The Customer Service Survey
Anatomy of an Unhappy Customer
Mon - January 22, 2007 05:04 PM in
Most people have fairly decent experiences with customer service. Some people don't quite get what they want, but aren't too upset.
And then there are the calls that just get derailed from the moment the customer picks up the phone. Maybe even sooner.
As part of our Service Quality Tracker program, we invite consumers to have their customer service calls recorded and then survey them afterwards about the experience: just use our alternate toll-free phone numbers instead of the regular one (call 800-894-3218 for Apple tech support, 800-894-3639 for Dell tech support, 800-894-3552 for Gateway tech support, or 800-871-4439 for HP tech support).
We had a classic example in December from a customer trying to call Dell for technical support for her laptop--almost nothing went right, from the very first ringy-dingy. The result was a customer who complained in our survey about everything from the training of the customer service agent to the grammar in the speech recognition system.
Take a listen: This is the recording of the tech support call, and this is the recording of our survey (I've edited the recordings to remove personal information and cut some of the length out).
How many different things went wrong in this call? Let's count them:
Clearly this was a difficult call from the word Go. The customer needed someone to help her and perhaps hold her hand a little, but all she got was technical breakdowns, bureaucratic hoops, and misunderstanding. The technician did about as well as could be expected (which is to say, he tossed the call on like a hot potato), but even that just caused more frustration when the call transfer failed.
What could Dell have done better? Find a friendlier way to route calls than the "express service code." Don't allow so many errors in the speech system before transferring to an agent (even if that agent's only job is to route calls). And when the customer gives up and demands an agent, respect that choice instead of trying to force the customer to keep working through the automated system.
Posted by Peter Leppik
As part of our Service Quality Tracker program, we invite consumers to have their customer service calls recorded and then survey them afterwards about the experience: just use our alternate toll-free phone numbers instead of the regular one (call 800-894-3218 for Apple tech support, 800-894-3639 for Dell tech support, 800-894-3552 for Gateway tech support, or 800-871-4439 for HP tech support).
We had a classic example in December from a customer trying to call Dell for technical support for her laptop--almost nothing went right, from the very first ringy-dingy. The result was a customer who complained in our survey about everything from the training of the customer service agent to the grammar in the speech recognition system.
Take a listen: This is the recording of the tech support call, and this is the recording of our survey (I've edited the recordings to remove personal information and cut some of the length out).
How many different things went wrong in this call? Let's count them:
- Before the call even began--the customer was obviously irritated that her computer wasn't working properly (she couldn't get online). She never says, but I'm guessing that she'd been told to go online for technical support, but if you can't get online, well....
- At the very beginning of the call, she's talking to someone else in the room. The speech recognition system thinks she said "make a purchase."
- Then, the speech system fails to recognize the word "no" repeatedly when the customer tries to back out of the "make a purchase" confirmation.
- This leads the customer to testily ask "what part of 'no' didn't you understand?" which is, of course, not something the system is programmed to deal with.
- Once the customer finally gets into the technical support menu, the system asks for something called an "express service code." Presumably this is to help Dell route the call better, but the customer either can't find the code or is unwilling to cooperate with the speech system (and I can hardly blame her).
- Finally, the customer gives up on the automated system entirely, and starts just saying "operator" to every prompt. Naturally, the automated system is insistent on asking more questions until by the time the call goes to an agent the customer is clearly very upset.
- The poor technician doesn't stand a chance. It doesn't help that the he misinterprets the customer's problem and thinks that the problem is that she hasn't received the computer.
- And the capper: when the call is transferred to a different queue, all we get is a "fast busy."
Clearly this was a difficult call from the word Go. The customer needed someone to help her and perhaps hold her hand a little, but all she got was technical breakdowns, bureaucratic hoops, and misunderstanding. The technician did about as well as could be expected (which is to say, he tossed the call on like a hot potato), but even that just caused more frustration when the call transfer failed.
What could Dell have done better? Find a friendlier way to route calls than the "express service code." Don't allow so many errors in the speech system before transferring to an agent (even if that agent's only job is to route calls). And when the customer gives up and demands an agent, respect that choice instead of trying to force the customer to keep working through the automated system.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 05:04 PM | | | | |