I wrote a post a couple of weeks ago about a poor experience my wife had at The Gap. I thought it was a good story that conveyed the importance of consistency in the customer experience. I certainly didn't write it expecting any response or retribution from The Gap, but that's exactly what I ended up with.
The Gap is Listening
Like most of my posts, it was published around 2:00 AM. By 8:45 AM, someone from The Gap had seen the post (I know this because of the site analytics tool I use). That piqued my interest a little, but I assumed they were using a social listening tool, like Radian6 or something similar. Then the hits really started coming in. The visits and page views from The Gap continued all day; I believe it was over 60 views when I checked it later that afternoon. After the number of visits continued to climb, I started thinking they might actually contact me about the incident, but I wasn't holding my breath. After all, why should a huge company care about a pissant blogger like me?
The Gap Responds
Two days later, I received an email from Sara Boyd, a Senior Brand Analyst with Gap Inc. Customer Relations. I kind of chuckled when I saw it sitting there in my inbox. I had a hard time believing that a simple blog post had caught their attention. It was the first time I had personally felt a direct impact from social media. Kudos to Gap for that.
The email was well written; it stressed their customer-centric values and sincere disappointment at the situation. Sara offered an apology to my wife and also asked to speak to her directly so she could personally apologize and attain further details so that a similar situation wouldn't happen again.
I replied back with a few more details and stressed the significance of the disconnect between their online and retail store. I offered up my phone number if they wanted to discuss the matter further.
The next day, Sara did indeed call. I was again impressed with the sincerity of her apology and determination to solve the root issue. She promised a customer appreciation card would be sent to us and asked again if she could speak to my wife to gain more details on the situation. They did speak a few days ago; my wife appreciated the apology and their attitude towards solving the upstream problem.
Lessons Learned
Every company, especially large companies like Gap, are going to fail at times. How the company reacts to those failures will ultimately determine whether a customer stays or goes. In this case, Gap stepped up and did the right thing. They were sincere, apologetic, and more than willing to right the wrong they had created. A few things of note that Gap did well:
- Thanked us for our feedback and time
- Apologized for the issue
- Provided a tangible gift of appreciation
- Acted with sincerity throughout the experience
Social media is a powerful tool. It has added a new twist to customer experience and has empowered the customer to be heard on new levels. This is a great thing for customers. As companies, we could learn a thing or two from The Gap.
* This was originally posted at DeliverBliss.com
Mary Mach said:
Hi Tim,
The Gap was able to use Social Media in the appropriate way for customer service as their primary goal yet by doing so has created a deeper meaning to brand awareness in our world today. As businesses and consumers become more aware of the impact of Social Media on their lives these type of occurances with positive customer service will become more prevelent.
Thanks for sharing your story
Mary Mach
MCS Global Marketing Solutions
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Fri, 2010-07-30 11:20 — Mary Mach (not verified)Lawrence Of Avaya said:
I am sure you know that this is an instance of a classic customer service result (I will have to dig for references) that customers who have problems that then get resolved satisfactorily are more likely to repurchase (are more loyal) than customers who never had a problem at all (statistically). The media and listening-process are new here, but the customer service dynamics are classic!
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Thu, 2010-07-22 19:52 — Lawrence ByrdJeff Cannon said:
I've already forwarded this post on to a wide range of people. If this doesn't speak to how just a touch made through the online social media can effect an offline brand relationship, than nothing will. Well done Tim, and well done GAP.
Oh yes, just think of the even larger reach we're all giving GAP through just this one posting.
Can a full page ad in the New York Times even touch that?
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Thu, 2010-07-22 11:30 — Jeff Cannon (not verified)christina erl said:
Interesting. I had a very similar experience with a resort earlier this spring. I blogged and tweeted about it and was amazed to see the great response I received from the resort.
Powerful tool and most effective when used with dignity and at opportune times rather than to consistently whine about everything.
Great post. thanks!
-christina
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Wed, 2010-07-21 17:45 — christina erl (not verified)PeterAuditore1 said:
Tim:
I think you should expect to get contacted by GAP and I am not surprised, as a retail operation they have all the same issues that most retailers have and that is customer experience management. Their challenge is employee turn over, training and management like most retailers and because of social media they can't hide and customers now own their brand. As a social customer I regularly post my experiences dining and with hotels on Yelp and Tripadvisor and hundreds of people read my reviews.
Thanks for participating in thesocialcustomer!
Peter
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Wed, 2010-07-21 12:23 — Peter AuditorePost new comment