I once asked a successful entrepreneur on what was the secret of his business. He gave me a puzzling answer, he said, “my lowest paid employee.” I asked him to explain what he meant. He shared with me how his people define his brand. All of his employees must treat customers with same quality and service that they will get from him. The challenge was to ensure that this lesson was exercised all the time, even by his lowest employee. He added, “most times, the customers’ experience with the brand is actually crystallized in the 5 minute conversation with my lowest paid employee. If they get that kind of service at that level, they feel assured that they will get it at all levels.”

Let me recount to you my experience recently with two super brands. I was recently in the market for a mobile phone and have been checking around for the best deal. I was very happy with the opening of branded concept stores of the manufacturers in the malls. My expectations were higher simply due to the fact that this was a brand store. I went into one around lunchtime and started to look around. I noticed that the staff was more interested in having lunch than serving me, the worse part, they were eating in front of me inside the store. Not exactly the customer experience that I was expecting.

I browsed around and was amazed at the features of the new 5 megapixel camera phone. I asked for a feature comparison with the other brands, but the staff did not know. I still ended up buying a phone, banking on the quality of the brand.

Later that day, as I was having lunch, my friend noticed that there was a big sticker in front of the box stating that my phone came with a free Bluetooth headset. We searched but we could not find it. So I rushed back to the store and asked about it. The staff asked each other about it, unsure of the package. When they were able to confirm it, they told me that it was out of stock, that I had to come back for it another day.

But that is not the end of the story. After one and half weeks of using the phone, I started to notice signal anomalies. The phone would register full signal but I could neither receive calls nor text. I brought it back to be checked. The technician said it was a software corruption and would need a software boot. I asked what happened. He replied that it was factory defect. I asked how long would the software installation take? He replied, “2 to 7 days.”

I complained that was too long and would prefer to have my phone replaced, considering that it was supposed to have a warranty. They refused because my one week replacement period had lapsed. To make a long story short, I was very disappointed with my customer experience of the store and of the brand. Because of that, a superbrand in my eyes was reduced to an average brand due to average people.

My second experience was with one of the oldest and most respected restaurants in Cebu. As we were walking by one day, we saw the set menu advertised. It looked delicious, and we decided to try it. We ordered Set A as described in the poster outside. After a while, the food came, but we discovered that it was not set A. We argued with the waiter and finally, I walked with him outside to show him set A. It turned out that they advertised two different “Set A”. The waiter graciously offered to have it replaced. When the replacement arrived, it still was not the one. We went out again and discovered that it was Set B. The waiter again offered to have it replaced. But at this point, we began to hear a loud argument break out in the kitchen. We decided to decline and went elsewhere.

It takes a very long time to build a superbrand, but it takes very little to turn it into a average one to the customer. Let’s follow the examples of these ordinary individuals as they strive to make a difference. Each week, lets all get together and share knowledge, stories, experiences, information, all for the sole purpose of getting One Step Up.

For comments, suggestions or stories that you want to share, email me at
stirspecialist@gmail.com , or visit www.stirspecialist.blogspot.com .