|
Number
16: August 20, 2003
Please forward this newsletter to your colleagues and friends. If someone
sent this to you,
now so you don't miss an issue.
This week in Katydid:
The
Importance of Setting Expectations
One of your fellow readers sent me an interesting case study I'd like to
share with you. It outlines the importance of setting proper
expectations in your interactions with customers – online and offline.
Mary is a librarian. Like many librarians, she has a strong
background in information architecture and is savvy about computers.
(For many years there were no degrees offered for Information
Architecture, so most students pulled courses from library science
degrees.) Recently, Mary changed from ordering books through catalogs
and began to use the online services of a popular book jobber. A book
jobber is a company that sells books from the publisher to the retailers
and institutions such as schools and libraries, usually at substantial
discounts.
This book jobber has an online service that allows Mary to build up
an order of books as she thinks of them. Most people don't think about
librarians this way, but they are major influencers of public taste and
opinion. They don't just buy every book that comes their way. They have
a budget, which means they have to have a buying strategy that matches
the local interests as well as encouraging new interests.
Mary spends a great deal of time collecting feedback and suggestions
from her patrons, culling the best-seller lists, reading industry
articles, and other sources. As she gathers these titles, she orders the
items online and places them in her shopping cart. The book jobber's
service keeps the cart open for her until she is ready to make her
purchase.
The prices may fluctuate and before making her purchase, the service
allows her to update the pricing. Of course, she didn't expect that when
she ran the 'Check Prices' option that the entire order would disappear.
Mary writes,
"I wasn't really sure what it did, but I thought it would be
good to see what my discount would be on each item, so I hit the
button. Much to my surprise, my order disappeared. Gone! No longer
listed. Why hadn't I printed before I hit that button?!"
Two weeks of effort dissolved into the ether. She tries everything to
no avail. Finally, she calls customer service thinking they will be able
to retrieve her order.
Mary continues,
"After a couple minutes of playing games with the automated
answering system, finally a live customer service rep answered. I gave
her my account number and explained my story. She offered to check to
see if my order was listed on her system."
"Sorry, nothing is listed."
"Nothing?"
"I don't see anything listed."
"Well, is it possible to get it back?"
"Not that I know of. You could call tech support and see if
they can help."
"You have go to be kidding me. No way to get it back?"
"Well, I can give you the number for tech support…
She dials technical support, wondering if she can remember the 35
books she ordered, trying to figure out where her sources are, and how
she can retrace two solid weeks of effort.
Mary continues:
"Finally, a guy answers and I tell him my story. He starts off
will a slow, drawn out, 'Weeell...'
"I don't even wait for him to finish, 'I just want my order
back!'
"Hold on! It is not gone. It just comes to us, we run the
price check, and it bounces back to you in about 10-15 minutes."
Now, as a process, this is one of the worst. Obviously, a manual
process takes place on the book jobber's side. Pricing, especially for a
jobber can be a very tricky matter and there's probably no easy way to
program all the possible discounts and deals available. I bet they're
working on a system for that right now, so that pushing the 'Check
Prices' button takes the user to an updated page with the new pricing.
Technical support probably has this issue listed in a FAQ somewhere on
the site, or they just refer to it whenever somebody calls.
However, the process should never leave the user with the impression
that they've lost their order. Consider the cost of the jobber's current
solution: two support calls, twenty minutes of panic and frustration,
and the loss of trust of one of their prized customers – the librarian
who makes the choices of what to buy and from whom to buy all multiplied
by the number of users per day who think it's important to know the
latest price of their purchase.
The solution does not require putting a rush on the development of
the updated pricing program. It does not require putting more footnotes
and FAQs on the site. It does not require giving customer support the
same information as technical support (though it would sure help). All
it requires is that they stick one little page into their process. After
the user clicks the 'Check Prices' button, the following text could
appear:
"We are about to update the pricing on your order. It will not
show up in your account until we complete the pricing update, which
will take approximately fifteen minutes. If you would like to print a
copy of your current order, or if you would like to return to your
order, click 'Back.' Otherwise, click 'Continue' to update your
pricing."
Fifty words (or less, please) and the whole problem is taken care of.
It's not the ideal solution, but it sets a proper expectation. Customers
will understand and trust you, if you simply tell them what is happening
and set an expectation for how much time it will take.
Often when I consult on usability or user experience for forms and
processes, these issues arise. First, we look for the ideal solution,
and that becomes our vision of the final phase. Then, we try to see how
we can get there from where we are. Technical issues and the time
involved mean we have to proceed in logical phases. In cases like this,
when we can't build the ideal solution, then we make sure the user at
least understands what will happen at every stage of the process.
Mary gets the last word, in case you wondered if her experience
affected her level of trust in the book jobber,
"I'm not sure this story has a happy ending. I will wait until
I see the happy UPS man at the door with a couple boxes of
books."
See, the UPS person will get all the credit.
Top »
Books
Worth the Trip
While Amazon has helped us all fill our bookshelves, we can never truly
call them libraries. It takes years to get to some books in my stack and
I read every day. It's hard for me to catch up with my interests because
they constantly evolve. Not that I'm a dilettante, I just want to know
everything.
That's why I'm going back to the library for my books. I hope that
it won't be too big a drain on the economy for me to read one book at a
time and not have to own it.
Here's a book everybody needs but few will pay $385 dollars for – The
Advertising Age Encyclopedia of Advertising. It's nearly 2000
pages chronicling the entire history of advertising. There may be one or
two ideas in there good enough to steal. If your library doesn't have
it, make sure to ask your librarian to order it.
Top »
Thanks for Reading
This e-mail newsletter spreads mainly by word of
mouth. Please forward it to your colleagues and friends. Also, you can
read other back issues.
If you have suggestions of web sites to review, writing that buzzes,
or a new way of looking at things, let me know. Send your suggestions to
.
If you received this newsletter from a friend, please
today. Our subscriber lists are confidential; we never sell or rent our
lists to third parties. If you want to
from this newsletter,
please let us know.
Kind regards,
Kevin Troy Darling
Top »
|
