2008 Articles
August 21, 2008
AMR Research: "Note to Best Buy: Software Could Have Prevented My Experience"
After a poor service experience with Best Buy, Bruce Richardson, Chief Research Officer, AMR Research, asks Servigistics how service delivery should have worked.
August 19,2008
While I was waiting for Best Buy to show up, I sent an e-mail to Mike Landry, founder and CTO at Servigistics, and explained the challenges that I had been having. Servigistics is a leader in the strategic service management market (SSM), which includes parts planning, labor scheduling, pricing, knowledge management, and analytics.
While I could have e-mailed any of the service parts vendors, Servigistics was top of mind for two reasons. One, I had just met with Mr. Landry the week before in Atlanta where he told me that his firm has recently signed its first deals in retail, including one with a well-known appliances firm. Two, I knew that he would be in my office later that afternoon to brief some of our analysts.
Here’s his e-mail response:
“Here’s how it w(sh)ould have worked:
1. Our Knowledge Management solution would have helped them identify the issue and required skill and potential part(s) needed. This could have been used by the call center agent or you directly online to guide the resolution search process/dialog. In some cases the fix could be applied by you, in which case everyone wins. If this problem actually required an expert to be dispatched then the rest of the SSM solution is leveraged as follows:
2. Long before you call, our Parts Management system is helping to prepare the parts network. It would have planned the trunk stock inventory so that fill rate and the chance of having the part on the first trip would be maximized - this is the solution that the large retailer is implementing right now across 10,000 technicians.
3. Once a dispatch is required, our Work Force Management system would have picked the right technician based on the skill and likelihood of having the right part(s), which would further increase the chance of getting it right on the first trip - not to mention using all resources with the lowest possible cost to deliver for Best Buy.
4. Our Appointment Scheduler would work with you given your schedule constraints (like your meeting) to find the best time slot for you. It would also look to prioritize these options based on other appointments so that Best Buy can minimize travel cost.
5. Our Command Center solution would keep it all on track - so that if a surprise happens (like the technician getting stuck on a call or involved in an accident) the right folks could be alerted to look for changes required to keep the appointment. If that is not possible, Best Buy would at least be able to call you in advance to arrange plan B.
6. To add to the customer experience even more, some companies have extended the command center to online access so that the process could be monitored directly by you, kind of like tracking a package on fedex.com. Alerts and notifications like the ones described above would automatically be generated with emails. All this improves the service experience for very little cost to Best Buy.
Let me know if you need anything else.
See you later today.
Mike”
A Penny Part Almost Costs Best Buy and Whirlpool a Customer
August 19, 2008At the end of May, I went to Best Buy to purchase a second refrigerator for my home. Within 15 minutes, my wife and I had selected a minimal-frills Inglis model from Whirlpool. I was so happy with the sales assistance that I when I got home I went to http://www.bestbuycares.com/ and raved about the buying process and the Best Buy rep.
On the day the refrigerator was to be delivered, Best Buy called and gave us a two-hour window. Two delivery men in a rental truck showed up on the early side of that window, removed the old refrigerator, and plugged in the new one. I thought it was a little odd that they didn’t take any of packing material that was inside the refrigerator. But, hey, I’m not a frequent refrigerator buyer. I tipped the delivery people and they left. After they were gone, I went to http://www.bestbuycares.com/ and was very complimentary about the delivery service.
Within a few days, I noticed that the refrigerator wasn’t quite right. While the freezer worked perfectly, the refrigerator door lacked the tight seal one would expect. I didn’t think much of it as it still worked. Or, so I thought.
One Friday after work I noticed that the refrigerator light was on even though the door appeared to be closed. The next morning I called 1-888-BESTBUY. After a brief electronic dialogue, I managed to get a human on the phone who promised to connect me to the appliance specialist. After 14 minutes on hold, I hung up.
When I got to work on Monday, I called again. After seven minutes, I was able to speak to the appliance specialist. Within a minute or two, an appointment was set.
Again, a Best Buy rep called around 7:00 a.m. to tell us when the repair person would be there. My wife cancelled a couple of meetings to wait for him. He arrived at our house and looked at the refrigerator. He turned to my wife and said, “I have to get a part.” She assumed he was going to his van or to a local depot for the part. When he didn’t return later that morning, she called Best Buy only to find out that he had to order a part and would not be coming back.
At least he ordered the part. A few days later we received a box containing a gasket.
It was my time to wait for the second repair person. I called and set up an appointment. While I was at the gym, Best Buy called and said that they would be at our house between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.. My wife explained that I had a meeting late that morning and could only be there until 10:00 a.m.. Since that might not be possible, my wife cancelled the appointment.
As it happened, my meeting was cancelled and I could meet the repair person after all. I called Best Buy and was informed by the appliance person that she had no way of getting in touch with the repair person. Fuming, I hung up. Fifteen minutes later, I called back to set up another appointment. After a brief wait, I was connected to another appliance specialist. I explained how I had missed my appointment that morning and needed to set up an appointment. She offered to contact the scheduler and try to put me in touch directly with the repair person.
Within an hour, the repair person called and said he could be at my home around lunch time. About an hour or so later, the Geek Squad van arrived at my house. I let him and dutifully brought the gasket to the basement while he inspected my refrigerator. He felt the edge of the door and noticed that it didn’t close right. I asked him if the problem was the manufacturer. He said, “No, these are made by Whirlpool. These are quality products.”
After looking around at the door and the seal, he reached down at the bottom of the door. Feeling with his hand, he pulled a 2 inch by 1.25 inch by 5/8 inch piece of Styrofoam that had been attached via blue tape presumably to keep the doors from slamming together during delivery. Note: The Styrofoam piece is white—the same color as the refrigerator. I might have been able to spot it if the refrigerator light had not burned out after being left on since the June installation.
Because this was a new refrigerator, all of the “repair” work was under warranty. He left me a receipt with all of the information pertaining to his service call. The one charge that stands out was the $62 for total labor. I’m not sure if this included the labor for the first repair person, too. I’m not sure how much the gasket cost – it’s still in the unopened box in my basement.
I’m not sure if the offending part cost a penny or a nickel, but it certainly cost a lot in goodwill until Eric from the Boston area Geek Squad figured out that the problem was not the gasket.
A few days later, I went to http://www.bestbuycares/ and completed the survey. My rankings were all over the map, but I was enthusiastic about the support from Eric. About that refrigerator light bulb, I’m going to stop on the way home and buy a replacement. Now that it’s running properly, I agree with Eric about Whirlpool’s products.
