The Customer Service Survey
VocaLabs' weblog providing news and commentary on the challenges of providing good customer service.
Gethuman.com
Monday - February 27, 2006 02:46 PM in
A few months ago, Paul English made the media big-time with his IVR Cheat Sheet, a list of ways to get live agent help when you call different companies. The original list has now expanded to something like 400 different companies, and the media coverage continues. Meanwhile, English (probably sensing a good thing when he's got it) has reworked the list from a blog entry into a complete web site with submission forms, FAQs, and its own logo which you can have imprinted on T-shirts, mugs, and teddy bears.
English's stated intent is to turn his original media attention into a consumer movement for better customer service. The idea is that companies who make it particularly hard to reach an agent will be shamed into providing better service. And some of those companies shouldbe ashamed.
I don't know if he will succeed or not at improving customer service generally, though I hope he manages to keep this going well beyond the current wave of media coverage.
But even if this particular effort doesn't have legs, English has clearly crystalized a strong vein of consumer discontent. Lots of people are unhappy about the way some companies treat them on the phone. Paul English did not create this situation, but he did become a locus of attention on the problem. And if this attempt at improving customer service doesn't succeed, there will be other Paul Englishes.
All of this simply validates what we've been saying for a long time:
Sooner or later companies will get the message. The question is which companies will get it sooner, and which will get it later.
Posted by Peter Leppik
I don't know if he will succeed or not at improving customer service generally, though I hope he manages to keep this going well beyond the current wave of media coverage.
But even if this particular effort doesn't have legs, English has clearly crystalized a strong vein of consumer discontent. Lots of people are unhappy about the way some companies treat them on the phone. Paul English did not create this situation, but he did become a locus of attention on the problem. And if this attempt at improving customer service doesn't succeed, there will be other Paul Englishes.
All of this simply validates what we've been saying for a long time:
- Making it hard for customers to reach an agent is a losing strategy.
- In the Internet era, negative word-of-mouth travels faster than ever.
- Quality customer service can be a significant point of brand differentiation.
Sooner or later companies will get the message. The question is which companies will get it sooner, and which will get it later.
Posted by Peter Leppik
Posted at 02:46 PM by | | | |