How to build customer loyalty
⌚ Garmin demonstrates
Hello, I hope your week is going well. I believe we can all learn from one another and it is for that reason I’m dedicating this issue to an experience I had with Garmin this week.
I went swimming on Sunday. Afterwards, I put my Garmin watch on the charger and went back outside. It was down to 2%.
Some time later, I noticed it was hot to the touch and the screen was black (it had previously been charged to 71%). I unplugged it. It was unresponsive. I searched online and found a forum where some others had experienced the same issue. Hold the top right button for about 15 seconds one suggested. I tried it. Nothing happened. I tried to reach out to Garmin product support but couldn’t readily find the serial number to proceed to a chat, call or email. Frustrated, I went to bed.
The next morning — Monday — I contacted Garmin customer support via chat. It was probably around 6.30am or a little after.
I’ve endured a fair number of chat sessions with someone in customer care or support with various brands over the years. Often, the conversation is painfully slow with lots of waiting (as they chat with multiple customers, have to translate, look up what to do next, or didn’t learn to touch type, I’ve often wondered).
The person I got this day was responsive and, after a few exchanges, indicated a support engineer would call me later that day.
I went to shower.
After my shower, my phone rang. 7:12am. It was someone at Garmin International. That was fast, I thought. He asked me a few questions. We discussed. I mentioned the others I had seen experiencing the same issue a few years ago in the forum. He suggested it was a small number compared to the hundreds of thousands they shipped. Fair.
He asked me to send him two pictures of the back of the watch and of the charger. I did. He wanted to share them with engineering. He kept saying we will resolve this or we will take care of this or something like that. I didn’t push him to clarify what he meant, but it was reassuring.
Would he be able to troubleshoot and help me fix it? Or would I have to buy a new one? Perhaps they would send me a coupon to apply towards the cost of a new one? Maybe they have refurbished ones?
At one point, he remarked, “four years? You’ve had this one for a while…”
I remember I bought it the first summer of the pandemic. It was my second Garmin watch (still have my first) and I bought it so I could track my swimming. Since then, this watch has traveled with me across America, Asia and Europe, gone biking, running, swimming and more.
He mentioned that Garmin is flexible with its warranty. I started to understand why athletes are so loyal to Garmin.
He began talking about a replacement. He mentioned the current model. It’s larger, I interjected, having already looked online if I had to replace it (my generation had a large and a small version; the next generation has just one size in between). Might they have any of the old model left?
He said, “Let me see what we can do.” He found one. It was a refurb. He asked me if that would be okay. I asked if it would be scratched or what kind of condition it would be in. “Oh no,” he quickly assured me, “we fully rebuild them…” implying they look as good as new. I said okay.
He then explained they would ship it out once they received mine back. I mentioned it was swim season and I didn’t love the idea of being without a watch for a week. He then offered to ship it out with a deposit and then have me return mine once I got the replacement. That sounded good.
Where would it ship from, I asked? Their warehouse in Olathe, Kansas, just outside Kansas City, he said.
At this point, I was already very impressed but there’s more.
Usually they charge $150, he said. Okay. That was less than the new one I was fearing I’d have to buy. Then he said, “but let me see what I can do.” He cut it in half and then adjusted it down further to $56.
How long will it take? It will ship out today, he assured me. He told me he would get the order ready and send it to me via email. I just needed to finalize it. I asked about shipping. I think he said it usually goes ground, but you can pay more to get expedited shipping.
I thanked him and we finished the call.
At 7.35am, I got the email. It was personalized (and I don’t mean just a mail merge “Hello <FirstName,”) and empathetic.
I responded at 7:49am and then started my work day.
Here’s the thing:
UPS delivered the replacement watch Tuesday at 11.25am — just 29 hours after I first reached out to Garmin!!!
And it looked brand new! Honestly, it’s in better condition than my well-loved four year old one.
This is how you build customer loyalty.
This watch has been on my wrist ever since, faithfully recording my swims every night this week.
(And, yes, I also went swimming on Monday. :)
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to drop off my original watch at UPS.
Wherever you are as you read this, I hope you have a wonderful day.
Be well,
-Bryce
Hi Bryce, what a great story! Loyalty is created after the purchase, not before. This is a perfect example of that playing out. For the cost of a refurbished watch and the agent's time on the call and processing the return, Garmin benefits from your positive Word of Mouth from now on. Great return on their investment, thanks for sharing and congrats on the 'new' watch, it really does look better than your original one!
This is why Garmin will always be my #1 preferred watch brand! If they found a way to integrate Alexa into it I would be a new Garmin in a heartbeat!