Well, it is February and here in the Northeast we were blanketed with over 5 feet of snow as we begin to shovel out of the blizzard of 2010. But it has been weeks since the storm and now we are in the middle of the “big melt down”. With the first glimmer of sunshine the dreaded thoughts of warmth and oh yes, bathing suits begin to come to mind at that same moment, Valerie Bertonelli appears on the television with her fantastic body in a Jenny Craig commercial, so I think Why Not?
Having been thru Nutra System, I was skeptical because I did not enjoy the taste of their food, I also know that I did not have the self discipline to conquer this goal on my own via their “do it yourself program” so I researched my closest center and worked up the courage to pop in. I thought a center closest to my office would be better for me so I downloaded their $ 20 coupon, put their address in my GPS and began my journey to talk to a consultant. I was feeling positive, strong and great because I made a decision and I committed to the process.
I wasn’t familiar with the area so I called the location to ask specifically where they are located (now I am on my way and only minutes from the area). The gentlemen who picked up the phone seemed nice enough but when I asked him what center he was located in, his response was “I am with a customer and can call you back in 20 mins”.. I explained I was on my way only to be asked, “what number can I reach you at”. I simply said, I will have to call you back. I felt like a jackass.
Lesson Learned– From a branding experience, you would have to think that Jenny Craig knows how difficult it is for a woman to commit to weight loss. If losing weight was that simple, we all would be thin. The problem here is was that the front line employee was challenged with delivering on the brand promise. Although not confirmed, he was most likely alone in the location and limited to the tasks he can perform therefore trying to remain focused on his current customer in his store, was not successful at making me feel as though I mattered and brushed me off as insignificant or that my time didn’t matter. – Remember Branding is in the perception of the customer.
There are a few recommendations I would provide to the folks at Jenny Craig onbuilding customer loyalty:
1. Re-evaluate your customer touch point strategy – ensure that every piece of your organization that potentially touches a customer supports your brand promise. In this case, there was no instructions on the website that lead me to believe I couldn’t just “pop” in and when I called, the associate simply should have just given me the shopping center.
2. Reinforce your brand expectations to your employees. – often we forget that we need to train, train and retrain our staff. Don’t assume that the front lines are always on top of the customer experience. Sometimes they do need to be reminded of what is expected of them and as my motto goes “inspect what you expect”.
I haven’t given up on Jenny Craig so stay tuned for upcoming posts on my Jenny Craig Experience and I encourage all of you to publish your comments both good and bad. Together we will build the brand.
Until next time!
