Home Depot delights customer, exceeds Consumer Expectation
Posted on Mon, Oct 31, 2011 @ 11:27 AM
By Bill McCarthy
This past Sunday morning, we had a 7:20 a.m. hockey game. On our way home we stopped in at Home Depot to see if they had any generators in stock. While in the store, no fewer than 3 people stopped to ask if I had what I needed. From the woman at the contractor check out aisle who directed us to the hardware aisle, the man in electrical helping me build the high voltage cable to connect the generator to the house and the last who appeared to ask if I needed help loading the generator into my truck. These people were on their game of customer service. The folks at the Bridgewater, MA Home Depot were great.
In the online world we would expect companies and their marketers to model the store employee behavior. The in store employees could see the look of a searcher’s face, listen to my (their future customer) needs, pay attention to my reply. We expect marketers to use the same behavior in eliciting information to market to consumers directly. Instead company departments become islands of isolation, every department wants to work a different way. Company leaders must insure that the same attitudes should extend into the online world.
There are some companies that have great leaders with very smart marketers who are listening to what their customers and prospects have to say online, allowing them to market directly to consumers much earlier in the decision-making process. Smart marketers intuitively understand how to communicate to their consumer and by using Consumer Preference Management in their marketing; position themselves to deliver the same great customer service just as the Home Depot store counterparts did to exceed this consumer's expectation.
Establish a stellar service model that delights and connects to your consumer, and then deliver outstanding content via established relationships and multi-channel campaigns.
When businesses see an opportunity and are the first to act on it, they beat the competition. While your competitors scramble to adjust, you can seize the initiative, open new channels, and grow your brand.
