Home Depot vs Lowe’s and perils of ignoring multichannel customer service

Letting customers choose the best way of communicating with you was always key to providing a great customer service. New tech introduced new channels e.g. Twitter, WhatsApp, FB chatbots & what not! Likely the pandemic will bring further changes. You ignore a multichannel approach at your own peril. I think of my recent experience with Home Depot and Lowe’s as an example.

I needed a door replaced inside my house. I needed a new door and a professional install after my many attempts to “handyman the old door” were defeated by the boisterous energy of my two young boys. I was trying to get it done over the phone or only make the trip when certain of an outcome. 

I have been a regular Home Depot customer for close to 10 years. I love the experience of buying stuff from their store over using Amazon. It is pretty much the only non-grocery store I still do physical shopping in. They were the only big game in town until Lowe’s opened a store across the street last year. I had never bothered to visit Lowe’s, since Home Depot provided everything I needed.

I called the local Home Depot 9 times over 2 days only for their customer service to forward me to an answering machine for their Doors & Windows department. I would tell them every time that no one is answering, only to be put on hold for many minutes, and then “we are now transferring you” to the same effect! I left voicemail messages with my contact info as they suggested, to no avail. I even tried to get the “main menu” customer service to answer basic questions to which they would say the Doors & Windows department would answer this.

Frustrated, I called Lowe’s. To my pleasant surprise, I got through to an actual person in their Doors & Windows department on the first attempt! The person asked me a bunch of questions  to understand my needs, and then took the time to explain product & installation options, pricing and made recommendations. In between, he told me he had customers waiting and gave me the option to hold or have him call me back. The customer service was fantastic, and that too on the phone for a store primarily meant for in-person experiences! 

I had not bought anything from Lowe’s before. It is the start of a new customer relationship. In my case it didn’t matter who had the best product or price. It didn’t matter who had a long standing customer relationship with me. It came down to who made their customer service relevant and accessible to me to actually solve my problem. Probably Home Depot folks are/were busier. Maybe someone was on their time off. Maybe they don’t get many phone enquiries in the store. Maybe luck played a role, where Lowe’s person was at the right place & right time for me.  

In the grand scheme of things, I’m irrelevant to both Home Depot and Lowe’s as one customer with a few thousand dollars of lifetime value. I will still go to Home Depot to buy stuff. However, Home Depot has now opened me up to being a Lowe’s customer. In corporate terms, I’m now a multi-vendor customer. In platform business terms, I’m now a multihoming user.

This exact situation would not arise in a B2B setting. A sales or customer success account manager will not be asleep at the wheel on customer enquiries. But a competitor’s sales team is always raring to go, and just looking for that foot in the door. That foot in the door can come from a customer feeling unheard, and through a channel you are not paying enough attention to. If your company’s product is not clearly differentiated enough, the battles for customers are really fought and won on the sales motion and customer service. Even if you don’t lose the customer, once the customer turns multi-vendor, you lose your leverage for the long term.

I’m curious what would be the B2B equivalent of a big box store not paying attention to their phone line customer service. I have my theories, but those are theories. Would like to hear about your real life experiences. Please share your stories.

Note: opinions expressed are my own and nothing to do with my current or previous employers.