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The Fifteen Dollar Fable

Simple is never simple. Often, it’s the simple things that are difficult to get right. They are the ones that are challenging to visualize and execute.

People often say that Apple products ‘just work’. I have never really agreed to that notion with Apple’s PC devices. But their post-PC devices, the brainchildren of a second-gen Steve, are a different matter altogether. As someone who used to think Nokia N73 was a pretty neat idea, I was blown away the first time I used an iPhone. You knew it wasn’t déjà vu, but it almost felt like one, as it slowly dawned on you that it was exactly how you would have visualized a smartphone OS, only that you never did.

But then I digress, as this story is not about iPhone or Apple. It does start with Steve Jobs though. As Mayuraa and I took my friend Srini to the mid-town Barnes and Noble store last week, we were welcomed by one of those huge grey-scale posters of a contemplative Steve. One look and all three of us knew what we wanted – to pre-order what’s probably one of the most anticipated biographies in recent times. As Mayuraa was a B&N member, we would get 30% off, thank you very much. So, we made a beeline for the customer service desk, and soon enough, we had a pre-order for two copies, to be picked up at the store.

Today afternoon, I figured out that Amazon had a 50% off on the same book – a sweet deal that would save 15 bucks. Naturally, I called up B&N customer service, hoping for a price match, though something told me that it ain’t going to happen. Your instincts don’t fail you. Sure enough, a gruff female voice informed me that they don’t price match. It also informed me that there were two customer services, online and retail and that I would have to be transferred to the retail customer service. Fair enough, only that it could have been a simpler option in the voice menu, avoiding an unnecessary transfer. But, who gets simple?

Few minutes of stale music later, another bored female voice asked me what I was looking for. After a repeat narration, she again informed me that they do not price match. I explained I already knew it and that I was just looking to cancel the pre-order. Yes, that taboo ‘C’ word. The boredom in the voice turned to irritation, as the inevitable “it may not be possible to cancel the order as the order has already been shipped to the store, please check with the store itself” followed.

I got off the phone and looked up their web site again for the store phone number, when I figured out that barnesandnoble.com itself was offering the same discount on their web site. This time I called up the store and explained the situation, asking for a price match with barnesandnoble.com itself. And the dude over the phone comes up with this gem: “oh, we cannot do the price match since that is a different book on the web site”. Right, it is a different book, not because of a different publisher or binding, but just because it is on their web site. I tried to reason with him explaining that it is the same book sold by the same company and so it ought to have the same price, but I knew I was banging my head against a concrete wall. Still it was fun needling him, as he tried in vain to inject some logic into his moronic argument. Finally, he accepted to cancel our order and in the next couple of minutes, our order was placed in Amazon.com, with a price guarantee and a free shipping.

It is very easy to dismiss this incident as a case of poor training for their customer service representatives (CSRs). But that would be just putting the blame on the wrong people. To illustrate my point, let me recount another customer service experience, this time with B&N’s rival, Amazon.

I recently dropped my Kindle while contemplating the structure and meaning of the cosmos. Its display went bonkers and I was out of warranty by a month. I was obviously panicking as I frantically called up Kindle customer support, and I ran into a cheerful (not plasticky) male voice. When I explained my situation, he expressed sympathy, wondered at the bad timing of the accident and reassured me saying that this is not unheard of. Then he proceeded to offer me alternatives to get me a functional Kindle, which included a $40 payment for a new Kindle of the same generation. I gladly accepted the offer and the pleasant conversation was done within 5 minutes. That was the first time in a very long time that I ended a customer service phone call with a smile on my face (I also wrote a detailed piece on how well Amazon handled the HP fire sale fiasco).

So, what makes Amazon’s customer service tick? Are they just hiring superior CSRs and training them well? It’s possible. But surely that alone cannot be the reason for their superior service. CSRs cannot succeed just by superior skills. They have to be empowered. They have to be assured that it is within their control to offer plausible solutions for customers. They should be allowed to step into the customer’s shoes to understand their perspective and provide options that would actually help them. Replacement offers, buybacks, refunds, price matching, price guarantee, shipping options etc. all exist to serve this purpose. These might be simple things, but their importance cannot be impressed upon enough. And Jeff Bezos gets this.

A week back, Steve Yegge of Google posted this long but awesome rant in Google+. It was a great technical piece on the importance of services and platforms. Yegge also took the liberty to diss Jeff Bezos to his heart’s content (he worked at Amazon before). It was an apt piece from a Google engineer. Google is full of them engineers (and little else, I guess). Great engineering alone does not a company make. So, while Jeff Bezos may not get engineering, or usability, or design, or employee satisfaction (as per Yegge), he certainly gets a few others which Yegge might not understand or appreciate – partnerships, time to market and customer service. Specifically the things that Yegge’s Google sucks at. However hard they try, Google’s engineers will never understand customer service (1|2). Ah, I digress again.

So, B&N’s CSRs might be as skillful as Amazon’s CSRs. But they are just dummy pieces, answering machines. They cannot really offer any solutions to any customer problem, because they haven’t been empowered with anything. B&N, being a typical brick and mortar chain, does not get this simple thing, because they are too deep-rooted in their old-school thoughts, that if you swallow the competition and expand your ‘borders’ (see what I did there! ), then you can get away with anything. Also, being a non-technical company, they certainly don’t get IT systems and online and retail integration. So, all that is left for B&N CSRs is frustation, which they suitably vent out on the customers.

It is a simple problem, but one which surprisingly most of the brick and mortar chains don’t figure out (I am looking at you, Walmart). In the end, B&N are still in a great position, especially after gobbling up all the goodies from the bankrupt Borders. Their eBook devices are doing great and their retail shops aren’t doing that bad either (so much so that they have completely removed their usual ‘Sale’ section in many shops). But good companies in the past have floundered because of poorly thought-through customer service – ask Circuit City. I hope B&N doesn’t follow that path. Otherwise, it’s an easy game for Amazon. Because they get simple very well.