Tag Archives: customer service

How Not Improving Can Help Your Business

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Why Mess With a Greatness

Did you happen to catch today’s Wall Street Journal front page feature on paper clips? Yes, I just wrote paper clips.

At first I thought this was an odd, boring choice for a story selection, and I pondered why this premier publication would devote prime real estate to such an ordinary product.  It didn’t take me long, a couple of sentences, to get its point.  I learned that a paper clip is rare because it has withstood its classic design for over 100 years. How many things can you say that about?

This thought led me to further thought about whether we should keep certain things that work well alone and stop slapping “new improved” stickers on just about everything that gets sold or consumed.

DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE NEW AND IMPROVED?

I mean we’ve all heard this statement before, if it ain’t broken don’t fix it.

I don’t like that statement – but, in this case it certainly applies. Paper clips are still as relevant today as they were the day they were introduced into the marketplace in 1903. Sure, you can add colors to them or designs or coat them in plastic. But at the end of the day is there any better tool to fix papers without leaving a mark, to un-clog glue bottles or clean under your finger nails in a pinch?

With that being said, are there things about your business or the work that you do that you shouldn’t improve upon because they work well?

A CLASSIC BUSINESS PLAN

Here’s what I would say about my PR business. No matter what new whiz-bang social media tool that comes out, I don’t want to lose personal connection and phone calls. My business success lies in having connections with real people, journalists, and I’ve built up those relationships through the years by having conversations with them over the phone or in-person. That’s really my business secret, my paper clip, if you will and one that I hope to never change.

 

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Best Customer Service Practices Include the Human Touch

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Clever Way for A Customer to Make A Point!

Are businesses ever allowed to provide mediocre customer service? Is it okay to leave customers hanging on a phone tree for more than five minutes? Are there industries that should provide excellent service more so than others?

The answer to all three questions above is a resounding NO-at least that’s my $0.02 worth. But, unfortunately, we all experience poor service on a daily basis as customers even from blue-chip enterprises to boot.

If you are a small business owner you are probably cringing at this thought because YOU know that your success lies in the quality of your customer service. So then why do we allow large conglomerates to do that to us all the time? Why do we still give these companies our precious dollars, especially when we expect more out of own business services?

Today I experienced such an experience. Unfortunately, I am dealing with medical issues associated with a loved one. As such, I had to wait for four hours in a hospital lobby while a family member had tests conducted. Since I was just sitting there I had hoped that I could log on to the Internet and quietly get some work completed. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had a daily wi-fi access code, however, I soon found out that the system does not allow access to Apple devices only PCs. Say WHAT???

PHONE TREES DRIVE YOU UP A TREE!

I think I'll Skip This Place.

This wasn’t a life-threatening situation and I could do other work offline, but this example just got me thinking about all the other times that I’ve been frustrated by poor customer service. I attend dozens of small business connector meetings and each always stresses the importance of guest relations. So why is excellent customer service applicable to small owners and not large conglomerates?

A HUMAN VOICE GOES A LONG WAY IN CUSTOMER SERVICE

I would rather do anything than call my satellite provider, healthcare company or phone service. I know that when I call them I’ll be sitting there for a while. Phone trees that put you in sequence are annoying as are the companies that don’t provide any voice connection like Facebook. Most tech companies now provide email customer service and hide their main phone numbers. I don’t care how great you are in answering email support questions, yes I’m including Google, in this rant as well. There are times when a human voice is the best possible service a company can provide.

What companies drive you crazy with poor support and what companies do you think deserve some applause. Do tell.

Extending Customer Service Through Interactivity

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Handwriting on the Wall Proved to be Great Customer Service

Today’s post is about a great customer service example that I experienced just yesterday.  As it was Sunday, my normal routine is to wake up and promptly go to church.  I did that even though I was bit sleepy from coming home from curling the night before at 2:30 AM…I was sort of three-quarters alert. However, I quickly woke up during the service when Pastor Bill Ankerberg told us that he was letting us out early to go write on the walls of the new entry! My own mom never allowed me to do that!

THE POWER OF SHARING

My church, Whittier Area Community Church, is finishing up a three-year building project in a month or so.  The last phase is the construction of our entry way.  This area has been walled up since Christmas so this was the first time we could walk in the space.  Over this week the walls will be painted and the floor carpeted, so our messages will be hidden from site. I guess you could say this is a new way to look at a time capsule.

But, to me, this was a wonderful example of customer service and marketing creativity. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. What a genius way for us, the congregation, to become invested in the building in a personal way. To have the ability to put our mark on this landmark and tell our friends and family about it for years to come – this experience can’t be replaced.

AN EVERLASTING MARK

Our marks are there literally until the walls come down.

For the mere cost of purchasing a few black Sharpies, over 3,000 people became connected with a project that will potentially last their lifetime. I wish I could show you the images and the words written. They were as diverse as the authors. Kids, teens, young adults and seniors all took part. There were cute “child-like” drawings, beautiful images of crosses from true artists, signatures with dates, and inspiring words.

The Author Cementing Her Words in this Interactive Marketing Experience

This opportunity was just too good to pass up. So I had to put my words to the ground.

I chose to write my words at a spot where people will enter and exit. And what did I say?

I didn’t want to use my words, but God’s. I knew His words are everlasting and well, mine don’t measure up in that same regard.

I left behind this thought.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.  Ps 121: 7-8

What a wonderful way to extend The Experience.

Perhaps you can apply this idea to something you are building.

Cindy

 

 

Sorry Corporate Apologies

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Why Are These The Hardest Words to Write and Say? Flickr Credit: ezzan yusop

Why does sorry seem to be the hardest word for corporations to say in statements?

I have to say I got schooled by Jason Fried’s Inc. magazine article on “How to Turn a Diaster Into Gold.” Mr. Fried’s article is an excellent case study of what to do when your business under-performs and you have to fess up to your customers through social media.  Mr. Fried is the co-founder of the software firm 37signals and as such, his company recently had some problems associated with its Campfire product, which is a real-time chat tool for small businesses.  Unfortunately, this product which has been stable and reliable, recently experienced some service issues bouncing between being online and offline. This wreaked havoc with some of their customers and boy, did they hear about it.

NON- PR’APOLOGY

Mr. Fried provided some great insight in the article as to how he handled the complaints and in doing so, he embarrassed me as well for he pointed out that the worst apology that any person or company could ever provide are these nine words – “We apologize for any inconvenience we may have caused.” He caught me red-handed for I’ve used that numerous times in certain situations.  Here’s what he had to say about it.

If ever there was a non-apology apology, this is it. And just about every company uses it. I Googled the phrase We apologize for any inconvenience. It came up 41 million times.

Let’s break this statement down. We apologize… Come on—when you really mean it, you say, “I’m sorry.” You don’t say, “I apologize.” If you spill hot coffee on someone, you say, “I am so, so sorry.” “I apologize” is renting the problem. “I’m sorry” is owning it. Now, to the second part of the non-apology: …for any inconvenience we may have caused . What a cop-out. For any? How about for all of it? May have caused? Don’t say maybe—say yes. Own it.

In my defense of using that dry apology, I have to say that I was at the mercy of the legal departments.  For you see in corporate America, whenever there is a crisis, the PR departments cannot work on their own…they have to work in tandem with the company’s lawyers on an approved statement. Rarely, can a corp comm department go “rogue” and write what they would like to. Every word has to be scanned and filtered and scrubbed by the legal team.  I understand why this is necessary for its the legal team that has to defend the company in court and every statement and comment will be examined in that process. (Someone should tell Charlie Sheen that!)

BE HONEST FROM THE GET GO

I agree with Mr. Fried wholeheartedly and greatly appreciate that he wrote about this subject for its given me new freedom to be more transparent with dealing with corporate guffaws.  I also agreed with his further statements.  Mr. Fried went on to say…”we’ve discovered that the more honest we are, the better our customers feel.” I have always felt honesty is the best policy – heck that’s why I named my blog that!

Here’s my tip to all those who provide messages to the public –

-When writing an apology make sure that you are being as transparent as legally possible and see if it passes this test.  Think of yourself as one of the affected customers and see how your statement would sound to you. If it sounds too much like a cover up…delete it and start over.  Use words that are appropriate to the situation and if you’re stuck the best way to always start out is to simply say “I’m Sorry.”

May I never inconvenience you again.

Cindy

 

 

 

Customer Service is Now On twitter

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DirecTV made me a happy customer today

Do you have a twitter account?

If you don’t, this post today may change your mind, because the best device out there right now, hands down, for customer service is twitter. And to back up my words, here’s a real-life case study that happened to me this morning.

I was starting out the day by paying bills and when I opened my DirecTV notice I saw an increase. Yup, DirecTV had a cost of living increase on my bill. It went from $109 to $115.  I had been paying for the premier service and hence, I knew that I was paying for a higher priced package.  But, now that I am in transition, every penny counts so I knew it was time to change packages.

So I called the 800 phone number to DirecTV and got a nice enough, but non-understanding drone. She read and re-read me my options and didn’t hear a word I said. All she could offer me was a $10 discount for 12 months or $20 off for six – and then after that period of time it would jump back again to the $115 package.  Even though I have been a loyal customer since I became a home owner in 1999, it didn’t matter. DirecTV was not budging one inch even after I asked to speak to her supervisor, Shauna, a resolution specialist.  Shauna was an exact copy of the first one. Just read me my rights.

Now, I did tell the sales reps that I am a cable executive and know how this end of the business works. I also added that I was an industry blogger and that I know several executives at the company (which is the truth). I didn’t tell them this to leverage a better deal, but mostly to warn them that I would probably blog about this. They didn’t seem to care.  So the conversation ended with me telling them that I wanted to talk to someone else at DirecTV who would care that I have been a loyal customer. Shauna replied that there was no one else for me to talk to at DirecTV.  I said I’d call someone at its El Segundo Headquarters and bid her good day.

I was a bit furious so I got on twitter and starting asking if anyone else had similar problems.  And then after a clear moment of thought, I searched for DirecTV on twitter and realized that they had an account. So I sent them a tweet.

Here’s how it played out.

After my little twitter rants, about five minutes later I got a message from DirecTV on twitter.  Marvelous.

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