Nothing express about it!

So I've moved out of the country-back to Bombay, India. And I've closed shop. Almost.

I've been trying to close a certain Credit Card, of a certain fashion brand that I talked about before.For the non-scrollers, that's Express (for context, I'm what they call an "A-Lister" or Premium member)

I've sent in cheques a month before only to receive calls about payments. I have paid online,only to see balances on my statement,along with a late fee!This has happened more than once. And, I have called in as well.

Do you think I could hold off leaving the country for this? No, I didn't think so.

Lesson learnt: Every touchpoint matters, to every customer. If this is the way premium members are treated, then wake up and smell the coffee,Express-you have a problem.

Lamenting the loss of a brand

You remember those green Starbucks logo-ed cups don’t you?

The other day, as a friend and I waited on our cappuccinos- she turned to the merchandise selection and pulled out a coffee carrier- with the well-recognized green logo on it. She hinted that I should get it, before the green on that went away as well!

Interesting thought – is that one of the ultimate signs of brand loyalty- lamenting the loss of a brand? or an essential part of it?

To think about it – I would be very upset if Clinique discontinued their ‘Happy’ perfume brand or if Rosa Mexicana stopped serving fresh table-side guacamole, which as most of you probably know - is such a defining characteristic for them.

Logos, slogans, signature items (The LV Logo bags/Amazon’s 1 click ordering), even customer service (think Nordstrom/JetBlue) all make up the brand. Just so you know- I, personally don’t think I can fall in love with Starbucks’ brown logo-ed cups.

Lesson learned: If your loyal customers are going to lament the loss of some part of your brand, which affects the business they do with you - think twice about doing it.

Express-ing it!

What can be more pleasurable or dis-satisfying than a shopping experience? A great shopping experience often has you raving about a store, while a not-so-spectacular one might have you sighing, huffing out or purely disgruntled.

I had the opportunity to play retail consultant as part of some classes I am taking at FIT, NY and one of the stores I visited was Express Design Studio.
There were two opposing observations I made there. 1. Where was that great customer service? It had disappeared. Where once Express reps walked the length of the fitting room; there were none around! 2. The other, rather cool thing I discovered was that Express has what they call Express Fashion Delivery where they deliver your item to you if you can’t find a size or color. And, it’s free. How cool is that?

The Retail Consultant in me says innovate away; but don’t lose the chance of using your customer service as part of your brand experience.

PR(iceline)

So; the other day I was a booking a trip to Puerto Rico (PR) Excited about the trip- which will be over Memorial Day weekend:)- I started researching multiple offers on various websites. It turned out – that Priceline offered the lowest rates on packages than the Travelocitys and the Expedias.

So, I click away; in a frantic rush to book my holiday package to the land of sun! Turns out that up to the 20th(yes, 20th!!) try- I consistently get an error message saying “ we cannot complete your order” as package rates keep changing. I called the 1-866-PRICELINE number from my cell phone only to receive a message saying my call cannot be completed and I should check my number. HUH?

I promptly scrolled to the friendly gnome’s site and booked my PR vacation for about 150 dollars over the Priceline quote. Yes, I paid more but there’s something to be said of Travelocity’s consistency.

So what did Priceline do wrong? Remember ETDBW (Easy to Do Business With)? It did the opposite. It created barriers for a customer to do business with them. Better luck next time Priceline!

McCustomer

This happened to me years ago and I thought I would share because I still remember it, and it’s still relevant.

We were traveling back from Pune, a destination about 3 hours from Mumbai (or Bombay as I still call it) on Christmas Eve. It was about 11:30 at night as we made our way on a truck infested highway. We were starving; to say the least! The last we had eaten was a late brunch in Pune city.

Knowing that there was a Mickey D’s coming up; decided that we had to stop there. We went in and it seemed like they were closed and cleaning up. Not a customer was in sight. We requested the servers and asked them if we could place an order (yes, we were desperate) and they told us that nothing was left!

They decided then, that they would put together salad and a burger bun; and pineapple jam (from their pies) and a burger bun. Needless to say, these two combinations were not on the menu. As it came time to pay up-the McD’s servers smiled and blatantly refused to let us pay. Boy, was I surprised!

Was it a Christmas act of kindness? Or was it the result of some great customer-centric training?
The fact is, years later- I’m still talking about the incident. So they must have done something right!

Lesson learned: You have to be on your game at all times-open, closed or rush hour (or in McDonald’s case, lunch hour)