Since I’ve always been interested in the mechanics of customer experiences, when I try a new service I like to break down what works and what doesn’t. I’m going to do this on the blog periodically under the title “What’s Worth Copying”.

So here’s WWC #1. The other day I had to get rid of a bunch of old furniture that was living in my wife’s soon-to-be-former garage. We’d arranged for a charity to come pick it up, but they screwed it up twice, and we were left with just a few days left on the lease and a big pile stuff we were never going to use. If I had all the time in the world I’d have tried to get rid of it on FreeCycle or Craigslist, but that’s not realistic when you’re also trying to launch a startup.

I know nothing about junk removal, but I had seen the ads for 1-800-Got-Junk. Here’s how it went:

What worked well:

• It was extremely easy to schedule. I went on the web site, picked a time slot (for just six hours later) and got a confirmation of my time slot.
• The web site signup gathered the minimum information necessary. They didn’t try to get me to create an account, for instance – they created it for me and sent me a randomly generated password by email. All they asked for was name, email address, cell phone and the address where the junk was.
• Pricing was transparent. They charge by volume, and have a nice little widget on the reservation page that lets you see how much furniture can be crammed in a given amount of truck. It’s very well done, and highly accurate – I was able to tell exactly how much things would cost.
• The people who do the work were very polite and efficient – they called ahead of time as they were running early, and were willing to wait until the scheduled window if I needed them to. They also spoke excellent English and could clearly communicate the service and understand the instructions I’d given them.We’ve gotten a lot of deliveries recently and this has been a real problem.
• Payment was easy and flexible.

What didn’t:

• There wasn’t an obvious tipping policy. At the end of the transaction I realized that I probably should tip, but since I barely ever carry cash anymore, I didn’t have anything to give them. I should say that the guys did not hit me up for a tip or in any way act as if they expected one, which is one of the reasons felt like they deserved one. Since this is a service that most people don’t use on a regular basis, it’s not immediately obvious what you’re supposed to do. I tip movers, right?

So overall, it was a very smooth experience. I feel like I got a good deal – even though I probably could have found the same service for less money if I really looked. So here’s what I think applies to other businesses:

1. Make it very easy for people to get in and start engaging with your service. When I’m asked to create a password I don’t feel like I’m accomplishing my primary task (in this case, getting rid of a pile of junk). Entering my address does feel productive because I know the truck is going to have to find the house.
2. Don’t let customers be unpleasantly surprised. Transparent pricing is even more helpful when the customer doesn’t use the service very often. The “how much fits” applet on the reservation page is a really nice touch, since it meant that I didn’t have to spend the day worrying that I’d be charged $1,000 for rubbish removal.
3. If people are a vital part of the service delivery loop, make sure that they’re trained well enough to avoid frustrating the customer. In this case, there was a pile of stuff in the garage that wasn’t supposed to go, and I felt comfortable pointing that out and then going upstairs to do something else while they loaded the truck. And lo, they didn’t screw it up.  I suspect I paid a premium for this.

At this point, the temptation is to sign off the post with “And that’s What’s Worth Copying.” But I won’t.