I have been introduced to the extranet sites of several
of our large customers in my first few weeks on the job at Pop Art. I have been living and breathing all things
extranet. With this extranet work fresh
in my mind I had an interesting experience this last weekend with a local mens
grooming establishment. Basically you
can get a haircut, beer, personal TV screen, and a head massage all in one,
pretty tough to beat that combination.
They have been encouraging customers to become online members and make
all appointments via their booking system that is available online.
I made the leap and setup an appointment online for the
following Friday. I had a free chair
massage coupon, which I made an appointment for right after my haircut
appointment. The system was a bit
clumsy, but the appointment was made and confirmed, so I thought. A couple days after making the appointment I
got an email confirming my appointment, which was odd and a little late I
thought, but didn’t read it in detail.
The day of the appointment something else came up so I needed to move the
appointments to Saturday, but the online interface didn’t really allow for
this. I broke down and called them. Apparently I was already hours late for my
appointment. Someone had moved my
appointment up 4 hours from what I had originally scheduled. The confirmation email in the middle of the
week was a reference to this change, but it didn’t let on that I now had a
haircut at 3:45 and a 15 minute massage at 7:45!
Extranets and customer relationship automation systems are
powerful tools that can be empowering to stakeholders. They are excellent interactive marketing
opportunities, and have direct impacts on the brand and customer experience. At the same time, a poorly developed and
executed extranet or customer relationship automation system can create a
negative brand image for the customer. I
will always remember the experience with the online appointment system, and
will likely be hesitant to use it in the future. These experiences can easily be avoided with
careful planning and a strategic shift that frames these systems as key
interactive marketing opportunities for the organization.