The Geek Squad – You never need shout at your computer again!
Mark Say
www.geeksquad.com
Customer Pain
Have you ever really felt Customer Pain? There are some experiences that are so stressful and so frustrating that you cry out for someone…just anyone to be on your side for once. A client deadline to hit and you can’t connect to the internet or your PC just plain refuses to do what you are shouting at it…to do!!
Ladies and Gentlemen – let me introduce you to The Geek Squad!
Humble Beginnings
Robert Stephens was studying computer science at the University of Minnesota in the early 1990s and in his spare time he had a job fixing computers. He noted that home users and small businesses were adopting ever more complex and powerful products and yet there was little or no technical support available to them. The support that was available was inconsistent, unreliable, indistinct and generally had very poor levels of service. Robert saw the opportunity to create a proposition that provided excellent technical support in a highly differentiated way.
He understood Customer Pain. He realised that the key was rapid response, adaptability, humour and style. He knew that customers expected their issue to be sorted out…eventually, but he also knew that the overall experience left customers seething with frustration and resentment. He created The Geek Squad in April 1994 with $200 (refusing to bring in investors lest they dilute his concept) - a dramatically different customer experience that fixed problems well with humour and style…quickly. Their motto: “We’ll save your ass!”
A Distinct Branded Experience
When a customer calls, they get a rapid, reliable response from a ‘Special Agent’ who arrives in a Geekmobile fully branded with the Geek Squad insignia. The Agent is wearing a uniform straight out of Dragnet in the 1960s – white short-sleeve shirt, black clip-on tie, black trousers with a black belt, black polished shoes and white socks and a badge clipped don to their hip. It is company policy that Geekmobiles have to be driven at two miles an hour slower than the speed limit – that way more potential customers will see the car!
They Don’t Get It!!
If you search chat rooms for references to the Geek Squad, you will soon come across ‘hate forums’. Lots of ‘techies’ seem to loathe The Geek Squad – one site I found was scoffing at the organisation and maintaining that any decent FAQ page could do ‘what the Geek Squad do’. The next message in the chat room summed it up – it said: “Not if you can’t connect to the Internet, you numpty.”
Most technical support staff don’t get it – they don’t understand Customer Pain. It doesn’t matter how simple or complex the customer’s issue is. What matters is that the customer does not want a faceless nurd talking technobabble and taking forever. The customer wants action, they want results, they do not want to be intimidated by tech-talk or made to feel inadequate because of their ignorance in the subject. If they can have someone ease their pain with style and humour, there is no reason to use anyone else.
| View great experiences |
| Post your greatest experience |
| H2X Articles |
|---|
Simply click below to download an article as an Adobe Acrobat .pdf file. If you don’t have the free Acrobat Reader, download it here.
• "Delivering an
intentional customer experience" - Helping Hard-nosed
business people get in touch with their customers emotions |
| H2X insights. Learn how .. |
|---|
| ..first impressions always
last longest |
| One experience. one chance. Make yours count... |
| ..your customers decide |
| Subconcious power. using Sense and Respond |
| ..customers perceive value |
| Effective propositions. The importance of looking deeper. |
| ..customers leave |
| Understanding defection. Regaining control... |
| H2X quick wins |
| 10 Winning Strategies Top brands know what keeps customers happy.. |
| The 5 Must Dos Five 'musts' for any customer experience programme.. |
| Free 1/2 day workshop Just add your cross functional team.. |
