Indigo/Chapters, Canada’s largest retail book chain gets “it”. They understand the relevance of the blog as a means by which they can converse with their customers. In a recent post to my personal blog I recounted my experience at a local Chapters while trying to find a copy of Don Tapscott and Anthony D Williams’ book, Wikinomics. What follows is a brief summary of the experience, how Chapters/Indigo responded to my experience, and how I came away from the experience with a renewed appreciation for the company.

“On my way home today, I decided to stop in at the Chapters on Rideau St. and see if I could pick up a copy of Don Tapscott’s new book Wikinomics. A quick check on the Book Search terminal, and I discover there’s 19 copies in the store. “Great! I’m in luck.” Off I go to the Business / Business Technology section, and the book is no where to be found. A helpful Chapters employee asks if they can help and point me in the general direction and mention that it’s displayed quite openly - and therefore one would think it easy to find. I scan all of the Business sections I can think of, check the Technology section, and happen to glance at another Book Search terminal which someone has left on the Wikinomics search result as well. I have competition. As I walk past another Chapters employee, I overhear that another individual is also looking for the book, and that she is unable to help him find it. Another quick scan of the shelves, and I leave empty handed.”

I return home and blog about my experience on my personal blog at ChrisTaggart.com, sharing the experience with the few friends and regular readers of my blog and getting the frustration of the experience off my chest. In the days that follow, I notice I am not receiving emails on my @ChrisTaggart.com domain and find that I exceeded my disk space quota. I clean out some files and we’re back in business. What do I find, but that on a couple occasions since the original post, Heather Reisman, CEO of Indigo Books & Music has attempted to get in contact with me to remedy the experience.

On January 23rd, the following comment is posted in response to my original post:

Hello Chris,
first I sincerely apologize for the negative experience you recently faced here at Chapters Rideau.As a major Canadian retailer we are always striving to offer exceptional customer service, unfortunately in this case we did not live upto that standard.After researching when we had actually received Wikinomics it appears that all copies were shelved on the main level.Our merchandizing standards are that minimally two copies should also be placed in the subsection it belongs to,obviously this was an error on our part and subsequently we did not locate the book in an efficient manner.Chris I would like the opportunity to restore your faith in Chapters Rideau and offer you a gift certificate to thank you for this feedback.Could you please provide me with an alternate means to contact you,perhaps a phone #, as I would like to discuss this further.

Thank you in advance
Tim Francoeur
General Manager
Chapters Rideau

I even get a followup email some days later from Heather:

Hello Chris

By now I hope you have heard from someone from the Chapters you visited a few days ago.

I am writing to you directly to apologize for the totally unsatisfying experience which you had when you came into our Rideau store. As it turns out, all 18 copies of Wikkinomics were indeed in the store and featured on our special Books with Buzz wall. For some reason the young person who helped you had not been properly briefed that the title was upfront just passed where you came in. And to make matters worse, our policy of always having 2 copies of any title right in its proper section even if the book is being featured elsewhere had not been followed. Ugh

We actually work very hard to ensure that we have as rich a selection as possible in every genre. And that staff are well able to help customers quickly find what they want. From time to time we just mess up.

I just want you to know that we care about having disappointed you - and not because you wrote about it, but because our goal is to fully serve each and every person who comes into our stores. The benefit of your having written up your experience on your blog is that we are at least able to get back to you and also address a few weaknesses in the Rideau store operation.

…

I hope we have an opportunity in the future to provide you with a great experience and you will shortly be receiving a gift card from us to encourage this to happen.

Yours sincerely,

Heather Reisman
Chief Executive
Indigo Books & Music

I respond with:

Hi Heather,

First off, let me just say, I never expected any response from my blog post about my misadventures of trying to find a copy of Wikinomics. Big points in my book for moving in this direction in dealing with service quality issues. Addressing these issues from customer blog posts shows that you and your company get “it” and as more and more people start/continue blogging, I think more companies need to do the same. It’s very encouraging to see Indigo taking the lead in this area….

Heather lets me know that someone will be be in touch - the Chapters Rideau Manager as was the case:

Hello Chris,
over the last couple of days I have been trying to contact you by phone with out success.In appreciation for the valuable fedback you have provided us in your search for WIKINOMICS, I would like like to take the opportunity to provide you with a gratuitous copy of the book.Any chance you could provide me with delivery address or perhaps you would like to pick it up at the store if that is more convenient.If you have purchased a copy I would like to provide you with the gift card we have promise you.

Look forward to hearing back from you ……..

Tim Francoeur

I followup with Tim, letting him know that I had actually picked up a copy of Wikinomics at Coles a day or so later, and provide a mailing address, and offer to pick it up at the store.

A few days later, a gift card arrives in the mail.

What are some of the things to take away from this? For one, it shows that even if you’re a very large company, you can (and perhaps even more so than a smaller company should) make time to respond to customers that blog about their experience with your product or service.

All the while, I can’t help but think about what Seth Godin wrote in The Long Tail Inside (coincidentally not more than a few days after this experience):

“What’s missing from most corporate and non-profit analysis is this: If everyone has a blog, then everyone is a blogger.Sure that sounds trivial. But then why are organizations acting like there is still us and them?”

Chapters/Indigo has clearly taken the lead in this respect, and taken advantage of this opportunity. I only hope more companies will do the same. I’m curious to know how well other Canadian companies are doing in respect to responding to customer blogs, etc. If you know of any specific examples, please share in the comments.

As a sidenote, Heather emailed me to let me know that I’m right on the money with the RFID concept, and that while its not ready for production, they have been experimenting with various RFID systems with US based retailers for future implementation. Awesome.