Dear Wells Fargo,
I heard that you want to surprise and delight your customers, which got me wondering how you measure success at that sort of thing. I've been keeping score here at home, and it looks like you're getting it half right: You did surprise me recently. I'm still waiting for the delightful part.
During 20+ years as a mortgage and banking customer, I've had no problems -- until last week, when I discovered someone had used my debit card number (mistakenly or fraudulently) to purchase airline tickets for $3,500. I thought it was in our mutual best interest to bring this to your attention right away. So let's look at the evidence and compare my recent experience with your stated Vision and Values, which includes "Consider the customer in all we do: Exceed the expectations of internal and external customers—surprise and delight them. ...Treat customers with care."
Surprises #1 and #2. During our first phone conversation, I was surprised when you said I needed to report the fraud on a claim form that you would fax within two business days (and here I was, foolishly believing that someone in South Africa draining my bank account was a matter of considerable urgency). But speed was important to me, because without my form, you couldn't credit the funds back into my account. Since you notify me of my monthly bank statements electronically, I asked you to email me the form instead, and was surprised to learn that emailing was not an available option. (What is another option, snail mail?)
Surprise #3. Without a debit card or any way to get cash from an ATM, the next surprise came when I was told I could return to a Wells Fargo branch for the 2nd time that day for a temporary ATM card. This is something you might have mentioned on my first visit, as I sat there, angst-ridden, for an hour.
Surprise #4. After this episode bubbled along for a few days (I'm no banker, but I realize pending transactions can take awhile to post), I was still surprised when you said there was an extra day's delay crediting my account because you needed to scan the fax I sent and enter it into your system. (And all this time, I thought a fax and a scanner were, well, pretty much the same thing.) Update: It's now Day 6. Just as I was finishing this post, my mailman delivered not one, not two, but three shiny new Debit/ATM cards.
How are you measuring "surprise and delight"? Regular readers of my blog know I'm an advocate for evidence-based management, which promotes the use of current, best empirical evidence in business decision-making and in the design of corporate performance management programs. So tell me, what evidence are you using to measure "surprise and delight"? I thought sophisticated companies had replaced fluffy stuff with attainable goals. Under How Do We Measure Success? and So, How Will We Be One of America's Great Companies?, you talk about specifics like cross-sell ratios, customer retention rates, and reducing clicks and keystrokes. But those don't measure whether you're exceeding my expectations. Or how successfully you are training your staff, adopting innovative technology to process forms, or keeping up with the "fast-paced world" you mentioned while I was on hold.
Let's talk about evidence. And expectations.
You could have gathered evidence faster. Lots faster. This is 2008: I don't want to hear about your media center. During our first chat, your WellsProtect® service could have generated and emailed a pdf form immediately... I know this because recently my life insurance company emailed me a customized form inside of 5 minutes. Also, you might have provided a way for me to enter my claim using an online form, so the details would go straight into your database -- avoiding the need to use OCR to scan my faxed form, and allowing me to track progress online... I know this because that's how my low-cost web host processes trouble tickets online.
You could fulfill your stated vision and values. Under How Do We Measure Success?, you say you're working toward One Wells Fargo! Apparently you want to unify the various WF divisions. That's not easy, so you get points for acknowledging there's room for improvement: "Today, customers don’t feel we’re one click. Too often, they get behind the curtain and see the plumbing and wiring, and they experience that we're not always connected." Yup, I initially called a fraud 800# listed on your site, and later you said I would have received better service if I'd called some 866# instead (something about online banking vs. debit cards). Arrrrgh.
You could talk and act with the customer in mind. You could have sent me an auto-generated WellsProtect® email (or letter) explaining how you handle fraud claims, and making me feel like you give a damn. You did offer to send an "apology letter" to anyone who receives an insufficient funds notice because of my unexpectedly low account balance... yet it seems I don't deserve any kind of letter, apology or otherwise. Most of all, after this episode dragged on for several days, it would have been great to hear you say "I'm very sorry you're experiencing this. I know it's frustrating, and we are working to resolve it as painlessly and quickly as possible. I'll be your primary point of contact on this if you have any other concerns."
Be the Zappos. Everything you could learn about customer service you could learn from Zappos.
Update #2: I know that here in the U.S., we're a nation of complainers. But wow, I'm told there's actually a site called Wells Fargo Sucks.
Well written. Customer Service, CUstomer delight is something I have been interested in for a decade now. I am also a keen observer of customer service, very active in giving feedback and general believer that all is not yet well for the customer. All these buzzwords dont do the trick. corporates have to really put their heart at it.
Posted by: Meera Srinivasan | Thursday, 22 May 2008 at 03:37 AM