I generally try to keep things upbeat around here. There’s enough dreadful stuff on the internet- and I don’t need to contribute to it. But there are a few things that are bugging me. And I’d love to hear if they are bugging you too!
Not doing the work for your “customers”
This applies across the board- for companies I deal with to my own employer. Maybe it’s the years I spent in consulting and retail, but I try to take a customer-centric approach in my interactions. And part of that is doing the hard work for your customers, rather than handing it off to them.
Example: When dealing with a group at work, I am being asked to adapt to their highly inefficient way of working. A customer-centric approach would be, ideally, to make a more efficient process. But if that’s not possible- then “mask” this dreadful process from me, the “customer”. Deal with it behind the scenes, while I am oblivious to it. Alas, this does not seem to be the norm.
Instead (and this really is bugging me), this group brings me into their awful process and asks me to work within it. I am expected to make their lives easier by fitting into their work, rather than vice versa.
You may have experienced this yourself. Here are some telltale signs:
- Excessive number and length of “job aids” (I’ve got one that is 180 pages long!)
- Creation of videos to explain how their convoluted process works (substituting information delivery channel ease for actual process ease)
- Biweekly office hours where “customers” can ask questions
- Updates and changes communicated through lengthy emails- usually entitled something like “FYI” or (my personal favorite) “Sharing! :)”
Unbearable customer service Live Chat sessions
Actually, this idea of not thinking through the customer experience extends to this grip as well. I recently engaged in a Live Chat session with a well-known retailer. They provided a few ways to contact them- I chose Live Chat because I wanted to quickly cancel an item on an order before it shipped. I deliberately did not choose to call them because I wanted the interaction to be quick and confirmed.
Why is this bugging me? For the following reasons:
- Cut through the pleasantries- you don’t need to ask me how my day is going, how I like shopping on your website. Just stop it and get down to business.
- Do you REALLY need the following to cancel an item from an order? Order # (requested twice), full name, full address, email address, mobile phone number. I call BS
- If I tell you in the “reason for contacting us” box that I want to cancel an item from Order #XYZ, why why why must I repeat this exact info once an agent gets on the chat?
- Please just replace these people with AI. I beg of you
Does ThredUp actually sell anything??
Kate, god bless her, turned me on to ThredUp. Sometimes, The RealReal doesn’t accept a brand I want to sell or returns it for some trumped up reason. I’ve tried to Poshmark thing and it is just painful- taking all the photos, writing a description, fielding questions from potential buyers. All for $20! So the idea of sending a big box of clean, good condition items to ThredUp and letting them deal with it sounded great.
That’s when the fun started. It took almost 4 months for them to post my box of items. Nothing has sold yet- but that’s probably because ThredUp has one of the worst search functions I’ve ever seen. Good luck finding any of my items to actually buy!
This led me to suspect that ThredUp really has no intention of actually selling individual items to customers. Instead, they plan on “donating” most of what you send them and probably make some money on the back end. And yes, it wasn’t hard to find evidence that this is indeed the case.
Back to my original theme- a complete lack of customer concern. From work to retailers, I guess we’re all here to get as much from others as possible- with the least amount of inconvenience to ourselves. OK, that’s enough on what’s bugging me! But sadly I don’t see it changing any time soon….
