials, so I switched to Staples!
Staples had an excellent reputation as a company that cares about the environment. I was impressed with their products made from post-consumer waste. They even sent me a brochure detailing their progress in reducing greenhouse emissions. All very impressive. Clearly, they were in-line with Vox’s commitment to conservation. So, I decided I should give them our money.
Now, after a year of regular orders, I no longer feel that camaraderie of purpose with Staples. Nothing major happened. It has just been the sum total of many small interactions.
One such detail is in ordering coffee. I order these great k-cups that let you brew your own personal cup of coffee in Keurig machines. The problem is that if I order 5 different packages of coffee, they will often be shipped to me individually, from different locations. This is not only annoying, but wasteful. I have often wondered if shipping them individually really is wasteful. There’s a chance it somehow saves resources. If this is the case, it should be communicated in some way, because to me, it appears to be wasteful!
For every one box of coffee that I order, I also receive:
- One large cardboard box
- Piles of plastic inflatable packaging materials
- A separately shipped, fully detailed invoice
- TWO packing slips
Why Staples feels the need to include two packing slips in each box continues to escape me. It is such a small detail! But it stands out to me. Every time I open a box, I pull out the two packing slips and think, “Why are you wasting paper?!?!” This tiny detail has helped to fizzle my enthusiasm for their organization. I still hope that Staples is making a positive impact on the environment, but my day-to-day perception of them is that they are no different than any other office supply retailer - using their green philosophy as a sales pitch, but then failing to show their real efforts toward this commitment.
The lesson I think we can learn from this is that our customers have reasons for choosing us over someone else. Every interaction creates a perception that contributes to their overall experience. To keep customers longer, it’s important to understand those reasons and create a Customer Experience that reinforces brand promises on a consistent basis.
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Hi Peggy, thanks for blogging about this packaging waste issue. I am just recently married and I was horrified with the amount of packaging waste created by all of the gifts shipped to us. I was insane about separating all of the waste and recycling what was possible. In fact, we had to rent a U-Haul van to take all to the recycling center!
As for your comment, “…they are no different than any other office supply retailer - using their green philosophy as a sales pitch, but then failing to show their real efforts toward this commitment.” I feel the same about many companies today. It is very difficult to separate earnest effort from marketing ploy without seemingly getting into the organization and seeing its operations. I think this is the same on the individual level as well…are we practicing what we say we believe in or are we just trying to look good?
I also appreciate your beautifully summarized close, perception contributes to experience and it is up to us to reinforce those brand promises on a consistent basis to promote customer retention. Food for thought for me to take back to my day to day.
Thanks again!
Comment by Lisette F. — September 18, 2008 @ 5:29 am
I love Keurig Brewers as well. Fast and easy way to make Great coffee :). This is great website if you interesting with K Cups Giveaways every week plus bunch of Coupons on K-Cups
Comment by Coffee PHD — September 18, 2008 @ 2:44 pm
Lisette -
Thanks so much for your thoughts. It constantly amazes me how much waste we generate, especially in shipping and receiving! I’m glad to hear that other people are also concerned.
Comment by Peggy Entrop — September 18, 2008 @ 3:45 pm