As soon as the pre-filled data entry screen displayed my old address, I just knew things were not going to go as smoothly as I had hoped. And sure enough, an experience that began in March is still not resolved. Of course, my experience is not unique. You've probably had a similar one in which things could have gone better had not computer systems been involved.
An experience with the number one
home improvement retailer
I like my home, but it was time to update the kitchen cabinets and countertop. I grew up around the building industry — custom cabinetry and architectural millwork — so I knew what would be involved. I helped my father build and install kitchens, know my way around power tools and building techniques, and could have done the job myself. But I didn't need a custom kitchen. So, as a matter of practicality and convenience I visited my local Home Depot.
Judging from the kitchen department displays and allocated square footage, you sense that Home Depot wants to make a strong, inviting, and confidence inspiring impression. Even without talking to a sales person, you can become self-educated about the kitchen remodel process and what's available.
Enter the computer
If you're serious about kitchen remodeling, sitting down with a sales consultant is when the fun really begins. That's when, through the miracle of computed based drafting programs, your ideas about your new kitchen materialize on the sales person's monitor — floor plans, elevations, and perspective drawings, including cabinetry styles, appliances, and other details. The use of technology at this point in the sales process is essential for creating excitement and enthusiasm. The better the computer show, the better the customer can visualize things and decide to buy. What's especially fascinating is how easily you can "play around" and change things as you consider variations and options.
As the sales person plugs in the various details that create the visuals for your new kitchen, other computer functions take place in the background — recording item numbers, prices, style codes, and a host of details that will eventually create an order. If you commit to your new kitchen, your order is generated and other processes are set in motion.
At the time of order, the sales person naturally collects various pieces of customer data. As soon as my last name was entered, other data fields automatically pre-filled. The sales person then asked, "Do you still live on Carrol Lane in Northglenn?" We replied, "No, we moved four years ago" and provided our new address. Before our very eyes, we saw the sales person update our customer record. From all indications, the routine procedures of collecting and updating customer information appeared normal, just like it's supposed to.
Something's not right
We spent nearly two hours with our Home Depot sales consultant. At this point we were appropriately enthusiastic about our new kitchen and eager to get things started. A tentative schedule was provided, as was a list of names and phone numbers of other people we'd be dealing with. We left the store with a large folder filled with all kinds of information, drawings, and a computer generated purchase order.
When we got home, we checked the drawings and the measurements against our existing kitchen and immediately discovered that some things weren't right. For one, one wall's measurement was off by several inches. Also, the item numbers on the drawings didn't match up with the item numbers on the purchase order. Furthermore, the item numbers and descriptions of two cabinets didn't match up with the manufacturer's catalog numbers, and the size of one cabinet was wrong.
Not terribly concerned at this point — clerical mistakes that could easily be corrected, I assumed — I called our sales person and the order was put on hold. Someone from the store, a measurer, would come to the house to check everything out. Sure enough, mistakes were made, the measurer rechecked things, made appropriate notations, and returned to the store. We would be able to view the revisions and check things again ourselves in a few days.
We revisited the store to review the changes, see the new drawings, and go over all the details and paperwork, comparing the original order side-by-side with the revised order. To our surprise, the new and revised order included our old address. Things were heating up in the worry department. Once again we witnessed the changes to our customer information. Even though we saw things take place with our own eyes and were give assurances that things were now correct, we left the store with fingers crossed.
Sure enough, things got screwed up
To somebody's credit, the cabinets were delivered amazingly within 10 minutes of the predetermined delivery time. Even though I had two sets of purchase orders — original and revised — I checked off the boxes one by one as they were off-loaded from the delivery truck. I was expecting 21 separate boxes; only 18 arrived. I called the sales person, who rerouted me to what is called an "expediter," someone whose primary task is to make sure that everything is properly coordinated. The expediter was at my home within the hour to check the order and my paperwork. Believe it or not, our paperwork was different. The missing cabinets were reordered, a three-week delay. But since all the base and corner cabinets arrived, the installation project could start on time.
The three-person installation crew was scheduled to start the job at 9:00 a.m. Monday morning for what was expected to be an all-day job. At 10:30 I called the store to ask where the crew was. The store called back ten minutes later to tell me that the crew was sitting in their truck at my old Northglenn address. The installers had paperwork with the old address that was supposedly corrected twice!
Several other problems arose. Again, misinformation was generated and communicated. At every step of the project, people relied on information that was captured, handled, and delivered by computer systems. At this moment, the project is 95 percent complete. Some finish work and minor warranty service remain. The local Home Depot store actually did a commendable job at apologizing, correcting the errors, providing consideration for the various foul-ups, and adjusting the final price. In the end, face-to-face communication salvaged a situation that certainly was not enhanced by the application of technology.
One store, chain-wide problem
While my experience may have (hopefully) been out of the norm, some third-party providers to my local Home Depot say that my kind of experience happens about 10 percent of the time. If true, that's unacceptable for any business, but especially for the world's largest store of its kind with 2002 net income exceeding $3.6 billion on over $58 billion in revenue.
Despite its success and healthy financials, Home Depot is not exactly "fat city" when it comes to technology. In fact, the chain will spend nine percent of its 2003 $4 billion capital improvement budget on technology upgrades. Just as telling is Home Depot's luring of former Delta Airlines CIO, Robert DeRodes, who is committed to overhauling the company's information systems. Incidentally, at $7.3 million 2002 compensation, DeRodes is reportedly the highest paid CIO in the U.S.
Can throwing big money at a technology problem designed to improve service do the trick? One can hope. Various systems upgrades are underway — reengineered processes, standardized enterprise software, 40,000 new PCs, new networking gear, automated check-out terminals, new data warehousing solutions, new inventory and ordering systems, etc.
For more insight into how Home Depot and number two competitor, Lowe's, plan on using technology for competitive advantage, see the June issue of Baseline magazine, online at http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,3959,1124588,00.asp and http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,3959,1124618,00.asp, respectively.
Lessons learned
The point of recounting this event is to dramatize just how much of commerce — selling, purchasing, ordering, document delivery, scheduling, monitoring, tracking, etc. — is dependent on technology-based systems and processes. It would be easy to attribute my problem totally to human operator error, but I witnessed otherwise. Rather, internal systems that are invisible to both customers and (apparently) store employees seem to be the problem at Home Depot. While it appears that the chain is making improvements to service management and related technology, there are several lessons that insurance companies and agencies can learn:
Finally…
Is service management and systems a chicken or an egg proposition? Maybe, maybe not. Systems can improve service management, but not without a defined and embraced service management philosophy. A healthy service management philosophy can exist without improved systems, but can be improved with them. In any case, our industry collectively should know enough to be finally getting things figured out. The trick for the independent system is to do a better job than the other guys.
© Copyright 2003 by Sound Internet Strategy. All rights reserved
It only takes a little bit of bad data to create a ripple effect of misinformation throughout the entire system.
There's no point in using technology for customer service if it ends up creating disgruntled customers and loss of customer confidence.