Customers expect more than a good shopping experience. The products and services you offer have to deliver beyond the point of sale. Last year we built a greenhouse for my father. Actually, "built" isn't the right word. We bought a kit and assembled it. I had the brilliant idea that it would be easier than designing and building one from the ground up. I was wrong.
It was the kind of wrong that leaves you scratching your head wondering what on earth you were thinking. The project was jinxed from the beginning. Before ordering it online, I researched greenhouse kits extensively. Three factors contributed to my final decision:
- Trust in the company selling the greenhouse
- Delivery time
- Cost
It arrived at my father's house in the back of a pickup truck. Shipping companies are outsourcing deliveries to cut costs, but this was a little over the top. Bubba and his cousin pulled from the greenhouse from the end until it dropped on the ground with a crash. The packaging had been obviously damaged during shipping. A request to check the contents before they left was ignored. When the package was opened, the door was damaged.
An attempt to call the company landed me in phone tree hell, so I emailed them.
The response was quick and satisfactory. A replacement shipment was expedited so we could have it assembled in time for early spring seedlings. Or so I thought.
After laying the foundation, it was time to assemble the greenhouse. The promotional materials stated "Easy to Assemble". They lied. Based on the information provided online and in the instructions, I expected it to be a day project. It took much longer.
The first issue was the instructions. They were wrong. The company that manufactures the greenhouse has a variety of sizes. Several of the components are designed to be used for all sizes. The adjustment is made by the person doing the assembly. The instruction writer apparently cut and pasted content to expedite the process, but forgot to change the measurements. I anchored the base to the foundation by the specifications provided. Then we added the corner posts and found the second issue.
The instructions specified "Do not attempt assembly on a windy day."
We live in the mountains. There is always a breeze. It's one of the benefits of living here. The instructions should have said "Not for outdoor use", but that's not a good selling point for a greenhouse. The aluminum used to produce the building resembled that of a soda can. It was very flexible. The corner posts were made of aluminum. It turns out that the "Assembly is easier with two or more people" note really meant that you needed four people to hold the corners so they didn't collapse while the fifth person attached other components. (Note to family: You can stop the "how many people does it take to assemble a greenhouse" jokes. They aren't funny.)
*While my four coerced assistants volunteers held the corners, I attempted to attach the walls. They were too short. I double checked my measurements. They matched the instructions. I measured the walls. They matched the component specs. That's when I realized that the instructions were wrong. The anchored base would have to be repositioned. Everything assembled would have to be taken down. Five hours into a one day project and we were starting over. Ugh!
The next day, the base was altered to fit and the walls were assembled. It was nice to finally be making some progress. During the night, a storm moved in. The early morning telephone call wasn't a pleasant way to start the day. It was my mother calling to tell me the wind had blown a couple of the panels loose and the building was setting at a 45 degree angle. The stability of the greenhouse was dependant on its completion. The roof (the next step for us) was required to keep it from shifting when the wind blew. We had a choice. We could leave it as is until the storm passed and hope that we could salvage the components. Or, we could reassemble the walls and add the roof in a cold, driving rain storm. I still remember thinking that my hands would never be warm again.
Almost everything except the shopping experience was a nightmare.
The delivery was sloppy. The instructions were essentially useless. The drawings showed predrilled holes where there were none. The components were poorly crafted. The pieces were missing holes and didn't fit together correctly. There was only one thing that was well engineered - the cooling vent in the roof. It was designed and crafted by geniuses. It automatically opens and closes as the interior temperature changes without a power source!
Today the greenhouse is filled with growing plants. My father is happy. It's been over a year and I haven't ordered anything else from that company. Every time I see the logo, I think of trying to build a greenhouse in the freezing rain.
By most standards, the company delivered a quality experience. The failures came from shipping and manufacturing partners. Things like this will happen, so how does a business deliver a positive customer experience when third party vendors are involved?
- Product Testing - Every product sold should be tested in-house. It is the only way to know what you are passing on to your customers. The marketing team needs to be involved so they aren't promoting "easy to assemble" for items that require an engineer to build.
- Vendor Quality Control - It is close to impossible to know how the delivery will be made when shipments are too large for UPS, FEDEX, and the USPS. Every trucking company has different standards. Test when possible and ask your customers for feedback. Bubba's pickup delivery and attitude may not be the image you want for your business.
- Better communication - Make it easy for customers to communicate with you through their preferred channel. Follow up with them to insure that everything is okay. And, notice when individuals stop ordering. If the stop is after a service issue, that was probably the cause. You don't want your customers' last memory of your business to be unpleasant.
What tips would you add? Please leave them in the comments. Oh, and so you know, "how many people does it take?" jokes won't be funny from you either.