United India

I had the devastating experience of going thru a whole day of cancelled flights with United Airlines. It shortens your life. Is the weather the airlines fault? No, we know it is not. The airlines are at fault because the experience stinks, and I believe the experience could be fixed thru better employee engagement at all levels. United needs to speak with all the levels of employees and they need to speak to their customers too. The airlines that deliver on this will do very well. Timing is everything and the industry is on an upswing.

The Airline business operates on razor thin margins wherein employee empowerment / engagement adversely impacts customer attitudes, and profitability itself.

I do not believe United speaks to their employees. I will not talk about this now. Instead, I will talk about United and their interacting with their customers.

I know United Airlines does not have a direct contact with the weather gods. I also know that they are not the only airline that requires a process check. The question for me is “can United turn a bad day into a positive experience for a customer”? Could they engineer an experience that would serve to create a bond between customers and the carrier?

Jet Blue - Customer Bill of Rights:

As you may know, Jet Blue recently took a disaster and tried to turn it into a positive. By offering financial incentives to customers based on delays. Will it work? If they can actually fix their issue (which is not clear) they will win over non customers. Have you ever seen the line up of volunteers when an airline offers a reward on an oversold flight? Customers will fly Jet Blue just to test the benefit of being delayed. It was great publicity and it was free thanks to the media.

Now, back the devastating experience with United which was memorable because this trip was with my family. We had to wait 10 hours at an airport hoping for a flight, we had to pay for a rental car, and after finally being told the flights would not go we had to pay for our own hotel. You see the cancellations were "weather related". I once flew US Airways to Philadelphia. When the airport was closed due to weather, we landed in Atlantic City and were put up in a hotel. This was great though I'm not sure they gave a free hotel room to everyone. I think we got lucky with the right customer service rep.

As we lined up in two separate lines, regular customers and non-regular customers were divided. I was amazed how quickly the hostility spread among the customers. Here is what happened: I was in the best customer line (Premier plus) so the observations are even more critical as those in line were the most profitable customer segment.

While in line, virtually every customer was double dipping. That is, while waiting in line at the same time while they were dialing the United Airlines call center. It was a race in time to get re-booked. It was survival of the fittest.

I could not believe how many passengers or potential passengers commented on "those Indian call centers, it is so frustrating. We hate the service"!

There was actually a series of customers making comments about the Indian experience. Please note the assumption was that the calls were answered in India – it is based on heresy.

Here are my questions.

1. Why does the contact center always disconnect at a crucial time? Don't the airlines know this? It happens all the time.

I think the call center disconnects because the rep gets flustered and because of improper training, they disconnect. This is not a technical issue. They are hanging up! Who is doing the quality monitoring at United? I heard several customers slam the phone in despair because they were disconnected at a crucial point in the conversation. I get disconnected in mid conversation all the time, does it happen to you (forget a call back)?

2. Is United speaking to their customers? Are they empowering their employees to do this? Why are the managers not helping by moving to the front of the line and showing leadership?


Does United need a customer bill of rights?

I do not think United is considering one although I think we customers deserve one. I speak to United customers all the time. When is it the Airlines fault? If you asked 3 employees the same question on compensation you would get 3 different answers. I believe that customers would rather have a consistently good experience rather than an infrequent excellent experience.

When I speak with other customers, what I hear is very consistent. United needs to create their own contract or bill of rights with customers. Especially the most loyal ones. And they need to engage their managers, supervisors and front of the line employees to get this situation fixed.

Are call centers in India allowed to use American or Anglo Saxon names?

As for my experience, ignoring the long hold time, I was received by a gentlemen who introduced themselves to Jack Johnson. I do not believe that United should allow false identifications upon greeting and salutations. I just do not think it is right. I'm not even sure it is legal. Is it better than a rep id number?

If I was the CEO of an airline, I would attempt to win customers by marketing and advertising "on shore" only call centers. I would guarantee that after the first time a traveler experienced a cancellation they would understand the basic value proposition. Maybe I do not understand the financial constraints. The airlines are doing better and they need to be investing once again. If they chose to be selective, maybe they could promise the following. "Become a frequent flyer with United and we will guarantee that you speak to a North American call center customer service rep".

This works, I believe Gateway are testing this promise now. Airline executives, this is a hot button and it could be a competitive differentiator.

Good Management:
I would suggest that United senior management read the book "The 12 Elements of Great Managing". This book conducted over 10 million workplace interviews. One takeaway from the book is that happy employees, engaged employees are more productive and that profitability is tightly correlated with employee satisfaction. Anyone that fly's United knows employee morale is very low. So how do you fix employee morale in a large scale? I will save this for another blog!

Prepaid Cards and Prepaid Phone – a better alternative to the negative option

In case you did not get it from my last blog post, I do not feel good as a consumer signing up for a service or product under a negative or positive option plan. Without a top notch customer service department and several channel options for notification it is conceivable you can pay for a service you no longer desire in perpetuity. For those of you that agree with this, I think there are some real alternatives to controlling your expenditure and your ability to change your mind. Pre-paid programs were initially introduced and targeted for the credit challenged. I see it today as something more along the lines of also being a great product for customers that want to control what they spend or give family members or others, without the blank check written to the company. I would rather control my outlay and pre-paid is an excellent control device.

How many of you have know about prepaid?
I bet you do not even realize that you use pre-paid all the time, and you find it convenient. I do not remember the last time I used cash at a Starbucks. Do you have a Starbucks card? If you do, you are not unique. Latest estimates are that Starbucks has 16mm plus of active pre-paid cards.

My son recently had his 10th birthday party.
For the first year it seemed that almost all the gifts he received were some form of pre-paid retail cards, including an Amex pre-paid gift card, cards from Sports Authority and of course the obligatory gift cards from Game Stop. If you have never bought one as a gift, I do recommend it. It takes no time to buy and it is both brainless and desirable for the recipient. As a gift donor you simply do not have to think of returns. As a gift recipient you get to select what you realy want.

Watch for Pre-paid phone
In Europe, pre-paid mobile is more the norm than post-paid mobile. In North America, we have had less success with this model. Historically, I believe the failure in North America is more a function of the marketing. When you understand the benefits of pre-paid, you have to believe it is an excellent customer choice. With pre-paid, for a lack of better words, you pay as you play. This is what I like about it. It is great for the credit challenged, which happens to be almost the entire youth market.

A variation of pre-paid is the MVNO market. Most of these product offerings are pre-paid and most are sold thru alternative channels.

A mobile virtual network operator is a company that does not own a licensed frequency spectrum, but resells wireless services under their own brand name, using the network of another mobile phone operator. The first successful MVNO was Virgin Mobile, launched in the United Kingdom in 1999. As interesting as this is model is, there has been a lot of money poured into systems and marketing in the United States and to say the least, it has not caught on like it should.

Discount MVNOs provide cut-price call rates to market segments. Discount MVNOs include Fresh Mobile, MobileWorld and Virgin Mobile. Their strategy is based on cheap prepaid or postpaid pricing plans with basic voice and SMS services. I have two former business associates clients from British Telecom Cellnet that have set up a MVNO with Kroger Stores here in the USA. They are smart guys and they are confident that with their distribution partner they can make this work.

Lifestyle MVNOs focus on specific niche market demographics MVNOs such as Boost Mobile in the US. From the sponsorship, it is clear that Boost Mobile targets the youth market. Their sponsorships include a professional surfing event, the Boost Mobile Pro of Surf. (See ASP World Tour.) In addition, Boost Mobile sponsored a professional skateboard event, the Boost Mobile Pro of Skateboarding, as well as logo-labeled skateboards and accessories. They also sponsor a number of skateboarders. Boost Mobile was purchased by Nextel in 2002 and thus subsequently became Sprint’s property when Nextel and Sprint merged. I love the positioning of this product. You should also check out TYo Mobile, a subsidiary of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT), is a wireless communications provider designed specifically for the rapidly growing U.S. Hispanic community.

The largest lifestyle MVNO was a failure. ESPN Mobile was really promoted and invariably customers found other ways to get their social sports media information. As of December 31st, the ESPN Mobile web site states "Because you are a valued Mobile ESPN customer, we'd like to remind you once again that our service will be ending as of December 31st, 2006."

According to JD Power, T-Mobile's pay-as-you-go wireless has the best combination of voice quality, customer service, phone options and flexible rate plans. Its cheapest option is 30 minutes for $10, but minutes expire in 30 days. Verizon is also excellent. I understand T-Mobile wins best in 2 regions in the USA and Verizon ties for first in the 4 other regions. This does not surprise me at all. They are both excellent service providers on the post paid side. Initially pre-paid were substantially higher priced per minute charges than post paid products, yet now I believe the price difference is narrowing. This should really stimulate usage of pre-paid.

Pre-paid is great
I believe this market is going to take off. The issuers love it because they get the cash upfront before the actual meter is running. I’m sure there also is some element of spoilage or non usage. On the other hand, consumers love it because they can control their spending and going cashless is really a convenience. If it isn’t already, I think it is going to be a mainstream product for all different kinds of consumers.

Negative and Positive Options – Buyer Beware:

There have been some really great direct marketing companies thru the years. Most of these companies spawned from traditional snail mail. Do you remember Book of the Month Clubs or Columbia House Records? Do you remember how they marketed to you? Were you ever a member?

What is a negative or positive option?
A positive option is a form of continuity or book club marketing technique that requires the customer to take some action prior to each regular merchandise shipment to indicate that the merchandise is wanted. This technique can be much less effective in terms of revenue per customer. A negative-option program, ships the merchandise to the customer unless that customer takes some action to say no. However, customers can usually be recruited more easily for positive-option programs.

Simply put, negative option turns the sales transaction around. Instead of the merchant having to "sell" you a product or service, it starts with the assumption that you’ve already bought it. It’s up to you, the consumer, to contact the merchant and cancel the order if you don’t want to complete the transaction. The Columbia Record Club and various "book-of-the-month" clubs were early pioneers of negative option marketing. The hook was an offer of five or ten books or records for free or at a heavily discounted price.

By accepting the offer, the consumer agreed to "join" the club and receive regular shipments of other books or records at the full price, unless the consumer took the "negative option," telling the company it did not want to receive that month’s offering.

As you might expect, negative option has been abused as its use has become more prevalent. The widespread use of credit cards and the growth of the Internet have fueled that abuse, to the point that federal and state consumer authorities have taken action to stop it. I personally do not feel comfortable buying products that are a negative option. It used to be worse. In the old days, you could only use the telephone to “join the club”. In order to cancel (after a commitment), you had to go to the trouble of writing in and putting the words cancel across a price of paper or the next invoice. It really was highly effective. For me, it pushed the envelope of what is consumer friendly and what is not consumer friendly. A lot of unmotivated people would get automatically billed in perpetuity.

With the web, we have seen the demise of many of these traditional direct mail / direct marketing businesses. Having said that, the negative and positive option is alive and well.

Credit Cards make Negative and Positive Options Much Easier.
With the proliferation of credit cards, negative option is probably growing more than ever. I know that at my gym, LA Fitness, it took me months to finally cancel my family plan. Signing up was no problem. All you had to do is walk into the club and ask about new memberships, and as long as that club is open you can buy a membership. Believe me, they want to sell you. There all over you when you raise your hand. How come companies do not get it? As easy as it is to join LA Fitness it is murder to cancel. At least that was my experience with canceling my family. If you want to cancel the membership, you cannot do so at the club. Why is that? So I called head office. Sorry, you can’t do it over the phone either. What you can do is mail it or fax it in. Why can’t we just speak to someone! By this time I was pretty annoyed. I did fax it in, only to see the charges continue on my credit card. So I called the head office again and they said they never received the fax. I must have forgot to ask for a fax receipt confirmation (who needs a fax anymore?). So I sent in another the fax. You really have to want to quit to be able to opt out. It felt like one of my morning workouts.

It’s Everywhere
I had a friend of mine write a certified letter to the CEO of AOL because he could not get 2 regular monthly charges off his credit card. He was grateful that he was retired and thus had the time to waste on this. He also is a young guy. He told me he could not imagine how an old person could work thru this problem. You would kind of think after losing 10mm or more dial up customers AOL would understand a little about cancellations. Thank goodness for their advertising model and Time Warner. The shareholder lawsuits are flying!

Netflix Rocks!
One of the greatest success stories of ecommerce is Netflix . Their CEO Reed Hastings was recently interviewed on CNBC Television. In the interview one of the hosts mentioned how she received a 12 month gift from a friend. She had to do 2 things to activate her gift. One she needed to register her name as a recipient, and two she needed to give her credit card on her own gift. Here is where the negative option comes in. Once the 12 month gift expires, she must call or write to cancel or she will be automatically billed in perpetuity. Netflix is what is known in the Venture Capital community as a Home Run!. One of its early investors was Mike Schuh. I met Mike when I set up eAssist in 1999. He knew then he had a winner and he understood the importance of customer service and the customer experience.

Do you realize that Netflix almost bankrupted Blockbuster? Netflix changed the way we watch home movies. They beat the proverbial 2000 pound gorilla, Blockbuster had hundreds if not thousands of bricks and mortar. Netflix executed a perfect strategy by making convenience thru the mail and offering the best customer service. Blockbuster is definitely not dead, they too recently went into the direct to consumer business, as they introduced their Blockbuster Total Access Program (http://www.blockbuster.com/). They will be a formidable competitor as customer can combine the convenience of the mail with the convenience of retail. Yet for me, Netflix will continue to innovate with new services (music downloads) and new products. These guys are too close to their customers to lose!

Offer Easy Service
The best companies using this technique will not make you write in or fax in, they will offer you a menu of choices. I’m sure there is a direct correlation between growth and customer experience and service. That is why Netflix is hitting the cover off the ball and why Columbia House has a membership probably 1/10th of what it used to be. Before you sign up for something automatically ask the question, how do I cancel. I recommend the options should include the telephone, email or the web. Check it out!

There must be millions of consumer complaints about this practice filed every year.
The 11 commandment and 12th commandment for consumers should be:
11. Thou shall make it easy to cancel a product or service
12. Thou shall gain market share thru great customer service.

The consumer has spoken.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Customer Experience Selling Sales Negative Option

I like to share

Although blogging is still a bit new to me, I am having a lot of fun with it. One of the reasons I am having so much fun is that I love to read and now, I have an outlet to share my thoughts on customer experiences, good business practices and my experiences. This blog is a great way for me to exercise and centralize my compelling need to share those kinds of things in one place.

Now, I've already written about how I believe the customer service world is round. However, I also believe that when it comes to readily available information and the ability to find people who are also passionate about customers and the experiences they deliver, the world has most certainly been flattened. One example can be found with Michael Seaton, who directs the digital marketing at Scotiabank in Canada, and also writes The Client Side Blog.”.

I thought his post titled "Observation on so-called service” was quite telling about the retail-based experience. So today I share by linking you there. I also see he referenced me in a post he wrote a while ago on "Do you ask your customers to do as you say, not as you do?" .

Sharing is good.

Technorati Tags: Customer Service Customer Experience The World is Flat

The Airline Industry: The Leader in Poor Service From the Industry That Invented Customer Loyalty

Would you pay extra to fly your “favorite” airline? I would not pay extra. Many years ago I would have paid extra, yet today I’m motivated by convenience and price. Why is this? It has to do with i) indistinguishable service,, all the airlines have the same poor service, except maybe Southwest where they love their jobs. ii) the fleets, have all caught up. in fact if anything, the new discount airlines have newer plains. Iv) flight attendants are equally nasty

Airlines Invented Customer Loyalty:

What was the first member rewards points program you joined? Was it a hotel chain or a food store? I doubt it. If your like millions of Americans, my guess is that it was an airline mileage program. These programs created widespread loyalty and were designed by very smart people. The airline loyalty programs have been the most successful customer bonding tools known to man, even more successful than MCI's friends and family.

To give you an idea of how influential these programs became, for years the number 1 credit card in Canada was the CIBC Aeroplan Card (s) ) . That was due to the fact that the card linked spending to points for free airline travel on Air Canada, Canada's largest airline. In the United States if you took a look in someone's wallet you would often see a United Mileage Credit Card or a Delta Amex Card., some kind of airline brand related card. Virtually everyone chased airline reward travel.

The beauty of the airline programs were that the both the Airline the consumer won. The airline often had their best customers fly exclusively on their fleet and the consumer received privileges like front of the line, free upgrades and more. I was as proud of my 1K United Status as I was of my Amex Platinum card. So were millions of others, it was a badge of honor.

So Why Don't I Care Any More?

Today, I don't care about my airline mileage program. I really don't and I still travel. I bet you do not care either. So why is that?

Will the level of service flying take off or crash and burn?

The reason I do not care is that my privileges and service promise have been hacked away at. This happened as the airlines were challenged to stay in business. I understood those decisions. Now that their cost base has been stabilized by reconfiguring their leases on capital equipment, hedging their gas costs, and controlling their employee cost bases (maintenance, flight service and pilots), the airlines are making money. Making money is good, and I can except the trade off they made for survival, but the service across the industry is the same. It is generally poor, whether you are flying a traditional or discount airline.

Have you ever tried to make a claim with rewards these days? Forget 25k points, forget freedom of travel, and forget hassle free bookings. You need to be really flexible and you have to hope that the other kids are still in school. Expect to stop a couple of times, to not get the date you would prefer, and expect to use more points. Even basic trips are now 40k-50k.

Have you ever seen that Capital One Rewards advertisement (www.capitalone.com). It was aired very heavily at the last winter Olympics. The basic message is use the Capital One card and you won't have the typical hassles that go with rewards!

It is a great campaign clearly well researched with the salient benefit being " More freedom—fly anytime, anywhere, with no blackout dates and if you have had a recent experience". Capital One is a great organization that knows how to hit the spot.

Now that the financials are beginning to suggest the Airlines can get back on their feet and offer better service, we are faced with the next “opportunity”

A Wave of Consolidation:

Have you read about the recent proposed consolidations with the airlines? For instance US Airways upon leaving bankruptcy, formerly Allegany Airlines was taken over by America West and named US Airways. Before the merger can be deemed completed from a service perspective, US Airways and its CEO (former CEO of America West) is making an unsolicited bid for Delta Airlines (/) , currently in Chapter 11. on top of that United is talking to Continental (Northwest may hold this up) and Air Tran is talking to Midwest. Finally, did you hear that Qantas was sold to an Australian and US Private Equity shops?

Will the consumer pay higher travel costs?

With Consolidation service should get even worse, but I do not believe prices will rise substantially. Clearly leading consumer groups would have you believe that the consumer will pay more. One could argue and a viewpoint I agree with is, there will always be another competitor and or discount airline that will crop up and seize the opportunity. So I think the price will remain pretty stable around today's levels. Read about Virgin Airlines / Richard Branson trying to get a foot hold in the USA market. They are a major influence on prices and service and if prices rise and the Government does not like it, all they have to do is relax USA ownership restrictions and the prices will get competitive again. Consolidation is a cycle and for whatever reason, unlike the auto industry, the airline business will always spawn new Airlines when the opportunity is right.

Will the level of service flying take off or crash and burn: Airline Service is invisible.

As I said the price of a ticket will remain stable but the service will reach all time lows.

The service is another matter. Consolidation means the merging of workforces and in the case of the airlines, it means a decrease in the service promise. You bet service decreases!

The Airline Employee hates their Company and hates their job:

Think about the person that is the face of your interaction with the Airline.

Have you ever sensed that an airline employee is disgruntled and does not care about your business? I have been confronted on an airline several times with provocation. And when I speak to other travelers, they share the same horror stories.

My guess is that in virtually every major airline but Southwest, the employees today have:
i. faced losing their job
ii. Retained their job over their peers because of seniority not their performance
iii. Had a drop in salary
iv. Lost their seniority
v. Work longer hours

Today, I find the airlines all the same. Nobody gives you food unless the flight is longer than 4 or 5 hours. Given the quality of the food from the “old days” that may not be so bad, but it is one less service quality and differentiator. All the airlines have a similar food policy so why differentiate? The truth being, I actually prefer paying 5 today and eating something I want then what they used to serve me before. Are you telling me the airlines cannot restore a menu and some selection and throw it in? Sounds to me like a winner! Is someone doing this?

So what happened?

In most industries when consolidation occurs the best employees the A grade one’s leave the industry and find new beginnings, the C' grade employees get fired and the B grade employees consolidate and stay with the Company This usually means at least operational improvements.

Survival of the Least Fit!

In the airline business. The older you are the more safe your job. The people that remain in the airline have gone thru so many ups and downs. They are nasty people that are confrontational. They hate their company and they distrust management. Given what these people have gone thru, it is impossible for them to be consistently pleasant. Your better off hiring a new staff. That cannot happen with these Airlines.

With the recent wave of consolidations now on the "horizon", the service will only get worse. It will be interesting to see if with all the consolidation an Airline will re- define their service as a method of separating themselves from their competition. If they do, will someone please tell me!

Don’t Miss this Incredible Opportunity

Do you know the saying, it is 5 times cheaper to sell an existing customer as it is to sell a new one? I believe that. Do you know it probably cost $ 200 - $ 300 to acquire a new wireless customer?

If a call center was to stay on the telephone for another 5 minutes on average, that cost would be trivial cost versus acquiring a new customer through other marketing channels. So I challenge all you strategic planners to think about this. And think, if someone offered you a better service package, with an exptened time commitment woud you take it? You bet you would and you would probably tell your friends what a great experience you just had. So why does this never happen to us?

The answer is simple. The reason you virtually never get a proactive sales pitch when you call is the phone center is too busy and they are stressed to meet service levels. The math suggests that they should add more people and start selling them after they have resolved their issue. Marketing people, maybe you should arrange a meeting with the VP of Customer service and see what can be done. Maybe you need to benchmark with an outside group to prove your point and pump up your profitability.

Why do the best customers pay more?

I’m always frustrated to see my service provider offering half the rate I pay to a prospect. I would tell you that on an inbound call, virtually never would you be asked if they could look at your account and improve your situation. To get a better deal, you need to threaten cancellation of your service and then somehow, miraculously you are transferred to the “retention” group and your package improves. You should try it sometime.

I find calling the retention group is a good way of paying what is a fair market value. But the problem is this. Did you know that the average wireless carrier hears from their customer every 2 months or, 6 times a year? What an opportunity.

When Call Center Data crosses Wires with Profitability and Customers

I know there is one large mobile company that, because they cannot keep up with their service levels, does not allow their phone reps to ask about new services or better products or pricing.

Can you imagine, if you are a wireless customer, calling in to discuss your bill and having a rep actually look at your rate and suggest that you are paying to much? What’s the catch? Really there is no catch. With the price of voice for the mobile market going down, and with a customer having the ability to switch their phone service (“number portability”), the chances are if you do not right size a customer, they will churn or switch to another service.

Do you know how many companies need to add millions of new customers just to maintain their customer base? Take a look at the numbers of the satellite industry. It remains flat for companies like DirectTV and EchoStar and with 2-4% churn a month, it means that they need to add millions of customers a year just to keep their base. When was the last time somebody booked at your account and told you you were paying too much for a service or that there was a better package out there for you?

Metrics that matter: Speed of answer vs.callbacks and customer satisfaction

I have some news for the frustrated customer. The reason that you are told that you cannot be called back is NOT a technical limitation. It is because the call center manager needs to maintain service levels and average handling times.

It is quite upsetting because what they are failing to think about the potential fallout of the overall relatonship based on a single part of the the overall picture that is a metric . Contact resolution versus multiple callbacks is at the centre of the storm. Managers are not measured as easily on contact resolution as average speed of answer or hold times.

When you fail to help a customer for the sake of some stat, the ripple effect begins. The paradigm of removing parts from the sum total of the experience is never a good idea. Your added-value service is anything but if that is your approach. I ask you, would the Company be better off calling a customer back if it meant keeping the customer happy?

When call center measurements fail to consider stakeholder value

One of the things that has always effected a call center manager’s respect in the organization is their focus on their insular world of the average speed of answer, call abandonment and other “traditional” call center metrics”. These metrics often clash with what most senior managers are held to and that is customers I know that call center managers are always fighting for the respect of their fellow senior managers. It irks me that call center management time and time again just do not get it.

A Call center manager is a very critical member of a large corporation. I always tell people that in many companies, cable companies, telecom companies, even some kind of financial institutions (direct to market insurance), there are more people in the call center than any other jurisdiction inside that company.

The call center industry is a cottage industry that burst. Nobody goes to a business school to become a manager of customer service. The people running the centers 9 times out of 10 either worked their way up from the phones, or they walked into the position. They did not graduate from a major business school with the intention of running a customer service organization. Herein lies the problem. I believe the best talent in customer service are the pioneers of the business.

Today’s best and brightest go to a business school to specialize in finance, marketing or sales. Customer service is not sexy and it is ignored as a scholastic career. Oh sure there are some classes, but most are taught at local community colleges as part as a customer rep program to provide jobs. The Customer service manager needs to learn how to be a better member of the senior management team

By the way, for those of you that are looking at a good career, a Vice President or Director of Customer Service pays very well, and it always seems that once you have established yourself with a major brand, you have the ability to move from organization to organization without a problem.

Sometimes we need to speak with a real live person

You know those times when you simply MUST speak to a live customer service rep? Now, do you remember all those times when you have seen grass grow a few inches while you waited on hold? Watched a few rounds of The Masters while listening to a flute-instumental version of Yesterday? Those moments of near insanity when you were scared to go to the bathroom for fear of losing your place in the mysterious call queue?

Well, do not hang up the phone. You deserve all the attention you think you have coming!

When I have to make an important customer service call, I always budget an hour to allow for hold times. I hate when I have to leave and I’m still on hold or in the middle of the fix. How many times have you put the call on hold after waiting several minutes and just for that second, you come back and the call is gone?

I know how frustrating this is. It has happened to all of us. One of the first questions I religiously ask when I call back (and have to wait through another large block of minutes to the speak with a rep) is “do you have my phone number and can you call me back should we get disconnected”?

It never ceases to astound me when I hear “I’m sorry Sir, we can only receive calls from this facility, we cannot place calls”. Huh?!?!?

Do we, as consumers, who are called by call centers all the time, really believe for a minute that a representative does not have the ability to call you back when you ask them to do so? I think not.

This is more a mater of policy than capability. It is definitely not due to limited technology. Most phones I have seen, no matter how advanced, have a keypad with numbers on it and can get dial tone. So how come no one can ever call me back?

When service centers fail to function in that manner, they really can't be called "customer care" or "customer service". When the dialogue is controlled and only allowed to flow one way, it is anything but care or service.

Technorati Tags: Call Centers Customer Service Customer Care

Believe it! Why Self Service may be better than voice for routine transactions.

As a consumer, I know how many of us hate the call deflection of an interactive voice response system. But with the help of speech recognition combined with traditional dtmf capabilities of virtually every phone, an industry leader such as Nuance has made navigating through the prompts easier and generally improved the overall experience. Clearly the desire of many clients using interactive voice response is to get the more mundane tasks handled by a non-human. The costs of using a machine are fixed. All the work is in the upfront design and the maintenance.

There are many companies that have done a great job of deflecting and, in fact, have made it more convenient to self self-service versus speaking to a live operator.

I believe the ability to understand your voice has improved dramatically. It is not perfect, but it is getting better. And, you can use your key pad if you wish. We all have key pads today versus the former rotary phones. An example of an automated transaction I prefer (along with millions of others) is a bill payment. I either use the web, or I use an IVR. In either case, the fact that I’m speaking with a computer versus a human being that could copy my information makes me feel more comfortable. I pay all of my bills either thru an automated attendant or thru the Internet. When I’m done, for instance when I pay my Verizon mobile bill, before I even hang up the phone I’m text messaged my confirmation.

Other companies such as American Express or AT&T email me a confirmation. I usually get the confirmation within minutes if not hours. It definitely comes the same day. I can’t get a live rep to send me a confirmation but I can get a machine to complete that transaction seamlessly and instantaneously.

Maybe it's time now that the call centers can figure out how they can send me an email when I speak to someone . It is a tough one to solve, that is, ask I live rep if they can email me or fax me a confirmation or some kind of follow up. Very rarely can the call center do this. I know this is an easy software fix (we used to design CRM software so we know). It is a completely different topic that we will shed more light on in future blog posts.

Self Service Avoid’s ID Theft – Let me speak to a Machine Please

I would rather speak to a machine when competing a financial transaction than I would like to speak to a live human being. Especially if you are going to route a call offshore. It scares me to have someone with a different culture and values with access to my information. Do not believe they can be denied access.

ID theft is just plain bad. It's critical to remember that, in today's global village of outsourcing customer service to the lowest cost provider, identity theft means your customer's information may end up in the Philippines or India and sold off to lord know who! Do not believe what you read that this never happens - it does. A lot. Offshore call centers are not sheltered nor are they security proof (sorry Tom).

This is a serious threat. All it takes is one instance and the credibility your firm worked decades to build is gone in a flash. Take a look at this article that clearly outlines the real risks.

Furthermore a recent Gartner study said that a shortage of skilled labor for Indian call centers increases the risk of fraud and identity theft, India will need one million trained and qualified call centre workers by 2009, according to the Indian government, but by that time about a quarter of those positions will remain unfilled. Gartner warned that the shortfall in call center agents will cause offshore outsourcing firms to hire fewer qualified staff and could lead to reduced due diligence.

I hope those reading this post are starting to think about a repositioning of your call center strategy. Cost is important, but let’s not forget about market share and the fact that satisfied customers buy more and tell their friends to buy as well.

Do not force an over use of self-service. Customers will figure out ways to talk to a live rep when they need to. And if you do not service them properly, it is only a matter of time (read short time) until they defect. And they will defect.

In my next post, I will speak about the experience when you finally speak to someone live on the phone.

Technorati Tags: Call Centres Offshoring Customer Service Identity Theft

The World is flat - almost. Why Thomas Friedman is wrong about customer service

Thomas Freidman wrote a great book with The World is Flat. He did an outstanding job of researching and describing the evolution of the world and the productivity found in an increasingly interconnected and globalized marketplace. No issue with his thesis. He is a smart man.

I do, however, take issue with the idea that customer service is able to be flattened. It is not. There are major issues being observed and many large corporations are learning the hard way.

Gateway is a great example of an emerging trend back to using North American customer service as a buying benefit for it's customers. They recently announced that "on-shore" representatives will be servicing calls for thier base. Dell gets it too. Check out their move to bring things back home.

I'm not saying offshoring is bad, just know why your are going and what it may mean for your brand. Don't flattening your customers in the process.

Technorati Tags: Thomas Friedman The World is Flat Dell Gateway

What is a Customer Maniac?

Having been immersed in the world of customer care, response mangagement, sales and profitable consumer relationships, I have a bit to say on connecting the dots between technology and smart business practices.

I like to wear my customer hat and help companies deliver excellence in thier practice.

That is the core of what I have been doing for 20 years. Having helped dozens upon dozens of Fortune 1000 companies, the blogosphere is a place I am compelled to jump into. What am I selling? Ideas and inspiration.