retail Archives - Marc Rudov

At every opportunity, I've asserted verbally or in writing that a logo isn't a brand and that creating a new one isn't rebranding. REMEMBER: A logo can represent a brand but never constitute one. In my May 2018 column about Best Buy's new logo, "Best Buy's New Logo Isn't a Brand," I opined that the $43B retailer had erred by claiming that a graphical change conferred "magical" transformational qualities to its operations: According to Whit Alexander, newly minted chief marketing officer, “It’s really about building more aggressively toward serving customers and helping change lives with technology.” Name one time in world history when a company improved its customer experience by designing a new logo. You can't. Fast-forward to May-June 2019, when my personal encounter with Best Buy and its partner SiriusXM, which has undergone a series of its own logo changes, validated my contentions of a year ago. Nobody Answered the Phone Wanting to add SiriusXM capability to my low-mileage, almost-two-decades-old Jeep Grand Cherokee, I had to replace its factory-installed radio with a modern one. After doing some phone and Internet research, I chose to do this at Best Buy. Because my local Best Buy no longer performs car-audio installations, I drove 30 miles to the Pleasant Hill, California, store to purchase the appropriate hardware and arrange the installation, scheduled for June 17th (three weeks hence). The hardware was to be delivered and stored at Pleasant Hill for the installation. Afterwards, anticipating a likely out-of-town trip on June 17th, I felt uncomfortable with such a long wait and wanted to reschedule the installation for as soon as possible. After numerous tries and unacceptably long holds on the phone, I finally reached a guy at Pleasant Hill and asked him to change my appointment to June 6th, if possible. Yes, it's possible -- at the Dublin store. He told me that I'd receive an email confirmation within 24 hours. That didn't happen. When I called Pleasant Hill to follow up, nobody answered the phone. Nobody. I decided that, if I couldn't finalize things in person, face-to-face, it wouldn't happen. So, I drove to the Dublin store, 30 miles in a different direction. I demanded to see the manager of the store. He looked at the installation schedule and showed me that I was indeed scheduled for installation at his store on the 6th, arranged by Pleasant Hill -- July 6th. July 6th! I wanted sooner, not later, and exploded with rage. What kind of bullshit operation do you folks run? I thundered. He apologized profusely and walked me over to his car-audio department, where he assured me that his guys would take care of me. These Dublin guys broke the news to me: If I wanted installation earlier than July 6th, I'd have to go to the Tracy store, where they could schedule me on June 7th. Of course, I took it. It's 20 miles away in a completely different direction. Hey, this is California. One of the sales associates at Dublin told me that I could have avoided this entire mess, had I come to see him in the first place, because he knows how to make things happen. Really? How could I have known that; I had never heard of him before. He gave me his business card with phone extension and email address, and instructed me to contact him if I needed anything henceforth. He then twisted my arm, against my wishes, to agree to have all the hardware shipped to me, so that I could take it to Tracy. Why can't the hardware just appear at the installation site, without my involvement? Because Best Buy is too incapable of pulling it off, obviously. Subsequently, I tried multiple times to reach that sales associate by phone and email, to get a tracking number for the shipment, and never heard back from him. Never. Fortunately, I received all the hardware. Miracle. You Cannot Be Serious! Starting a week before my June 7th appointment in Tracy, I called there a few times to reschedule earlier, in case of cancellations. There were none. But, the installation guys answered the phone every time and were highly courteous and professional. I showed up a little early on June 7th for my appointment in Tracy, and the installation guys were waiting for me. No problems. No incompetence. Before leaving the Best Buy premises to stroll around the mall for two hours, the manager encouraged me to call SiriusXM to activate my radio -- so that I could get that hassle out of the way beforehand. Ever the lover of efficiency, I heeded his advice. The SiriusXM autoattendant informed me that too many callers were in the queue and that I could choose online support, which I did. After wasting 15 minutes with the bozo who ultimately admitted she couldn't help me, having given her my updated address, radio ID, and other pertinent information, I called back and waited for someone to talk to. The live SiriusXM support person apologized for my wasted time online and then proceeded to take all my information again -- because the online woman recorded none of it -- and promised to activate my radio and grant me the free 90-day subscription, available to all new radio owners. Naturally, I thought I was done with SiriusXM. I returned two hours later to find my car nearly completed. After a few more steps, the installation guy backed it out of the garage and showed me a few features of the new radio. I couldn't get SiriusXM to work. So, the manager came over to help me. Nothing. I called SiriusXM again. Guess what? The third person informed me that she had none of my information -- and that's why my radio wasn't activated. You cannot be serious! I literally yelled into the phone, like John McEnroe, with Best Buy's car-audio manager sitting right next to me. I had to repeat everything about myself, as well as the radio ID. Then, she asked me if I was aware of a $15 activation fee. What???? Since when does free mean $15? OK, I'll waive that fee. At this point I am beyond seething, and the Best Buy guy, still sitting next to me, didn't know what to make of it. Are we finished now? No. Ms. Sirius insisted on reading to me the terms and conditions. No, no, no! I screamed. I accept all of them! Skip this step. Too bad. She told me she is required to read the T&Cs. No, I demanded. I want to talk to your supervisor. Ms. Sirius then claimed that her supervisor would likewise force me to sit through the recitation of the T&Cs. Uncle! Just read them, dammit, I relented. I can't take this bullshit anymore. This is supposed to be easy! More the Rule Than the Exception Finally, after expending all of my patience, and stomach acid, I drove home with my operable SiriusXM-enabled radio. Alas, the horror wasn't over. Before going to bed that night, I received an automatically generated email from Best Buy: Sorry you missed your installation appointment today. Would you like to reschedule? Huh?? Even though the crew had spent two hours installing my new radio, including the steering-wheel controls, the Best Buy computer had no record of it. Wow. If you assumed that I fired off a terse email in response, you're correct. Addendum Remember my original July 6th installation date at Pleasant Hill, which I ultimately changed to June 7th at Tracy? Well, Best Buy's dependable computer system, one week in advance, emailed me a reminder to show up on July 6th for my installation. Finally, on the evening of July 6th, Best Buy's computer sent me an email expressing regret that I had missed my appointment in Dublin earlier that day -- even though my installation happened on June 7th, in Tracy, a month prior to that. ALERT: More technology does not mean better customer experience. Parting Advice to CEOs To say that Best Buy and SiriusXM crapped on me is an understatement. I guarantee that James Meyer, the CEO of SiriusXM, and Hubert Joly, the CEO of Best Buy, know nothing about my disaster, which is more the rule than the exception. No customer should endure my awful saga with Best Buy and SiriusXM. Ever. Inexcusable. You want to avoid this in your company? Manage by walking around. Talk to customers. Otherwise, you know nothing about how your company functions, how you're wasting shareholder cash, and how employees are killing your brand through rudeness, incompetence, and poor processes. Never design a new logo, thinking that you've juiced your brand. You haven't. © 2019 Marc H. Rudov. All Rights Reserved.About the Author Marc Rudov is a branding advisor to CEOs,producer of MarcRudovTV, and author of four books

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