Today I experienced first hand customer service that is the exact opposite of the attitude I discussed in my Small Business 101: Yes I Can! post from a few days ago. In the course of a couple hours I heard more about how the problem couldn’t be solved than how it could be.
It started simply enough. My business partner (who just moved) and I work from our homes. There is a telecommunications service we both utilize and I was simply trying to get the bills consolidated and an address on one of them corrected (an address correction had already been faxed in months ago).
Call #1 – automated system attendant Hell. After navigating my way through a maze of verbal responses I was finally connected with an individual in the billing department. I explained my needs and was promptly told only sales can consolidate accounts. OK, transfer me to sales please. Nope, not that simple. He needs to check who the account manager for both accounts and make sure it was the same person. Then, he gives me the persons name and phone number and says I need to hang up and call him back. Huh? I say, you both work for the same company right? Anyway…..
Call #2 – salespersons voicemail. I leave a detailed voicemail with all the information including account numbers, addresses, etc. After waiting about an hour I am becoming frustrated because this just does not seem like that complex of a problem. I should have been able to solve it on-line or with a single customer service touchpoint not the BS cycle I now sense I am in. I also have dealt with this salesperson before and know his followup is not so hot for customer service issues and lightening fast when there is a new sale involved.
The bright spot in the whole thing. I jumped on Twitter and pinged the customer service account for the telecom giant involved. Almost instant response. They asked me to email the details of the problem. I did and they informed me that the email was forwarded to various people in the organization including my salesperson.
Call #3 – salesperson returns call. Then, magically at 5:02pm the salesperson miraculously has time to call back. I’m unfortunately away from the phone but he leaves enough of a message to indicate that he can’t combine the accounts because they have different names on them. Huh? I have both bills in front of me and the company name is on both. My name is simply a c/o on one of them. I return the call but alas it’s after 5pm so he’s gone now (I called back within 1 minute).
Call #4 – automated system attendant Hell (again). I get a fairly nice gentleman who’s throat I jump down (yes, I blow my top sometimes) and he is patient enough to understand my frustration (I got the idea I’m not the first pissed off person he’s talked with today). I suggest I need a supervisor and he arranges that. It takes so long I hang up. The supervisor actually calls me back and this impressed me somewhat as a flagrant act of customer service.
The culture. It’s clear to me as I talk to the supervisor that this is just the way it is in the giant telecom company. No single touchpoint can solve a complicated problem like a change of address and consolidating two accounts (catch the sarcasm? I hope so). I explain that I heard a whole lot of “No, I can’t do that” over the course of two plus hours and almost no “Yes, I can!” He says I won’t offer any excuses but I will take care of the problem now.
The resolution. There is none as of now. The supervisor took all the information necessary and promised to dig into it first thing in the morning when all the resources are available. He suggested it could take as long as forty eight hours to get all the appropriate departments involved. No, I’m not making any of this up.
There’s a lesson in here for companies of all sizes. Employ KISS (Keep It Simple Smarty-pants) in your customer service model. Imagine how this blog post would look had the first person I talked with been empowered to solve the problems I had. Or better yet had there been an on-line system to manage my own account. It’s amazing what I can do on-line with my account at Sprint.com (not the telecom we are talking about).
I don’t know about you but if anything like this happens in my business I’ll look at the situation as an opportunity to improve my customer service. What’s your take?
This made my blood pressure boil and it didn't even happen to me. I don't know how you were patient enough to write it up, but I would name names and implore someone higher up in the company to read this! They ought to be ashamed of themselves. I know there are big companies out there with fantastic customer service. Unfortunately, it seems this media megalomaniac just hasn't made it a priority.
Oh Jim I feel your pain! Couple of questions and one thought.
Firstly, I'm curious to know why you chose not to 'name and shame' the company you were dealing with? Whilst I'm glad you didn't (because this issue is not confined to one teleco) I imagine that almost any telco representative reading this post would have a sick feeling in the pit of their stomach that it was their brand your referring too.
Secondly, how do companies fix this issue? Again, this issue is not confined to this one organisation, so whats the way forward from here? My thoughts are that there is no-one in the organisation thats responsible for fixing it, therefore it'll carry on unchanged into the future. So where should the change start? At the 'salespersons' level at the 'supervisors' level, at the board level? Or can change even really occur? Is it unrealistic for your telco to become Zappos? (okay I know i've added more than two questions, but i'm keen to here your view).
Finally, I strongly recommend reading (if you havent already) Customer Mania by Ken Blanchard http://bit.ly/cQ2kDo I found it an inspiring read. The version on audible.com is great too because you actually get Ken reading the book to you, and his passion alone is worth the cost of the book.
TM
@trmcdougall
Yes, it's amazing the salesperson called back and left yet another voicemail saying he'd be happy to help me with MY problem. At some point a company needs to acknowledge that it's their problem making it more difficult to do business with them and more likely to consider alternatives. Make it painful enough and I will find a way to use another provider.
I guess I feel by not naming names I'm taking the high road. My blog is about offering commentary and analysis of the world around me. I prefer not to use it as a platform to rally and rant against my foes. That's the real problem here is that I feel I have and adversarial relationship with this vendor. This is a B2B relationship and I'd never treat a customer the way they have treated me. (at least I hope I have not customers who perceive they have received this lack of services. It's important to note the issue is still not resolved. I have received numerous calls letting me know they are working on it.
The problem is systemic and needs to change from the top down. To change it any other way would be a bandage that would break as soon as the leadership of that department moved on.
Thanks for he book recommendation.