No sooner does KMM invite me to blog about Comcast doing it's very best to upset the greatest number of customers in the shortest amount of time than CameraGuy sends me "75 year old woman goes to a Comcast office to say what she thinks of their service....with a hammer". Before going further, I'll state that I'm currently a Comcast customer. Before going further, I'll state that I was going to switch to another service provider. I made several attempts, actually, and the entire saga comes under the heading of Customer Experience, Expectation and the like.
The questions this time out are:
- How can businesses set up call center or customer service policies that help customers as opposed to setting up blockades that frustrate them?
- What responsibility do call center managers have to take over a situation once a customer has requested that a situation be escalated?
- How does the policy of non-escalation affect customer service?
- How does poor customer service affect a company's bottom line?
- How can companies respond to negative customer feedback through blogs and other social media tools?
- Will a blog like this make any difference?
- How can disgruntled customers voice their opinions together so as to effect corporate change?
- How can businesses set up call center or customer service policies that help customers as opposed to setting up blockades that frustrate them?
- What responsibility do call center managers have to take over a situation once a customer has requested that a situation be escalated?
Managers need to immediately get involved. There was a point in time when customers expressed higher loyalty. That time is gone due to the proliferation of choices and options for products and services. - How does the policy of non-escalation affect customer service?
You end up having little old ladies take sledgehammers into offices. - How does poor customer service affect a company's bottom line?
As stated above, consumers are more and more willing to vote with their feet. (See BizMediaScience Consumer Experience Posts) - How can companies respond to negative customer feedback through blogs and other social media tools?
The principle job is to gain control of the situation. However, companies that attempt to gain control without admitting to the problem are in serious trouble themselves. Ex: I was talking with a fellow who has responsibility for several US Army web sites and we were discussing how the US Army was addressing the Walter Reed Army Hospital problem. The best suggestion was to admit to the problem. Until a problem is recognized and admitted to, nothing else will demonstrate responsibility nor will any other actions be taken as sincere and meaningful attempts to address the problem. This is the "elephant in the kitchen" situation. - Will a blog like this make any difference?
This question is about ComcastMustDie.BlogSpot.com and yes, blogs such as that one will make a difference because they are demonstrations of The Village coming together for a specific purpose. Consumer Generated Content is both the most rewarding and most terrifying to corporations. Good word-of-mouth is gold and bad word-of-mouth is, well, very, very bad. - How can disgruntled customers voice their opinions together so as to effect corporate change?
By social sites such as those demonstrated in the articles mentioned here:
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