A new TV and the power of the interwebz

I just recently bought a new TV and the experience has highlighted the power (and promise) of the Internet in delivering a holistic customer experience that’s consistent online and offline -- as much as it’s an experience with a company (or brand) rather than this is my offline experience and that’s my online experience. After 14 years of great service, it was time to retire my old ProScan CRT. After much research, I decided to go with a new Sony Bravia XBR. I purchased the TV at Best Buy, in part because I was going to switch to DirecTV (because they have the contract rights to the NFL Sunday Ticket) from Comcast and Best Buy would take $30/month off my DirecTV bill for 12 months; and in part, because I could see the product up-close before I bought it. The interaction with both companies provided great examples of delivering a wonderful customer experience.

Through Best Buy, I also bought a new TV stand. However, I bought it online and used the in-store pickup. No need to drive around and see if they have it or not. Go online and see which store has it. The process was great – see which stores have the product in stock, buy from that store, get a confirmation email that the store is ready for you, drive to the store, do curbside pick up, and have a delightful “blue shirt” bring out the merchandise. Total time spent in the parking lot of the store, six minutes. How awesome is that?! Anyone that has been through a major technology deployment that has hooks in to backend systems, such as inventory, commerce, or supply chaing, should be impressed. In short, they don’t make their technology or processes the customer’s problem. It was a nearly seamless integration of online and offline technology and process to deliver a unified experience. In the future, I’m thinking they shouldn’t need a confirmation email to tell you they’re ready, but now I’m picking nits.

With DirecTV, I was impressed with the personalized web portal and associated account information. The personalization includes TV listings. From that TV listings page, I can set my DVR to record. Tivo-esque, I know, but this is another unified experience from my programming provider. So, I could be away from home and reading an email or an article about a cool new show, or a news special that’s on before I get home. Surf over to my DirecTV page, log in, and bammo, set my DVR to record.

The take away, think about your customer’s experience in total, not as a collection of online and offline silos. It’s just plain, old commerce, it’s not e-commerce.