The Customer Authority

As some of you already know, I worked at a Call Center with Coca-Cola for well over ten years, both working directly with customers and as management. I saw many new technologies come and go while there, all hyped to be the “next, best thing!” and help move us towards the future of call center success.

Unfortunately, more often than not, most of the new system enhancements and what-not were a bust, or just didn’t make the improvements they were meant to. I was even involved in a few of the initial test phases of these new technologies, and saw first-hand how they WEREN’T ever going to work.

And when I and others pointed out all the defects these new systems had, our advice went largely unheeded – not because they didn’t believe us – but because they had no choice. The company had invested so much money into some of these systems, they didn’t want to admit defeat and find an alternate solution.

So instead of giving up, we were told to make the square fit into the round hole. Unfortunately we weren’t NASA, and while the test team was able to make some changes that helped, quite a few of these systems were adapted; to the great frustration of the employees using them. Instead of making things “better, faster, more efficient”, things were worse, slower, and inconvenient. And I witnessed this over and over again up until the day I left.

Which brings me to the article I wanted to share today. It happens to be about five least successful call center technologies. I’ve probably witnessed about three of these technologies flop at my previous work.

If you manage or work at a call center, you may want to review this piece and see if you are currently utilizing any of these systems. Are they working for you, or are they giving you ever-increasing headaches? If they work fine and you’ve been successful, good for you. You’re one of the lucky ones. If not, you might want to consider upgrading to something else.

But before you go spend tons of money on it, make sure that “new technology” has been proven first!

I just read an interesting article on CNN.com regarding a growing concern how the unsteady economy may haven an impact on regional banks with big commercial loan portfolio’s. In the article, it talks about how commercial real estate will most likely start having credit problems within the next year and possibly even further into the future, as a result of the poor economy.

If you are a small or even large business with a commercial loan that may be in jeopardy, hopefully you’ve been seeking solutions to your woes. While you may not have money raining down on you right now, your main business is most likely customer-based. If so, there are some things you can consider to help boost your monetary gains and start putting it back into payments for your loan:

• Build up your marketing – This is usually one of the first things to go in a bad economy. Big mistake. No one is going to be buying from you if they don’t know you’re there. Advertising doesn’t have to be expensive. Shop around for the lowest prices for the most/best exposure. If you don’t have the money for advertisement, see if you can barter services or product.
• Get creative – Offer new sales programs, coupons, discount days – anything to get people in your store and willing to spend money. For items that haven’t been moving, offer deep discounts. It’s better to get some money than NO money.
• Customer Service Excellence is Key – (You knew I’d say that, didn’t you). If you haven’t already made improvements to your customer service – shame on you. This should be a major focus in today’s economy. Why? Because people talk. If you’re wondering why people aren’t coming to your store, it’s either because they can’t afford your stuff, they don’t like your products, or your service stinks. It’s almost always one of those 3 things, if not all 3. But if you go above and beyond to satisfy your customers, they will keep coming back. And there’s also that little thing called “Word-of-Mouth”.

These are just a few things to consider that may help you through to the other side. But they are things worth considering.

One thing I found amusing when reading this article – just below this one was a report on how new home sales had made a huge increase for the month of June. So maybe there’s a little bit of hope on the horizon yet.

When I was a teenager, I had the great pleasure of living overseas in Japan. My father had been transferred due to work. I went to an American School, and while I had English-speaking friends, it was a cultural mish-mash of kids from all over.

One of the things I distinctly remember and miss about Japan is how polite a society they are. The Japanese are known for their politeness and honesty, and in my opinion, it is to their advantage. I only wish we Americans were only half the people the Japanese are sometimes.

An area where the Japanese truly stands out is in the world of customer service. Before moving, I had never imagined a world where the customer is treated like royalty. In Japan, you are.

From the moment you walk into any store, you are greeted enthusiastically by dozens of employees with bright smiles and waves. It doesn’t matter if you are in the largest department store or the local fish market. You are greeted and shown appreciation for just being there.

Store aisles are ALWAYS neat and tidy and in perfect order. Everything is packaged to perfection. Employees constantly wipe down counters, windows, even escalator railings to get rid of any unsightly smudges.

Employees are trained to give the customer everything they want. If they don’t have what you want, they will simply order it for you. If they can’t do that, they will do everything in their power to get you what you want. If they don’t, they feel they have failed you and will do what they can to offer you something else to satisfy your needs.

I remember shopping one day for a gift for my mother. She loved to collect tea cups, so I went to a little tea shops I would pass on my way to school. It was a tiny little store with only the store owner inside – a tiny older woman who didn’t speak any English.

She came over to see if she could help me, and through hand gestures and broken Japanese and English, she understood I was searching for a gift of a tea cup. She showed me various selections and though I didn’t have a clue about tea cups, I surmised she was explaining the difference of each.

Eventually I picked one and she took if from me to ring up. She delicately wrapped the cup and saucer in tissue and placed it in a box. Thinking that was it, I started to reach for my package, but she stopped me. She pointed to colorful paper and ribbon and motioned for me to choose. When I did, she then wrapped the box flawlessly in the bright sheets and topped it off with a squiggly bow.

I smiled and said my thanks and was prepared to leave when she stopped me again. Motioning to a little area off to the side, she pointed out a small table low to the ground with a tea set upon it. I noticed steam coming out of the pot, and realized I had interrupted her tea when I came in. But before I could apologize, she pointed to me, then her, and then the table. I understood she meant was inviting me to share a drink with her, and I graciously accepted.

How often can you say you’ve experienced this type of treatment? In my experience, it’s a rare day that I have people so effortlessly going above and beyond to help me in my customer ventures – and certainly doing so simply out of sheer want and kindness.

The point here I’m making is number nineteen from the “Top 25 Things You Should Do in Customer Service” list – going above and beyond. The Japanese have taken going above and beyond to a new level. So much so, that it is a standard practice, “the norm” if you will, for their culture. To do anything less would be considered shocking and beneath them.

Going above and beyond for your customers is nothing new. But it’s something that we don’t practice nearly enough in the United States. The Japanese have adopted so many things they admire about the West. Maybe now is the time to start taking lessons from our friends in the East.

I have to admit, I secretly LOVE when companies are outed for their poor customer service. Forgive me for what may be poor taste, but I think it SHOULD be common practice to “out” a company doing what they should be doing in the first place – helping resolve customer issues without the customer feeling so frustrated they have to turn to outside help to get it.

So when I saw this article regarding the UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) decision to have companies publish customer complaints figures every six months, I had to do a little happy dance. That’s one for the customer!

You know me well enough now that I am most definitely pro-company AND pro-customer. My first goal here is to help companies be the best they can be. But in order to do that, customer excellence needs to be well up there in your business priorities.

I’m not aware of the US doing anything similar to this, at least not at the moment. But if the idea of your customer complaints being made public makes you even the teensiest bit uncomfortable, then maybe you should be looking at how you are handling matters.

Companies are almost always going to get complaints, no matter how good they are. It’s how you MANAGE them that makes a difference. How do you resolve the problem so the customer is fully satisfied and will stay loyal. That’s the difference between good, great, and excellent in customer service.

The goal here isn’t to avoid getting complaints so much as when you DO get them, you handle them immediately and in the best way positive – not just for the sake of your company, but for the sake of your customer.

I applaud the UK for holding companies feet to the fire. It’s time that consumers feel they finally have someone watching their back when oftentimes, all they get is no one caring.

See below for the full article:

It is what consumer groups have been demanding for years: banks, insurers and other financial services companies with the worst record for customer complaints are to be named by regulators in a league of shame… (read more).

I was reading an article today on Call Centers in the Virginia area. The article itself was a little scattered, but the main point of it was that call center are finding value in locating themselves in rural and semi-rural locations. On top of that, the call centers are actually hiring despite the poor economy.

Having worked in a call center for twelve years, I have some opinion on them. Granted, my experience was probably better than others due to the fact I handled accounts directly, instead of just taking random calls every thirty seconds. Having more control of your day definitely has it’s perks.

The good things I see about call centers is the convenience for the customer. Everything is routed through one location. You can easily be transferred to different departments as needed. It’s also cost effective to the company to have one central location.

But the same positives of a call center are also it’s negatives. While it’s a one-stop shop for customer service, it can also be frustrating for a customer calling and not knowing exactly who to talk to. They may call the wrong department number, or get routed to fifteen different people before connecting with the right one. I know this happened several times at my old company and customers were not happy about it.

And being “cost effective” has a disadvantage to the employees working there. Call Centers traditionally have lower wages for front-line jobs that are the most stressful and time-consuming. Turn-around at call centers is high. It doesn’t surprise me when employees are required to answer the phone within 2 seconds and get off within 30 seconds or less, regardless of what the customer needs.

Working at a call centers can be a thankless job with not-so-great pay. Why stay somewhere where the majority of your calls are from someone with a problem? Usually irate to boot. Most companies are more interested in keeping costs low, they don’t focus on the needs of employees, which is a big mistake.

One way to change this is to better understand the value your employees can have to your business. Focus should be on training employees on how best to deal with customer calls through customer service excellence.

Screening of employees should be carefully done to weed out those people who most likely don’t really care about the customer, or who will end up most likely hating their job within six months and become unproductive.

Wages at call centers should, in my opinion, start at a minimum of $15/hr and go up from there. Most call centers minimum start at $9-$11/hr. There should also be more incentives created and even simple things that make the workplace a more fun and appealing place to go to.

In other words – invest in your employees as much as you invest in your customers.

According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) it is. It’s interesting, because I keep hearing/reading different opinions on this subject and how it’s an indicator of the recession improving.

Some are saying customer service is just a poor as always in some areas, or in fact, is declining as employees become more disgruntled with work conditions. Others say – such as the following article, that businesses have taken heed of the recession and have taken steps to improve their customer service as a result. And this in turn is helping the economy slowly begin to recover.

Perhaps it’s a little bit of both. The stronger and smarter businesses who know where they need to make changes to survive the economy have been making the right choices and taking action. The others who don’t care as much, or maybe don’t know how to make effective changes, are the ones suffering.

I can tell you one thing – the mention of customer service offices moving overseas too save money is definitely not the answer. In fact, I was quite disappointed to read that bit of information. While I understand the need to save money, outsourcing simply leads to a slew of other problems, as I’ve mentioned in one of my previous posts. Any companies using this method as a means to save money will only find themselves losing business because their customers will not be satisfied with their new customer service.

In the meantime, take a look at the article and see what you think. Are we moving out of the recession? Is customer service actually getting better? Let me know what you think!

Customer satisfaction has been on the rise since late last year and some analysts think the upward trend is a… (read article here).

Everyone likes to receive compliments. Whether someone says you look really nice, or they think you did a really great job doing something, the gesture is appreciated. Even if you’re uncomfortable with compliments because you don’t know how to respond, the compliment itself makes you feel warm and squishy inside.

Well, you can give this experience to your customers on a regular basis if you look for the right opportunities.

When you are speaking with a customer, whether on the phone or in the store, you will pick up information from them that will identify if it’s a moment you can use to make the customer feel good about themselves.

Most of these opportunities will probably come from a problem that has developed and they need it fixed. Of course, this is the optimum time to be making the customer feel as good as possible to distract them from how upset they are in the first place. So it’s only a win/win situation if you play your cards right.

Let’s pretend you have a customer who just received a soda fountain installation. They’ve just called to inform you they have a water leak. Not only do they have a water leak, but it’s made a huge puddle on the floor. They also tell you they shut off the water valve and cleaned up the mess, but want you to send someone over immediately to fix it.

In this case, the customer has given you not one, but two ways to compliment them and make them feel good about themselves.

1. They shut off the water valve
2. They cleaned up the water

While this may seem silly, it’s these two things you can turn back to the customer and say:

“You know, that was really smart of you to turn off the water valve. The leak could have gotten a lot worse if you hadn’t done that. And I’m so glad you were able to clean up the water mess. Not only did you prevent any damage from occurring, you probably saved someone from slipping and injuring themselves”.

Your opportunity may come as the example of the above, or it can be as simple as complimenting a customer’s attire when he/she comes in to shop in your store. However, be aware that not every situation will present an opportunity. If one is not there, do not force it.

One think you MUST do when you give any type of praise or compliment to a customer is ensure you are SINCERE in your message. If you there is any hint of falseness or patronizing in your voice, you will possibly end up distancing the customer further.

I just got last night from my trip to Austin, Texas. What an adventure it was! Had a great time visiting with my friend James and seeing the city. I’m definitely glad to be home though. It’s amazing how much a vacation can exhaust you!

So I promised I would let you know about my experience with Air-Tran. As it turns out, it was definitely an experience. Some of it good. Some of it not so good.

Everything began very well. My friend Karen and I deliberately planned everything so we could get to the airport with plenty of time so we wouldn’t feel rushed or stressed.

The gods were in our favor that day. First, traffic was excellent. It was a Saturday, but it was July 4th, so we didn’t know what to expect. Fortunately, cars were sparse and we got there in record time.

Economy parking was booked, so we had to take Daily Parking. But despite the lots being almost completely full, we were able to find excellent parking just across from the terminal. Since I’ve hiked the mile-long economy parking several times, this was actually a blessing in disguise.

One would have thought the lines for ticketing would be horrible since parking was so full, but when we got there, the lines were short and we zipped right through. Same with security even. Things were looking up!

It got even better when, on being seated in the plane, when Karen and I had to sit in separate aisles, the airline hostess asked if I could switch seats with the teenager seated next to Karen – who just so happened to be sitting in the emergency exit aisle. Of course, I willingly obliged. The double bonus of this is the emergency aisle has extra leg room – and me being 5′10″ – I was more than happy to have the extra space!

So of course with all of this good luck, one would expect the other shoe to drop. And of course it did – while we were waiting for our baggage. We had flown into San Antonio, and being a small airport, it wasn’t long before the bags were being unloaded.

Pretty soon, Karen’s bag popped onto the conveyor belt. I had only one bag checked, so now it was just a short wait until mine came out. So we waited. And waited. And waited.

You guessed it. My baggage was lost. And not only that – it was the ONLY bag that was lost. I’m not really sure how that happened, considering I checked my baggage immediately after my friend’s, but it did.

On the plus side, Air Tran was very reassuring that my bag was probably on the next flight and would be found. When I explained to the customer rep that I was driving to Austin and couldn’t wait the 3 hours before the next flight arrived, she let me know they would deliver the bag to where I was staying for me. I figured since they lost it, that was quite fair of them.

Unfortunately, while the lady told me they’d call “no matter what” by 6pm regardless if my bag was found or not, they did NOT call me. I called them at 6:30pm to find out what was going on.

The woman who assisted me first told me that my bag had NOT been found. Then she found a note that was left and told me my bag WAS found. I asked why no one had called, and she informed me they did call, but received a busy signal. (I have voice mail, so I was skeptical about this).

When I asked when my bag would be delivered, she then told me I’d have to pick it up. Hmmm – this wasn’t going well. I informed the woman I was told the bag would be delivered to me in Austin. She told me they don’t deliver that far. (Austin is only just over an hour away). When I argued with her, she placed me on hold.

The woman then came back on to tell me they WOULD deliver my bag to Austin. Great! On Fed-Ex. Not great. Normally this would be fine, but it was after 6pm on a Saturday ( a HOLIDAY), and the next day was Sunday. Last time I checked, Fed-Ex doesn’t deliver on Sunday. “Of course”, she agreed with me, “You’ll get it Monday.”.

The problem with this, I informed her, is that I LEAVE on TUESDAY. And I really didn’t want to be roaming around Texas in 105 degree heat in the same black jeans and boots I’d arrived in from my flight for two days.

From that point on, I was informed by my “helper” that I’d have to talk to the next girl who came in to figure it all out. I never did understand why she couldn’t help me herself, but apparently she was “just reading the message” and couldn’t help me further. And of course the next person who COULD help me didn’t come in until 10pm.

Long story short, I had to drive back to San Antonio the next morning to pick up the luggage myself. Of course they were very apologetic about my inconvenience, but no enough to waive the $15 I had to pay just to have my bag checked in the first place.

While the rest of my trip was pleasant and I didn’t have any more trouble with the airline, I still came away feeling not too impressed with how AirTran works as a whole. They came across as helpful on the surface, but not really wanting to take much responsibility when things did go wrong. And while I didn’t really press the issue of possibly getting a refund on my baggage fee, I had decided it would have been more a hassle to try than it was worth.

So not bad, but not great. I’m willing to give them a second chance though, if I ever have to fly again.

I’m about to go out of town again tomorrow, but this time I’m flying. So I thought it interesting when I came across an article based on airline customer service. I wondered if I would hear the same thing I typically hear about airline customer service not being that great.

Well, apparently there is a conflict in agreement. According to the article, two independent surveyors came up with completely different results. One claims airline service has improved, the other says it’s just as bad as always.

I’ll be flying AirTran tomorrow. I don’t have much experience flying with them, so I really have no opinion, but I haven’t always heard great things. In fact, I recently complained about them charging for simple customer service over the phone. So at the moment, they aren’t high on my list of good customer service airlines.

Unfortunately, the article doesn’t mention AirTran at all. So I’ll just have to decide myself after the trip how well things went. I’m sure I’ll be letting you all know once I do!

In the meantime, I hope everyone has a safe and Happy 4th of July!

Today I was reading on CNN.com that the stock market took a positive swing upward as there were signs of improvement in the economy, particularly in manufacturing and housing areas.

Good news for everyone if the trend continues. And it seems to follow the predictions that there we would begin to see a slow economic revival as we move closer to the new year.

It’s important to note this for all business because it gives hope that things are beginning to turn around. I’m a big believer in hope. I’m also a big believer in taking advantage of a good situation.

Which means if you haven’t already begun making improvements to your customer service, now is definitely time to start doing it.

When people here good news about the economy, they start to breathe a little easier, feel a little more comfortable. They think that maybe it’s okay to spend a little more if they need something they’ve been keeping an eye on getting.

And it’s customers who are crucial to the survival of our economy in the first place. If you think about it, it’s all really a big Catch-22. People spend money in businesses. Businesses make a profit. Profits boost the economy. A good economy means more jobs, less unemployment. Which means people have more money and want to buy more.

Any negative impact effects it all. Hence our current recession.

So it’s important for people to spend money. And you want them to spend it in YOUR business, on YOUR products don’t you?

Give them a reason to.

Give them great customer service, great prices, great bargains, great quality, and they will choose you first before all others.

Of course it won’t be easy. A little good news doesn’t mean customers will automatically open their already pinched wallets. But you can give them a little more incentive to.

After all, helping your customers not only helps your business out, but the entire economic recovery. It’s simply a matter of time before it will all even out for the better. Why not give it a little extra push now?