Opinion: My on-demand printer's service representative is unresponsive and rude. Customer loyalty may be dead, but it's this kind of customer service that killed it.I had a great sushi dinner last night. Big Tuna isn't the only sushi restaurant in the area, and it certainly isn't the cheapest place to eat. But the food is good and the service is excellent, so we go maybe once or twice a month when we want to splurge. And we almost always wait in line (I am NOT a very patient person) to get a seat.
Last night's dinner was different than usual. We got a surprise phone call about a week ago inviting us to a special party for the "regulars" to celebrate the restaurant's first anniversary. Last night's dinner was a free buffet of anything we wanted, drinks and all, for about fifty people.
So what does this have to the printing and publishing industry?
A lot.
Printers everywhere bemoan the ongoing commoditization of print. Salespeople complain they no longer have the relationship-based business of yore. Consultants preach about the difficulty of selling to the "new breed" of print buyers. (I love that expression; it makes me feel like a genetic mutation). One well-known industry sales guru proclaims in nearly every session—with an almost-gleeful look in his eye as he calculates how much he can charge for his consulting services—"Customer loyalty is dead."
I was recently working with an on-demand printer to produce books for one of my clients. I needed a number of copies of the same book to be printed and sent to two different locations. Using the printer's established system, I had to place two separate orders in order to ship to two different locations. And since I had to order each shipment as a separate order, the unit cost for each order was a bit higher than it would have been if I had ordered all 100 copies in one shipment.
About a week after I placed the two orders, I had not received any shipment confirmation. I called the CSR to ask when the books would ship. She asked if I had gotten her e-mail (I hadn't), and said the books had been delivered that morning (no shipment notice). When I checked my e-mail, I learned that the company had mistakenly sent all 100 copies to the publisher instead of sending each order to the locations I had indicated on the order (she didn't bother to tell me this on the phone, just told me to call if I had any questions after I read the e-mail).
So I had to call the publisher and relay the information. Fortunately, there was still time to ship the extra books to the event, and the printer even (rightly so) provided their UPS number to pay for the extra shipping charge.
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Then I had to call the printer's CSR back and express my concern because we had another book in progress with the same shipping needs, and this time there would be no time to reroute the books if they were shipped incorrectly. The CSR very snippily informed me that she would "make sure everyone here knows the situation," but in the future I should try to allow more time for getting the books done.
Every time I've spoken to this CSR, she has come across as irritated, inconvenienced, bored or downright rude. Maybe she just needs to take a nap. Or maybe she needs to take a few classes on what customer service really should be.
Now, in one respect, she was right. It does take time to produce a book. I am fully aware of that. (So much for "on-demand", right?) But I can't even imagine calling the publisher and telling him that he just needs to allow more time in case I screw something up.
Customer loyalty may be dead, but it is this kind of customer service that has killed it. Is it any wonder that, when treated this way, I might consider (or actively seek) another printer for my next job? Is it such a mystery that I would not recommend this printer to other clients or colleagues?
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Don't delude yourself into thinking that this is an isolated case. I've had two other very similar experiences — with two entirely different printers — in the past year alone. And I'm sure I'm not alone.
You could have the best sales force in the world. But if you have poor customer service you will probably not see those same customers more than a couple of times. One of the foundational rules of business is that it costs more to get a customer than it costs to keep a customer. So really, customer service is sales.
When was the last time someone complimented your company on the way it treated its customers? When was the last time you did something to thank your customers for their business?
Yes, print has increasingly become a commodity. But what is more of a commodity than food? Even if Big Tuna hadn't hosted last night's party, I still would have gone back; but I might have also explored the other sushi restaurants in the area. Now Big Tuna is my restaurant of choice and is certainly my first recommendation to others.
So next time you hold a customer-service training lunch, head out to Big Tuna in Palmdale, California. I guarantee you'll enjoy the food, and you might even learn something.
