Plug 'n' play (and other brand destroying myths)

By: Nathalie Schooling

Being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I recently braved one of my local shopping malls in search of a hands-free car kit for my trusty Blackberry. After elbowing my way to the front of yet another crowded cellphone store (note to cellphone service providers: your stores are really busy, hire more staff) I parted with a somewhat hefty R900 and walked out of the store the proud owner of some top-of-the-range new technology.

Normally, technology and I are not the best of friends, but I was assured by the friendly salesman that this hands-free kit was so simple to use that even a child could do it. In retrospect, that little phrase should have sounded warning bells immediately. Children understand technology. Adults, for the most part, are not as tech savvy. The great irony in this is that it is the adults who are parting with the money to purchase the said technology, but the companies who are selling it to them don’t seem to understand, acknowledge, or possibly even care about the fact that their consumers may need a little help using the products they are buying.

The point that this little diatribe is ultimately getting to is that my swanky new hands-free kit was anything but user friendly. After an hour spent trying to figure out how to get it to work (yes I did read the instructions – I’m not a man) my distrust in the concept of ‘plug and play’ was complete and I had resigned myself to making another trip to the store to sheepishly ask the salesman to explain how to use the darn thing.

And therein lies the risk of the plug ‘n’ play myth for retailers and brands. Nobody likes to be made to feel stupid. So, when a person is told that they don’t need a lesson in how technology (or anything else they have bought) works, only to later be made to feel like an idiot because they can’t figure it out, it’s not just the consumer’s ego that suffers, their perception of the brand and/or store from which they purchased it can be severely dented as well.

This is why retailers, service providers, and brands need to move beyond the view that service is just about being nice to the customer until they buy the product. Service is not a means to an end; it is a relationship-making, or -breaking, experience. And for the customer, that experience extends way beyond the purchase decision, but rather encompasses everything from the in-store service, the user-friendliness of the product, the ease and attractiveness of its packaging, and even the willingness of the sales person to take the time to ensure that you aren’t left feeling like a moron when you get around to using the item you purchased.

The bottom line is that the store from which I bought my hands-free kit had a unique opportunity to convert me from a walk-in customer to a loyal supporter and advocate. All they had to do was set up the technology for me or, at the very least, explain to me exactly what I needed to do to make it work the way I wanted it to. They chose not to use this opportunity. And, while I did return to their outlet, it was certainly not as a happy customer. It was also the last time I will do so.

Now who’s the idiot?