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September 11, 2007

Marketing Tuesday: The Customer is King - or Just a Maharaja?

I flew half way across the world day before yesterday- further even- due to certain mishaps that occurred along the way. While doing so I came to certain conclusions. Here’s how it all unfolded…

I missed my connecting flight from Paris to Bangalore: courtesy of “technical difficulties” on the part of an unapologetic Air France. After several bouts of heated discussion, a thin-lipped airline representative informed me with some finality that I had two choices: either spend the night on the floor of Charles De Gaulle in Paris and take a flight to Bangalore the next day, or more appealingly (so he implied), wait eleven hours in Paris, board a twelve and a half hour flight to Singapore, (which incidentally flies right over India), wait another four hours at Changi airport and finally board a flight to Bangalore. Given the option of a seat and some food as opposed to a hard floor and no sustenance, I unwillingly chose the former.

Stiff, exhausted and smelling decidedly less fragrant than I considered optimal, upon my arrival in Bangalore many, many hours (and several airports) later, I discovered that all three of my bags were missing. After being barked at by the security inspectors, given an unwarrantedly hard time for carrying golf clubs by an oversized Air France official in New York, and being firmly told off by what felt like an army of misanthropic airline officials everywhere, I marched up to the customer service desk in Bangalore, tough, prickly and ready to do battle.

The response I got threw me off guard. Instead of insisting that I was wrong, that it wasn’t their fault, and that there was nothing they could do, the airline officials at the desk in Bangalore were nothing but polite and accommodating. Their manner took me by such surprise that I spent the first few minutes regarding them with extreme suspicion.

My trip, many others like it, and the differences in attitude I have experienced over the years between New York and Paris on the one hand, and places like Singapore and Bangalore on the other, got me thinking along a somewhat broader spectrum. Customer service has always been a big deal in India, and indeed in most of South Asia. Fortunately or unfortunately, the general idea in South Asia seems to be: “The Customer is Always Right,” dissatisfied patrons are appeased at all costs, and even if the results aren’t great, pleasing the customer is such a mantra that there’s an air of extreme servility to much of India’s service industry.

Making trans-cultural comparisons on such a personal level is obviously subjective, but as someone who has lived a good part of my life between the United States and India, the opportunities to do so are frequent and often lead to speculation that if based on shaky foundations, is at least food for thought… In wondering why the service industries between South Asia and the Western parts of the world are so widely disparate, I came upon a couple of possible explanations.

Continue reading "Marketing Tuesday: The Customer is King - or Just a Maharaja?"

Posted by Saabira Chaudhuri at 4:57 PM | 5 Comments

March 20, 2007

Fast Food for Thought

Stefan Stern's Business Life piece in today's Financial Times makes me shake my head. An SVP at McDonald's in Europe is circulating a petition to nix the term "McJob" from the dictionary. That senior executive, and the writer, contend that fast food restaurants are quality employers, offer progressive training programs, and support diverse teams. Stern holds up customer service training as a prime example and suggests that it's behind McDonald's 44 consecutive months of sales growths.

That's all well and good. I can understand people coming to the defense of their industry. But looking at the promise and potential -- much less the practices -- of an industry solely by looking at the numbers on the books (gender equity, economic growth) doesn't always show you the full story. Stern would be well served to spend some time behind the counter. So it's to his credit that he title drops Jerry Newman's new book My Secret Life on the McJob.

I've yet to read the book, but I read a review on the way to work this morning that suggested the book is worth reading for two reasons. One, it highlights some of the challenges facing fast food restaurants: low pay, poor management practices, inadequate training, and racial tensions. And two, it doesn't just dwell on the plethora of front-line experiences on which the book is drawn -- Newman, a professor at SUNY-Buffalo, worked at a number of fast food joints for two years while researching the book -- it spins the stories to suss out some solid leadership lessons and ideas.

Posted by Heath Row at 10:19 AM | 3 Comments

February 20, 2007

Consumer Bill of RightsBlues

Were you one of the chosen ones?

Were you one of the brave tarmac pioneers who endured 10 hours trapped in a JetGlue--oops, JetBlue--airplane at New York's John F. Kennedy Airport last Wednesday?

Were you the stranded guy who called the New York Daily News on your cell phone to report your airplane's toilets were overflowing and the "blue chips" were making you sick?

If so, the once and future discount jet setters of America thank you. Unless ticket prices go up, in which case you are all a bunch of whiners.

After a week of disruptions, cancellations and downright horrible headlines, New York-based discount airline JetBlue announced it's new Consumer Bill of Rights on NBC's Today Show…er…today.

JetBlue CEO and Founder David Neeleman told Matt Lauer that under the protections now afforded his airline's passengers, departure and ground delays will earn affected passengers travel vouchers ranging from $25 for an hour delay to round trip tickets for delays of four hours or more.

Continue reading "Consumer Bill of RightsBlues"

Posted by Alex Pasquariello at 12:54 PM | 3 Comments

January 26, 2007

What Kind of Loyal Are You?

The current issue of Ipsos Ideas (PDF) features a brief piece that raises some interesting concepts. Timothy Keiningham, SVP and head of consulting for Ipsos Loyalty -- as well as the author of Loyalty Myths -- takes a look at the difference between brand loyalty and customer loyalty -- and how the two can work well together.

Keiningham suggests that instead of considering a customer's share of spending as separate from other customer metrics (satisfaction and so on), brand and customer metrics should be considered as symbiotic. "No experience will compensate for a weak brand; likewise, no brand can repair a poor customer experience," he writes.

Similarly, it seems to me that by focusing on customer metrics and brand metrics, leaders would be able to take a more holistic view of their customers -- especially in larger companies with a diverse brand portfolio.

(Other articles in the issue are also worth reading, particularly "Tell It Like It Is," which warns against the dangers of over-promising and under-delivering.)

Posted by Heath Row at 1:17 PM | 1 Comment

January 25, 2007

Colleague, Come Hither...

When you need a team member's help, how do you get their attention? Do you email them? Call them? IM them? Get up and walk over to their desk? When you're based in a central workplace, the options are relatively clear. But when was the last time you sent a colleague a text message via cell phone?

The possibilities are obvious in an office environment: People may have Blackberries and other smart phones, but even a text on an older flip phone could get them the information they need during a meeting -- or find them while they're "managing by walking around." And in Australia, a service called BangItUp helps people find -- and hire -- tradesmen such as plumbers, electricians, and building contractors... via SMS.

This month, BangItUp celebrates its 17,000th success story. Just imagine: You can text the service and connect with a "tradie" -- regardless of whether they're in the office or on the job -- in about three minutes.

If only getting an appointment with the cable guy were so simple.

Posted by Heath Row at 10:32 AM | Add Comment

December 8, 2006

Customer Service Revenge

This one's a must-read for anyone who's ever been put on hold for two hours, had to navigate through twenty levels of computerized responses, or had to repeat something a dozen times because their customer service rep didn't speak English.

While I'm normally loath to praise someone for suing someone else, Pat Dori, a businessman from Hackensack, NJ, is an exception. When Dell screwed up when repairing his computer--returning a hard drive, and nothing else, and then giving him the runaround on the phone--he took the computer company to small-claims court. And won.

Bravo, Mr. Dori!

Posted by Michael Prospero at 11:03 AM | 8 Comments

September 21, 2006

The Price of Cheap

I did an interview recently with a reporter from a major women's publication who told me that when they ask readers for tips about shopping the number one response they get back is "I go to a great store, buy the perfect dress, take it home, don't take the labels off, wear it to the event and then take it back to the store for a full refund." There's an article in yesterday's edition of The New York Times about people going into Starbucks and getting a basic up of coffee and then going to the condiment bar and enhancing it up to mocca frappichino standards -- for no additonal cost. A disk jockey I know says the worst part of his job is all the "theft-protection" packaging he has to wade through just to try out a CD the record company has sent him. It seems that in a culture in which "okay, available and cheap" is the standard, the best product is the free one, whether we have to borrow or steal it. I'm thinking about this as the unbearable narcissism of the market: I want what I want when I want it, and who cares what it costs -- others.

Posted by Kate Newlin at 9:36 AM | 9 Comments

August 14, 2006

Innovation: Start by Leaving the Customer Alone

This post is a complete list of every promotion flung at the crowd during a single Mets-Padres game. 47 sponsored promotions from 36 companies in 9 innings. And you know someone's sitting in a meeting right now trying to work out how to create a promotion that will 'really break through'. Sometimes the best innovation is to be somewhere else.

Posted by Russell Davies at 2:05 PM | Add Comment

Privilege to Serve?

Traveling after the new security measures were implemented last week, I found that the lines were long, the patience was limited, and the stress was high. As a business traveler, I empathize with airline employees whose pay has been cut, perks have been curtailed, and jobs are increasingly stressful.

But in the midst of chaos at the gate for a long delayed departure, we were faced with two options in terms of gate agents, one I nicknamed “Thoughtful Incompetence” and the other I assigned the moniker “Indifferent Functionality.” Is this really what customer service in most service industries has devolved into: friendly treatment that gets you nowhere or curt brusqueness that at least gets you on your way?

Sure Southwest, Jet Blue, Ritz Carlton, and a host of other isolated cases in the hospitality industry are real curve busters. But will we ever again—particularly in any service industry with high turnover and low pay among its staff—have both friendly and efficient service as a mainstream norm? Given that almost an entire generation has grown up with poor service or self-service kiosks and online options, do they even know what great service looks like? What type of leadership would be required to create a proactive service mindset in which people say “With pleasure” to your requests and really mean it??

Posted by Jeffrey Cufaude at 12:44 PM | Add Comment

July 21, 2006

My Date with Verizon

A special guest blogger today: My wife Jackie Dyer, who's been vainly waiting at home for, yes, a telephone repair. Classic: A phone company that more than lives up to its own stereotype. In three days, Jackie has become quite the authority on customer non-service. As a prelude to our blockbuster, third annual Customer First Awards package, coming in our September issue, I thought I'd give Jackie the mike:

"Fast Company has written about companies with good customer service. Here's the flip side…

"Verizon. Near monopoly, non-discretionary product, huge switching costs for consumers (getting DSL to work the first time was a nightmare). Not a company that needs to be too worried about customer satisfaction - and believe me, they aren't.

Continue reading "My Date with Verizon"

Posted by Keith Hammonds at 12:30 PM | 14 Comments

April 11, 2006

Fast Food, Farther Afield

Say what? (Don't talk with your mouth full!) When I order at the takeout window of my local McDonald's, I might be talking to someone in Honolulu? Sure enough, for the last year-plus, the Big Mac of fast food has been working with a call center that handles drive-through orders at 40 restaurants around the country.

Forget offshoring. Let's talk about out-of-state-sourcing. (OK, so it's a stretch. Maybe my coinage won't catch on.)

I can understand some of the efficiency and cost-savings aspects of this experiment, but it gives me little hope for what might otherwise seem to be a dead-end job -- and one sought my many people who deserve better. What does it mean for fast-food franchise management development, customer-facing service improvements, and the overall morale of Mickey D workers?

If you're good with people, but you flip burgers, where do you turn? If you're lucky, now just the registers and another retail job in the future. Because the customer service aspect and nascent sales training -- up sell, cross sell -- has been diminished.

(I also wonder whether this presages a move to McDonald's with no walk ins or table seating. But that feels a little too Soylent Green for my tastes.)

Food for thought...

Posted by Heath Row at 8:17 PM | 7 Comments

Air Bus

Bus with wings.

That's what someone recently called the flying experience of late, and I have to say that my recent experiences have made that description sound pretty appealing. Here's the rundown of the last several flights I'd taken:

• JetBlue, NY to Oakland: Luggage lost for 5 days.
• JetBlue, NY to West Palm: two hour delay
• ATA, NY to Chicago: Two hour delay on the runway
• ATA, Chicago to NY: We boarded the relatively empty plane and sat at the gate for over an hour. Then we were told to get off the plane, as the flight was being cancelled due to bad weather in NY. Oddly, about two hours later they reboarded our plane with the next flight--which was full, so those of us on the original flight were SOL. Another two hours later, I made it on a stand-by list. And the weather in NY? Just fine.
• USAir, Newark to Pittsburgh: The plane's on schedule when I arrive. Then, just about as we're scheduled to board, I'm told that the plane hasn't even left Pittsburgh yet due to traffic in Newark. We leave about 90 minutes after that. I arrive at my hotel after midnight.

Continue reading "Air Bus"

Posted by Jennifer Reingold at 3:54 PM | 5 Comments

March 16, 2006

Not Keeping Banker's Hours

There's a great story in today's Washington Post about a hair salon that opens at 5 a.m. in order to meet the appointment needs of its type-A clientele.

While I might not wake before dawn to get a haircut, I've always found it challenging to break away from work during the day for basic life maintenance errands like this. And the story raises a deeper question:

Are you there for your customers and employees when they need you? To what lengths do you go to in order to make sure you are?

Posted by Heath Row at 12:19 PM | 15 Comments

February 27, 2006

Customer, Serve Us

Two recent articles in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal make an excellent parallel read.

Yesterday, the Times, Fast Company founding editor William Taylor considered the sorry state of the customer service call center. Contending that chief executives could best listen to the "voice of the customer" by answering the phone, Taylor holds up organizations such as Commerce Bank and ING Direct as customer service leaders to learn from.

Continue reading "Customer, Serve Us"

Posted by Heath Row at 3:57 PM | 3 Comments

February 16, 2006

Netflix'ing the Bird

Even though Netflix is widely reported to court its customers by providing a top-of-the-line customer experience, recent reports shed light on some possible chinks in the online service's armor.

Turns out that Netflix slows the service of its most active renters. To wit: New subscribers and infrequent renters are often given preferential service. Frequent renters end up receiving the next DVDs in their queues more slowly, and they may wait awhile for new releases.

While, as an avid Netflix renter, I'm somewhat disappointed -- this kind of makes sense: Infrequent renters make Netflix more money; active renters cost more to maintain because of fulfillment labor. What do you think?

Posted by Heath Row at 3:04 PM | 20 Comments

January 9, 2006

Service Drive

In the latest issue of Fast Company, James P. Womack ponders why companies struggle to fix the problems we encounter when using their products or services (the story is available to subscribers right now).

The key, says Womack, is to solve customers' problems "completely and without hassle" and he uses the example of Fujitsu Services in Europe which works with product providers to analyse and eliminate the reasons why customers call helplines in the first place.

I've just come across another, smaller scale example. Ian Fletcher runs a small country pub, the Little Mill Inn, in Mellor - a little village outside Manchester in northern England. His customers' problem? Crackdowns on drink-driving mean they no longer want to drive out to a country pub for a drink. So Fletcher has bought an old Routemaster bus - one of the iconic red double-deckers which have just been retired from service in London - to ferry his regulars between Mellor and the surrounding areas.

Problem solved - completely and without hassle.

Posted by Ian Wylie at 9:02 AM | 3 Comments

December 20, 2005

Chocolatier to Holiday Shopper: Drop Dead

Here’s a Yuletide tale to chill the hearts of brand managers everywhere:

One of the things I am most thankful for this year, is the gift of a new friend. Joanne came into my life when I was new to town, overwhelmed with trying to recreate a whole new support system – from doctors to hairdressers – and missing my long-time buds back in Boston. She is generous to a fault, and has a remarkable knack for calling just when I need somebody to talk to. The first time she and her husband got together with me and mine, she took us to a wonderful little chocolate shop in Soho called Marie Belle, where we had the most extraordinary hot chocolate.

To thank her for her many kindnesses this year, I wanted to get her a can of that very special cocoa. I work in midtown Manhattan; the shop is downtown --- about 50 blocks away. So I hopped a subway after work last night, lugging my laptop and all my gear –notes, tape recorder, etc. -- for working at home, in preparation for a long-anticipated transit strike in the morning. I got to the shop at – literally – 7:02, only to discover that the store had closed at 7 p.m. There were still 4 or 5 clerks milling about inside.

Continue reading "Chocolatier to Holiday Shopper: Drop Dead"

Posted by Linda Tischler at 10:36 AM | 36 Comments

December 16, 2005

E-Government Coup

For the first time, customer satisfaction with federal agency Websites has surpassed offline government services, an American Customer Satisfaction Index report showed Thursday.

According to the annual 100-point index -- a joint effort by the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, the American Society of Quality, CFI Group, and the Treasury Department's Federal Consulting Group -- e-government reached a record-high 73.9 satisfaction rate, improving 2.5% over last year. By contrast, satisfaction with offline government services fell 1.1% to 72.1, the first drop in three years and in line with a more general decline in satisfaction with private-sector services.

But where the gap between offline public and private services has narrowed, the report said, e-government is trailing far behind the private sector online. That, said ACSI chief Claes Fornell, shows room for improvement: "They still have ground to close," he said.

Part of that distance, Fornell added, will be made up by initiatives like the E-Government Act of 2002, which seeks to improve online federal resources.

Posted by Angus Loten at 3:56 PM | 2 Comments

September 13, 2005

You Got Served!

Looks like Cingular just got kicked out of New York's Better Business Bureau because they had too many unresolved service complaints. Will this make a difference on Cingular's bottom line? Probably not.

Customer service should be more transparent, with companies frequently being recognized for their outstanding service or complete lack of attention. Besides trolling the various opinion websites, how can someone locate reliable customer service reviews? Even an authority like BBB has a far from perfect listing. It would be a mammoth task, monitoring hundreds of companies' complaints and their performance in addressing them. Such a Web site, if popular enough, could affect consumers' buying decisions and the companies they trust. So maybe when certain corporations' profits rise while others' fall, maybe customer service will get greater attention.

How do you think Customer Service could receive more focus?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 2:58 PM | 6 Comments

August 16, 2005

And That Dell "Dude" Is Gone. Coincidence?

The 2005 American Customer Satisfaction Index was released today. The big story is Yahoo catching up to top website Google. But, what I found most intriguing were the ACSI results in the computer category. Apple remains number one in customer service with an 81. It was a position they had last year, just beating out Dell. But this year Dell dropped a whopping five points to 74, giving Apple a significant lead of seven points. I would infer that when a company grows too big (Dell), it may fail to keep its core customers happy. Apple has remained the underdog in personal computing and its fans have remained fanatical.

So, what can Dell learn from Apple? What can any business? As you grow and serve more people you need to increase your support staff too. What's the point of expanding to new heights of profit if it leads to losing customers and a decrease in future sales? Why do you think Dell has fallen behind Apple?

Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at 10:13 AM | 2 Comments

August 11, 2005

Say It Ain't So, Joe

On summer mornings, I often stop by Au Bon Pain on my way to work to get an iced coffee. At $1.40 for 20 ounces, it's a pretty good deal. Even better, Au Bon Pain (French for "cheaper coffee than Starbucks") also has one of those punch card deals where every sixth drink was free.

So, imagine my shock this week when, going to get a new drink card, I discovered they'd gone and upped the ante. No longer would that jolt of free caffeine be hitting my lips after paying for five; Now I've got to buy seven before reaping the fruits of my patronage. Outrageous, I tell you! Au Bon Pain, what's up with that?

Still, it is nice that they still offer the free-drink program, a rarity these days. Subway stopped its own decades-old free-sandwich promotion two months ago after it found people had been making counterfeit stamps.

How many companies still do this sort of promotion? What's your favorite?

Posted by Michael Prospero at 2:06 PM | 11 Comments

August 9, 2005

How Innovative Leadership Impacts Customer Experience: Part 2

This may sound like the beginning of a bad joke: What do you get when you combine:

• A nuclear engineer
• A rap artist
• An FBI agent
• An AOL / Time Warner executive
• A professional stand-up comedian

How about a church leadership team? As an experience architect, I've been exploring ways that innovative leadership is imprinted on customer experience. New Life Christian Church is a great case study. It's one of those unique places where the customer experience definitely reflects the drive and innovation of its leaders... and there's something to be learned for all.

Continue reading "How Innovative Leadership Impacts Customer Experience: Part 2"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 7:39 PM | Add Comment

Differentiation That Works?

Mark Northern asked in his previous post about differentiators that work. Here's .02 cents from someone in the trenches with folks engineering new products and messages every day.

The differentiators that work are the differentiators that matter most. The differentiators that matter most depend on the individual. Individuals in today's marketplace don't always know what they want, and are conditioned to be more fickle, discontent and less patient.

Delivering differentiation messaging effectively is unquestionably more complex today than it ever has been. This isn't just because our customers are now more educated than ever. We're also dealing with online and offline channel proliferation, a lack of data standards, systems integration, and a shortage of seasoned quantitative analytics staff who can make sense out of mounting customer information...

But that's a topic for another day... Here's the good news: In this era of tight competition and commoditization, the differentiator that matters most may have less to do with your product than you think.

Continue reading "Differentiation That Works?"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 2:46 PM | Add Comment

Many Happy Returns

The lock on my bicycle broke yesterday. What made it even more annoying was the fact that I bought it last week. I hopped on my bike and rode back to the store to get a new one.

Now, I knew that I didn't have the receipt (it cost 20 bucks) but I also thought they should just give me a new one, regardless, just for selling junk. Besides, I had also bought a new bike for 600 bucks, so I thought I was entitled to get something back.

I showed my lock (with the broken key inside) to the clerk who examined it. And I know that nobody wants to have customers come back with stuff. I know it probably means some kind of hassle for them, internally.

Continue reading "Many Happy Returns"

Posted by Risto Pakarinen at 5:27 AM | 3 Comments

August 8, 2005

How Innovative Leadership Impacts Customer Experience - Part 1

We've talked a lot about innovative leadership. As an experience architect, I'm also interested in how innovative leadership is reflected in customer experience. Let me hear from you on this one.

I'll start us off by contributing some information about a company called Honest Tea, which relates to Peter Rees' post on Social Impact and Profit.

Honest Tea's Co-Founder Seth Goldman's passion for quality, community, culture and socially responsible trade is reflected in the products he makes. As an innovative tea aficionado, Seth introduced high quality, less sweet teas, bottled with social conscience to the market in 1998. His teas and newly launched lemonades are now sold at national retailers and health food stores around the country.

Continue reading "How Innovative Leadership Impacts Customer Experience - Part 1"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 10:57 PM | 2 Comments

Why Integrated Marketing Makes Me Shudder

I've been spending a lot of time with disappointed executives who mistakenly assumed that integrating the marketing department would revolutionize marketing and dramatically improve customer acquisition and relationship management.

More than a few of these executives (especially the ones on the hook for the technology ROI) are now fighting to keep their jobs.

Were they wrong about their investment in CRM tools? No, but that may not help much.

These executives are now steeped in the knowledge that truly integrated marketing can only be driven out of a truly integrated organization. Creating such an organization spans beyond the marketer's area of influence and control and stands in the way of improved experience and customer-centricity. A lack of organizational integration also impedes effective collaboration and frustrates the sales and marketing process.

Continue reading "Why Integrated Marketing Makes Me Shudder"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 12:50 PM | Add Comment

Get Smart about Managing Marketing Burnout

According to the UK Recruitment firm, the Hudson Group, 44% of all marketers are facing burnout. I haven't seen any US figures on this yet, but last week's article in Brand Republic reinforces one of my hypotheses that today's marketers are being stretched beyond their limits.

The UK is feeling the backlash in the form of increasing absenteeism, turnover, poor morale and declines in productivity and quality of output. Conduct an informal quick poll of the marketers around you. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that this phenomenon is present in the US, as well.

Wanted: Marketer.

Continue reading "Get Smart about Managing Marketing Burnout"

Posted by Leigh from LivePath.net at 10:40 AM | 3 Comments

July 12, 2005

Not So Service-Oriented

As we prepare for our annual Customers First feature, I had what may only be described as a Customers Last experience this weekend.

I called Symantec's customer helpline because of a virus problem and Norton difficulties and, no suprise, was connected to an outsourced call center. After SEVEN hours on the phone with six Symantec employees, I hung up on the last person because he giggled when I told him how frustrated I was.

Continue reading "Not So Service-Oriented"

Posted by Melissa Korn at 10:07 AM | 2 Comments

July 11, 2005

Customer Management Metrics

A recent study conducted by AMR Research has indicated some interesting trends in customer management. Bottom line: More than 25% of IT budgets will be dedicated to managing customer relationships, and half of the responding companies will increase their budgets.

We're currently seeking Fast Company reader input for our 2005 Customers First Awards. Where do you see clear investments in customer service? How does your company invest in customer management?

Posted by Heath Row at 4:11 PM | Add Comment

June 2, 2005

The Other Side of Customer Service

Good customer service is at a premium these days, from the Starbucks barista around the corner to the IT help staff in Bangalore. So it was interesting to read their side of the story, in this case, through the eyes of a bouncer in New York. His lascivious, yet literate postings on dealing with the rocket scientists that pass through the doors of his club are a good, if not-entirely-safe-for-work reminder that sometimes, the customer can be wrong.

Posted by Michael Prospero at 12:51 PM | 7 Comments

May 25, 2005

How to Lose a Customer (Epilogue)

I realized, after my vent earlier today about National Geographic, that I never closed the loop on an earlier screed--that one, regarding my home alarm system and ADT.

The executive summary of that post: I got ticked off at ADT's appallingly poor service--and, when time came to pick a new vendor, went elsewhere.

So, here's the update. I enjoy a slightly eccentic hobby, in situations like this, of writing old-fashioned letters of complaint to the boss. Partly because doing so makes me feel better, but also because I'm curious what effect, if any, the letter will have.

So I wrote Ed Breen, the CEO of Tyco, ADT's parent company. Pretty much spilled my guts; told him the whole, sad story.

Continue reading "How to Lose a Customer (Epilogue)"

Posted by Keith Hammonds at 1:54 PM | 10 Comments

This Is Convenience?

My wife received a postcard the other day. Return address was Magazine Direct Inc., Salt Lake City. Spartan white with anonymous black type. Presorted postage rate. Looked like junk mail.

I happened to read it first. "Thank you for being a valued customer. We hope you have been enjoying your service, as your complete satisfaction is our goal." Still sounded like junk mail.

And then...

Continue reading "This Is Convenience?"

Posted by Keith Hammonds at 9:33 AM | 17 Comments

March 16, 2005

How to Lose a Customer

We've had an ADT security system since we moved into our home nearly 12 years ago. If you've never had such a service, it works like this: You sink a fairly large sum (often, $1000 or more) into installation of the hardware, then you pay a monthly fee (in ADT's case, for us, $30.36) for the company to monitor the system and report any alarms indicating break-in, fire, or other bad stuff.

Our ADT system was getting old and crotchety, and we were getting tired of waiting two weeks for a service technician when we needed one. So I called ADT (supposedly the nation's largest such company, and a division of Tyco) and two smaller, regional security companies to get estimates on new systems.

Continue reading "How to Lose a Customer"

Posted by Keith Hammonds at 9:12 AM | 13 Comments

March 4, 2005

Amazon: Priming the Pump?

I got a package from Amazon.com last night. There's nothing remarkable about that, per se. But I did do a Barney Rubble double take when I saw it, because in my confirmation email, Amazon had said I'd be lucky if it arrived by March 17.

Truth be told, I've gotten used to Amazon's underpromise, overdeliver act. It likes to scare you into premium shipping options to get your order faster until you realize that you're basically going to get whatever you bought very quickly no matter which shipping option you choose. Once you're hip to it, you realize that this boy is crying wolf yet again and you ignore it and pick the cheap shipping.

So with the new, relentlessly promoted Amazon Prime, where you give Amazon $79 a year and it guarantees 2-day shipping for 1 million in-stock items, I have to wonder if Amazon will now drop the overdelivery act for non-members, particularly those who choose super-saver shipping. Otherwise, what would be the point of Prime? What's my incentive to pick Prime when I'm basically getting the value from Prime, for free, now? Keep your eye on your packages, folks, and then we'll have our answer.

Posted by David Lidsky at 9:58 AM | 6 Comments

December 17, 2004

Feemaster

I know I am not breaking any new ground here by complaining about Ticketmaster and its fees, but Ticketmaster is clearly thinking creatively about how to further infuriate its customers. I just bought a couple of tickets today for a concert and here's the breakdown:

2 tickets: $51.50 each, $103.00 total

Convenience charge: $10.20 per ticket, $20.40 total

Order processing charge: $4.10 (So just what is the convenience charge then? Beats me. It's convenient to stick me up this way so Ticketmaster can make its numbers each quarter, but beyond that, I am mystified.)

Continue reading "Feemaster"

Posted by David Lidsky at 3:11 PM | 5 Comments

November 30, 2004

Coffee, Tea, or...

I had an unusual surprise on my way back from San Francisco to New York yesterday, 8 month old in tow: Friendly faces and decent service. It's no secret that virtually every airline is on the edge of going under these days, thanks to 9/11, fuel costs, and various management messups. The employees have piad the steepest prices, in the forms of layoffs, and for the lucky ones, dramatic salary reductions. It's hard to imagine how these folks keep going as their jobs get harder, the pay gets lower and their pensions disappear. Traveling lately, I've expected bad service, and I haven't been disappointed.

But these American Airlines stewardesses, harried as they seemed, someone how managed to seem as if they liked their jobs yesterday. The gate agent managed to find the last available seat and let my baby on in her car seat for free--saving me from 5 guaranteed hours of hell (and everone else on the plane, too!). Another held my purse for 20 minutes while I got things adjusted. Still another appointed herself the ambassador for a very old woman who needed to be practically carried to the restroom every hour or so.

None of these things would have been shocking in the olden days. They all go with the job description. But it got me thinking: how do you keep the game face on when working in a demoralized industry? How do you provide service with a smile when you're crying inside? Ideas?

Posted by Jennifer Reingold at 3:10 PM | 9 Comments

October 26, 2004

Why'd You Have to Go?

FC Now reader Susie Wyshak writes:

Many companies who "lose" customers never ask why. If you want to skip a month of Netflix, you have to cancel your membership. They keep your account information, and when you come back, you receive a welcome email and orientation to Netflix. In the meantime, I have lots of friends who cancel to go on vacation and decide not to renew. How hard would it be to add this?

I moved to a place where I'm renting a room and don't need a phone line. Working Assets has sent repeated "we want you back" letters without once asking me why I "left." In the meantime, companies I really have left such as American Express keep sending me emails as if I were still a member.

She makes an interesting point. Why try to get someone back if you don't even know why they left in the first place? When people resign from the Company of Friends, I usually email them to ask why. What do you do in terms of "exit interviews" for customers?

Posted by Heath Row at 6:50 PM | 6 Comments