It was the last straw for me - literally. I don't know if you've noticed, but McDonald's has started wrapping their straws a lot tighter than they used to. Used to be you could just give the wrapper a quick tug and it would release the straw ready to go and leave you with two big hunks of paper you could easily toss in the trash. But the other day the paper was so tightly wrapped around the straw that I actually had to pull over and peel it off in little pieces that are now all over my car.
I'm sure someone somewhere in McDonald's land figured saving a fraction of an inch on the paper wrappers on the millions of straws given out would save a few bucks, and this person probably got a certificate or something for being so thrifty. But as a customer I was ticked off. It made my life just a little more difficult. And that got me thinking - and paying more attention. I went back through the MickeyD's drive through yesterday and noticed a couple of signs. The first said "no cell phone calls while in line." The next said "have your cash out and ready for the cashier." Neither of these are there to help make my experience better. These "rules" are there to make sure they can pump out as many burgers as possible.
If you think about it, more and more businesses seem to be focusing on how we the customer can make it easier for them to sell product to us. Centralized checkout stations with long lines; self-service soda fountains and whatnot, telephone and Web queues that make it virtually impossible to talk to a live person without jumping through a bunch of hoops, etc.
The pinnacle of this idiocy came last week when I went to a popular online retailer to purchase a couple of laptops. There was a great special advertised, so I ordered two. The next day I get an email saying I was only allowed to order one, so one had been removed from my order. My blood pressure went up a bit, but I found a good deal on a different laptop and moved ahead with the order. It was really easy to order - I had entered mt credit card and address information on the previous order, so I just clicked a box saying "use my existing info." Cool!
The next day I opened my email and found a message from this retailer stating there was a problem with my address. Huh? My first order was already halfway here. I called their Customer Service number (which was answered on the third ring by a live person - I thought this was a good sign). I told the person about the email and figured she could fix it right there on the phone. Here's the shocker: she said there was nothing she could do. Said I'd have to call American Express and add my shipping address to the card. I told her about the previous order, but she didn't think it was odd that they'd just shipped an order to the same address with the same card just two days before. She insisted I'd have to call AMEX and, once the change took effect in a few days, resubmit my order. She did think it was odd when I canceled my order on the spot. But I did get the free laptop bags that came with canceled orders. How odd. And I found a laptop elsewhere that was better and cost less - and it arrived on the same day as the first one I ordered.
My point is this: as consumers we have to do whatever we can to remind businesses big and small that they exist because of us. Anything that makes it harder to do business with them will (hopefully) inspire us to look elsewhere for products and services. I for one prefer to spend money with businesses that seem to be glad I'm there ratehr than an annoyance that gets in they way of their process and procedure.
As business owners we have to have empathy for our customers. I'd love to see the CEO of Verizon try to find out what a charge is on his bill.
Process and procedure are important for sure, but not nearly as important as our customers' experience when they do business with us.
