Sears Field Services Impact on Customer Experience

In Part 1 of my recent experience with Sears, I shared what I experienced in the process of buying a Kenmore Dishwasher from Sears. I share my experience in a timeline and the pain I experienced going through Sears Customer Service ¹.

In Part 2, I’ll share what I believe the flow of information looks like for Sears – they supply chain, value chain, field operations, and general logistics. Knowing that will then give us a better idea of where the failure modes are for Sears in their interaction with the customer and how they might improve.

This is a series on my experience with Sears as I tried to buy a Dishwasher and have it delivered and installed.

Sears Logistics & Field Operations

From what I could gather, I’m guessing the Sears Field Operations looks like this, utilizing a network of independent contractors to do the appliance installations, service, etc ².

sears-service-operations-field-operations

The above Sears Field Operations process map shows the customer buying from a store, scheduling installation with the Sears independent contractors, and then installation on the agreed-upon date.

When there are significant handoffs to a Field Operations staffed with independent contractors, that increases the likelihood that customer and service problems will occur. Handoffs are type of waste – the waste of conveyance or motion – and it is a driver of wait time and also customer dissatisfaction.

One can mitigate these, but there has to be clear and high-fidelity key performance indicators (KPI). Here are a few that I’m thinking Sears should (might already) have:

sears-field-operations-key-performance-indicators

The above metrics for Sears Appliance installation (Sears Field Operations) are ³:

Scheduling Service Level: did the technician arrive with the appropriate time window?
Courtesy Call Adherence: did the technician call 24 hours in advance?
Productivity: how many installations did the Sears service technician complete within 8 hours?
Sears Customer Service: Call Transfer Burden – How many times was the customer transferred? Resolution – was the customer’s concern resolved?

With proper Key Performance Indicators in place, Sears can then better manage their field operations or Sears installation contractor team members. Without proper metrics to be accountable to, field operations can operate like the wild, wild west.

In Part 3 of this series, I’ll provide specific recommendations for how Sears can improve their brand image, increase customer satisfaction, how sears can increase customer loyalty, and my final thoughts on this whole experience.

This is a series on my experience with Sears as I tried to buy a Dishwasher and have it delivered and installed.

Richard Warren Sears was a railroad station agent in North Redwood, Minnesota when he received an impressive shipment of watches from a Chicago jeweler which were unwanted by a local jeweler. Sears purchased them himself, sold the watches for a tidy profit to other station agents up and down the line, and then ordered more for resale. Soon he started a business selling watches through mail order catalogues. The next year, he moved to Chicago, Illinois where he met Alvah C. Roebuck, who joined him in the business. In 1893, the corporate business name became Sears, Roebuck and Co. ↩
Richard Sears knew that farmers often brought their crops to town, where they could be sold and shipped. Before the Sears catalog, farmers typically bought supplies (often at very high prices) from local general stores. Sears took advantage of this by publishing his catalog with clearly stated prices, so that consumers could know what he was selling and at what price, and order and obtain them conveniently. The catalog business grew quickly. The first Sears catalogue was published in 1888. By 1894, the Sears catalog had grown to 322 pages, featuring sewing machines, bicycles, sporting goods, automobiles (produced from 19051915 by Lincoln Motor Car Works of Chicago, not related to the current Ford Motor Company brand of the same name) and a host of other new items. ↩
Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more where you can shop for Craftsman tools, Kenmore appliances, tires, mowers, electronics, and much more. Get service and installation help from the Sears Blue Crew. Sears: Life. Well Spent. ↩