None of us saw this coming. People will say “I told you so” but I don’t think anyone predicted the magnitude of COVID-19 and its effect on our customers.
As we were asked to work from home and not to go out as much, I looked for different options to feed my family while trying to eat healthier foods. Our farmers market was no longer an option as they had to limit the amount of people at the market on the two days they are open.
Fortunately I live in Blacksburg, Virginia, home of Virginia Tech. VT has an awesome agricultural program. Students in Animal and Poultry Sciences run a meat center. On Fridays folks can come to the center and purchase various cuts of meat. I had never used the center before because you have to get there right when they open to get the cuts you want. Since that is not an option due to social distancing, at 5 p.m. on Friday, they send out a form, you fill out what you want, and the next week they will let you know what they were able to fulfill on your order. Then you set up a pickup time, bring a check for the correct amount, and they bring it to your car. Easy! The problem lies in that their services are even in more demand now. You are lucky if you get anything on your order. But most people understand. They are a small operation and we are blessed to have an option to use them.
Produce was going to be harder to come by. A while ago, I heard of Misfits Market. They take all the “ugly” produce from organic farms that would otherwise be thrown away. There is nothing wrong with the food, it’s just that supermarkets don’t want to sell ugly produce. About the same time I started using the meat center, I signed up for Misfits Market. Every two weeks, we will receive a small box of produce. The produce in our first box was amazing! They even sent collards – one of my favorites! Some of the produce was “ugly” – we had a bunch of celery as long as my forearm – but everything was tasty! The next box we received was as good as the first – with enough options to make a great salad – oh, and more collards.
However, my first order was a little late. My second order was on time, but missing the coffee I ordered as an add-on. On April 8, I received my second box. That day I sent in a ticket about the missing coffee. Three days later, I received an acknowledgement of my ticket. Basically the email said that they are receiving a large number of requests and they will get to me when they can.
Misfits Market offers an amazing service. I doubt anyone in the company expected there would be a surge of new customers in a month’s time! I want to give kudos to them. Here is what they did right:
Acknowledged issues.
I expected my first delivery on a Wednesday. It was packed on Thursday. I knew it was going to be late because customer service reached out to me to tell me and they told me why.
We’re writing to let you know that your order this week is experiencing a delay. We’re working around the clock to fulfill orders under changing circumstances due to the coronavirus pandemic and yours was among those we were unable to pack today in time for pickup by our third-party shippers. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience.
Acknowledged the customer.
I goofed and thought my first box would arrive on Thursday. I sent in a ticket and my request was acknowledged right away.
“Thank you for contacting Misfits Market. Please note: Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, we are currently experiencing a higher than normal volume of inquiries. We are working around the clock to address all customers as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience at this time.”
Gave me options for self-service.
The power was not completely in their hands. They gave me other options to search for help while waiting. And let’s be honest, a lot of times the answer to a customer’s question is on your website. By giving the power to the customer and leading them back to where they can find answers, you take stress off your customer service agents, allowing them to work on more urgent issues.
“Did you know you can find information on how to manage your account and many common questions in our Customer Help Center and FAQ Section on our website?
Misfits Market Customer Help Center: https://misfitsmarket.zendesk.com/hc/en-us
Misfits Market FAQs: https://www.misfitsmarket.com/pages/faqs
If you find what you’re looking for and would like to cancel your support request, please reply GOT IT.”
Made sure I knew I was not forgotten.
Yup. They have not fixed the issue with the missed coffee. However, they let me know that I was not forgotten.
“We wanted to reach out and let you know that we have not forgotten about your request from a few days ago. We are experiencing a higher than average volume of inquiries lately and our team is not able to respond as quickly as we would like.”
They stopped taking new orders.
As more and more people are looking for food delivery options, Misfits Market became very popular. Very. So when they realized they could not handle new requests and provide excellent service, they stopped accepting new customers. However, they didn’t tell new users “too bad, so sad.” Here is the message on their website:
“Due to high demand, we’ve temporarily paused first-time orders and have set up a waitlist to accept new subscribers as soon as we’re able.”
Now here is what I wished they did:
Had the information about new orders and waitlist on the front page of the website.
Whether it be a banner or other notice, it would be nice to let people know up front what to expect. There was nothing about a waitlist until you clicked on the box you wanted to order.
Used their blog to explain more.
Instead the most recent blog post has a recipe. Someone used the comment section to voice their frustration. When things are crazy and it is affecting your business, taking the time to be transparent on your blog may stop some of the requests and complaints. They DID take time in a blog post to go over food storage – which is helpful – but people really want to hear about their orders.
I will give them credit though. At least their blog had regular content!
Overall, I give Misfits Market a A- in customer service considering all that is going on. They are a startup and are doing amazing things besides reducing food waste.
Here is my advice to startups and all businesses. Plan. Prepare. Practice. Emergencies happen, whether it’s a CEO who says something incredibly dumb in public or a worldwide crisis. Prepare for what your company will do when your customer service team is overrun with signups, account deletion, requests, and complaints.
Lisa Sedlak 