So yesterday I needed to rent a car.

I didn’t have a way to get to the rental office, when I remembered an effective brand promise velcro’d somewhere in my gray matter… ENTERPRISE “we’ll pick you up!” I surmised this was the answer I was looking for…

I was an ideal target audience for Enterprise that day… I needed a car. I needed to be picked up. Ouala! I proceeded to call and talked to a nice sales person who took my information and scheduled a pick-up for 1:30. I needed to be somewhere by 2:30 so I figured this would be fine. 1:30 came and went. At 1:45 my grace had almost expired and I called back to enterprise and got a different person. They checked and sure enough, I was NOT on the pick-up list.

They put me on hold where the company jingle and music nicely reinforced the already lackluster service I was experiencing. Their brand and my potential preference for using them in the future was in total free fall. The sales person came back on and profusely apologized, assuring someone was on their way “to pick me up.” After about another 30 minute we were back to the office to pick up my car.

The signs all around the office made more (brand) promises to get me in and out quickly, with a minimum of paperwork and hassle…a momentary comfort until the thud of a giant clipboard hit the counter top. After filling out and disclosing everything short of my blood type and movie preferences, the agent asked me for two references that they, get this, we’re going to call right then and there to be sure I was who I said I am. I half expected her to put on rubber gloves and ask me to step behind a curtain. Sheesh! What a convoluted answer to customer service. Not only did they violate there own brand promises at every turn, but now they impose on me and my relationships…

Promise only what your brand can deliver with excellence and integrity and remember your brand is only as strong as the collective experience of your customers…If you do fail or break promises, and you will, you need to do something to atone for the failure and “surprise” your customer. Maybe they could have given me a day for free, maybe an upgrade. If you fail as a restaurant, maybe it’s a free dessert. Point is failing becomes an opportunity or a death nell insuring a customer will never be back or worse, they begin telling others about the escapade and market share starts slipping away. Oops! I guess that’s what I’m doing. Are you picking this up?