At the end of a recent call to a well-known company’s customer service department, the rep told me to email her a pic of the item in question and gave me her email address that included her name. I wrote down her last name as I heard it, Sutherland. I repeated this to her and she confirmed.
We had a few more things to discuss, and at the end she repeated her email address, this time spelling her last name: “Sutherlin.” I corrected what I had written.
I take part of the blame for the misunderstanding as I should have asked her to spell it or I could have spelled what I had written. But wouldn’t you think someone with a last name like “Sutherlin” would have had a lifetime of people hearing “Sutherland”? So wouldn’t you think she would know that in something where spelling was critical, like her email address, she’d make sure the customer got it right?
Imagine how I’d feel when the email was bounced and I had to call back, then learned of her name’s spelling? I wouldn’t have been a happy camper.
Are your reps taking that special step to make sure they are communicating critical details to serve your customers? Are they omitting information that they know well and forgetting to ensure the customers know this, too?
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