Now THAT’s customer service

Most of you know that I’m an Apple fangirl. I’ve admired their product design concepts, ease of use and ability to make mundane tasks more fun ever since the first Macs hit the market back in the 1980s. I’ve never had much to do with the company other than at the point-of-sale (POS) but am even more a believer today, after my first experience with their customer service team. I use a MacBook for my utility computing. I have lots of other devices, but the MacBook is my go-to for blogging, email, client work, presentations and so on. Over the weekend the screen on my almost 3 year old machine stopped coming back to light after a sleep cycle — and it was getting worse, as the screen would go black even without a sleep after a few minutes of inactivity. I tried to diagnose the problem but as things were getting rapidly going downhill, it became obvious this wasn’t a do-it-yourself fix. At 5PM yesterday (Sunday) I took the laptop, power cord and batteries to the local Apple store to see if their Genius Bar staff could help diagnose the problem and offer solutions. The store was buzzing even though it was just before closing, with everyone seeming happy and excited. While waiting for my appointment, I scoped out which laptop I’d buy then and there if my baby was irretrievably damaged or if a fix would take days. A few minutes before the appointed time, the Genius assigned to me came up to me (the person who welcomes me into the store had identified me by my jacket) and brought me to the counter where he took a look at the laptop. My Genius plugged it in, reproduced the problem, figured out the solution, linked my laptop to their back office systems to verify its warranty status and printed out a work order/receipt — all within 10 minutes. He thought the laptop would be ready today but couldn’t commit until the repair staff had triaged its work orders and suggested I call if I hadn’t heard from them by midday. I happened to try Apple’s online repair status website at 10 this morning and found that the laptop was already finished, called the store and was told to come and get it. When I showed up at the store, I was greeted, walked over to another person who went out back, got the laptop, powered it on for me and showed me what had been done. This was all under warranty, so at no cost to me, but even if I had had to pay, it would have been one of the best customer service experiences ever. What did Apple do right? •First, I was treated as a person, not a case number. The store greeter associated me and my red jacket with my appointment, enabling my Genius to find me in a crowded store. This simple thing got the whole experience off to a positive start. •Next, Apple’s impressive POS and back office integration streamlined the whole thing. Using the serial number on the device, the Genius was able to immediately see the history of the device and that it was still under warranty. Once he diagnosed the problem and figured out what parts were needed for the fix, he tied into their parts warehouse to ensure that what was needed was on hand and assigned to my repair. •Then, the Genius understood that this mattered to me. He didn’t know anything about me, that I run my own business or that I am irrationally attached to this little piece of metal and plastic. He didn’t make ridiculous promises, but told gave me best and worst case scenarios along with his sense of how things were likely to come out. •Finally, Apple over-delivered. I expected a working screen. I got that and new plastic surfaces around the keyboard and screen (the Genius said they looked “worn”), and a new battery because the one in the laptop was failing sooner than it should have. I was expecting to get the laptop back late today or tomorrow, but had it back by 11AM today. We all have had bad experiences with customer service people who are harried, have been yelled at once too often to remain gracious, or who represent poor products that are simply destined to fail. I’m not sure what would have happened if I had had a more difficult problem, so far, they’re batting 1000. My next laptop will also be an Apple product that I’ll take it to them because I trust their ability to resolve the problem. Every business can improve its customer service. What can you do better?