The Valuable Complaint

Many employees, especially those that work in customer service, find customer complaints to be a nuisance. Complaints are often looked at as a negative aspect of doing business; a component that simply needs to be addressed and dealt with on a regular basis. However, a customer complaint is an opportunity to understand what really matters to the customer, and to gain a deeper understanding of the target audience. Companies should look at complaints as a blessing in disguise, and use customer complaints to improve their products and services; helping them to achieve greater market share and customer loyalty. 

It's all smiles for Michael as he increases his number of stores, and his profits.
But when will consumers catch on? And when will it catch up with Michael Kors himself?

Lets discuss a recent experience I had at a Michael Kors store in the Eaton Centre downtown Toronto. I was gifted a Michael Kors watch that was quite large and needed to be resized. Fortunately for me, Michael Kors offers free watch resizing at any of their locations. I simply had to visit one of the locations to get my watch resized on the spot. Sounds easy right? Wrong. On my first visit to the store, the sales associate asked me to wait four hours to get my watch resized, because she was just "too busy." The next day, on my second visit, the tool that they use to do the watch resizing was apparently broken. Long story short, on my third visit to a different Michael Kors store (no longer the Eaton Centre location), I was able to get my watch resized. 

I was dissatisfied with the level of customer service I received from Michael Kors and consequently, emailed their customer service department. Unfortunately I received the typical "we value your concern" email. Needless to say, I am concerned for Michael Kors' financial health moving forward. After a recent IPO, they now have the funds and resources required to grow their number of stores to approximately 400 retail locations. If they can't appropriately manage customer complaints with their current locations, what makes them think they can maintain their level of customer service, and inherently their brand image, with 400?

Brand Ownership

"One of the most common mistakes in business is assuming that the brand is owned by marketing. Marketing owns the brand because they develop it through advertising, or promotions, or logo work, or merchandising, right? Wrong. Marketing is the quarterback, calling the plays for the brand, but every person and every department is crucial to the brand's success." - Donna Heckler, renowned brand researcher and Fortune 500 branding executive

The quote above is an excerpt from the book The Truth About Creating Brands People Love, written by Brian Till and Donna Heckler (a must read, by the way). They have a solid argument in saying that a brand message needs to be delivered consistently by all employees within an organization. Without a consistent, coherent, and impactful brand message, customers will lose sight of what the brand represents. Unfortunately, delivering a single brand message is difficult for so many large corporations.

Let's look at one company who does it right.

Walmart

Sam Walton, and his first store, located in Bentonville Arkansas. 

Sam Walton founded Walmart in 1962 with a 'no frills' mentality. This mentality helped him provide consumer packaged goods to price conscious consumers, and ultimately led to Walmart becoming the largest retail operation in the entire world. In order to provide Walmart customers with Everyday Low Prices and consequently, great value; a 'no frills' mentality still exists amongst all employees today. How is this message communicated by all facets of Walmart?

1. Merchandisers. Merchandisers at Walmart continue to select reasonably priced products for everyday people. Price is oftentimes the communication of value for a brand. Subsequently, Walmart's products are true and tested, great value brands. 

2. Marketing. Marketing passes the test through their enactment of the price match guarantee program, implemented this holiday season. If a customer found a retailer in the area offering a product for less than what Walmart does, Walmart would honour the other retailer's low price while simultaneously providing the customer with a gift card. (This is definitely marketing genius; sends a strong brand message to the consumer while encouraging another visit to one of their stores).

3. No Frills Headquarters. In Walmart Canada's head office, there are no marble floors and granite countertops. The head office is kept fairly plain and simple, but that is what makes it beautiful. Although Sam Walton has passed, his legacy lives on in the linoleum floors of the head office, and is a signal of Walmart's dedication to value.

4. Sustainable Actions. Walmart is probably greener than you think. Although the recent green movement experienced by the western world over the past ten years is deemed as trendy, Walmart has adopted it for both social and financial reasons. Through switching to renewable energy in its stores, Sam's Clubs locations, and distribution centres, Walmart has been able to decrease their operating costs and pass their savings onto customers. 

My discussion of Walmart's merchandise, marketing strategies, headquarters, and sustainability department represent only a small portion of all the departments that contribute to Walmart's strong brand message. Despite Walmart's behemoth size, they successfully continue to unite employees to communicate the following message: great value.