It is a simple change:
Today: Your call may be monitored for quality and training purposes.
Tomorrow: Your call will not be monitored for quality assurance; your opinion and advice is much more valuable than ours.
Let's face it. It is true. We spend our own money, use our own resources and evaluate our own performance knowing full well that there is someone else more credible, reliable and affordable; our customer. We know this yet for many we do nothing about it. We miss one very key component about this "obvious" perspective. What we miss is that our employees believe it as well.
What works better? Advice and direction (especially critique and request for change) from our managers and QA that we pay for or advice and direction from our customer. Not on a report or chart but real feedback and direction from our customers. It's okay; you can admit it because it is not even close. 10 times more valuable; 20 times? Do we hear 50? Our customers are more credible to us and more importantly our front-line employees.
Are you bold enough to change your announcement?
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Salesforce figured it out...
A belated update to my salesforce problem. When the account was set up for my upgrade the wrong platform was inserted. As a result, when upgraded it would not take on the attributes required. In other words a very small mistake very early in the process caused the issue.
Once they figured it out, they fixed it right away. They also called me and told me it was fixed (Good job salesforce...)
Once they figured it out, they fixed it right away. They also called me and told me it was fixed (Good job salesforce...)
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Recently I contacted Salesforce with a question regarding my account. I own two "group edition" platforms for two separate business's. With that platform comes a standard set of reporting and dashboards. You get the dashboards that are pre-set only. If you want to customize dashboards you must move to a higher offering etc.
Salesforce lists this feature as one of it's key benefits for the platform.
One of my accounts was not showing the dashboards at all. The page that accesses the dashboard was showing a dead page.
I first chose the "chat" service for help. In the chat I stated:" My account does not have a dashboard. I own two accounts that are the same services. One has a dashboard and the other does not. We need help."
There was not chat person available. It kept telling me someone was coming soon. After 40 minutes, I went on to something else. When I returned, there was a " This is John how can I help you (type message) and then a sign off and recommendation to re-engage for help.
I then called and got a service representative on the phone. He had an "accent" so I am not sure if it was this shore or some other shore. I explained my problem. He repeated it and then asked for access to my salesforce live account. I gave it to him. He verified that we did not have dashboards. He then asked if he could see my other account to see what "that one had set up since it had dashboards..." I informed him that this was a feature that Salesforce had listed as a top benefit of their service offering. This could not be unique. He insisted on seeing the "other account". After opening the other account, he verified that I did in fact have a dashboard ( I told him I did...). He then put me on hold. After three minutes ( we have now been at this 45 minutes...) he came on and told me he talked to his supervisor and although what I was asking for was not supported, he would help me. He then led me into their APPE exchange and found two vendor solutions and neither worked. ( Why Salesforce has a feature offered as a key component and they do not own it or load it ahead of time is another issue here...) I then asked for someone else to help and he told me that he had escalated the problem and someone would call me back in 24 to 48 hours.
After hanging up I sent an email to my sales person. Within 30 minutes my sales person sent me an email telling me that they were no longer my sales person and gave me the new name ( copied her as well). In the letter he stated that because of "growth" I had changed.
30 minutes later my "sales person" sent me a note and told me they were no longer my sales person, due to growth it was now a new person. About five hours later, sales person number "two" verified that I was indeed the being supported by sales person number "three" and they would be getting in touch with me.
No response from either the escalation or the "third" sales person.
Some thoughts:
1. It is blatantly obvious when you get someone on the phone for support that does not know what they are doing. He had no clue how to verify the problem let alone fix it. What was so painful was that this is a key feature of the program and he had no clue what it was. Recognizing that every call center has to have new people which means a learning curve there must be a standard to "get on the phone". New and "learning" is okay. Customers are patient and recognize that people can be new at something. In the right situation a new person can build loyalty by trying to solve the problem. In this situation a quick escalation is needed to not lose the customers support. New and "clueless" is unacceptable. Having to prove they offered the feature was craziness.
2. For the consumer- I stayed on the phone with the guy way too long. My gut told me he did not know what he was doing. I hate to ask for a supervisor/second level too early. Some people just ask immediately, I don't. At the same time, I waited too long and slowly started to get mad at myself for investing my time. (Thus the long blog...)
3. There is a reason that call centers measure first resolution. It makes a difference. When a customer calls with a problem and hangs up with the same problem you have serious dissatisfaction and a loss of confidence. Not getting the answer or outcome they wanted is a different experience then not accomplishing anything. I have the lowest service level at Salesforce so they delay of 24-48 hours can easily be solved by me paying more money for quicker support. No problem there except my"problem" is a standard everyday feature that should not have to wait two days to fix. Hopefully you see the difference. Service people must have the ability ( companies need to have the process) to escalate or "transcend" the standard support terms when the problem is so basic to operations. In other words, they should have escalated me anyway right at that moment with or without a "premier contract".
4. On the selling side, there is just no excuse. I appreciate the "second salesperson" following up however I am still waiting on the 3rd....
I would tell you how it all ended but I still do not have a "dashboard" so the results are still pending....
Salesforce lists this feature as one of it's key benefits for the platform.
One of my accounts was not showing the dashboards at all. The page that accesses the dashboard was showing a dead page.
I first chose the "chat" service for help. In the chat I stated:" My account does not have a dashboard. I own two accounts that are the same services. One has a dashboard and the other does not. We need help."
There was not chat person available. It kept telling me someone was coming soon. After 40 minutes, I went on to something else. When I returned, there was a " This is John how can I help you (type message) and then a sign off and recommendation to re-engage for help.
I then called and got a service representative on the phone. He had an "accent" so I am not sure if it was this shore or some other shore. I explained my problem. He repeated it and then asked for access to my salesforce live account. I gave it to him. He verified that we did not have dashboards. He then asked if he could see my other account to see what "that one had set up since it had dashboards..." I informed him that this was a feature that Salesforce had listed as a top benefit of their service offering. This could not be unique. He insisted on seeing the "other account". After opening the other account, he verified that I did in fact have a dashboard ( I told him I did...). He then put me on hold. After three minutes ( we have now been at this 45 minutes...) he came on and told me he talked to his supervisor and although what I was asking for was not supported, he would help me. He then led me into their APPE exchange and found two vendor solutions and neither worked. ( Why Salesforce has a feature offered as a key component and they do not own it or load it ahead of time is another issue here...) I then asked for someone else to help and he told me that he had escalated the problem and someone would call me back in 24 to 48 hours.
After hanging up I sent an email to my sales person. Within 30 minutes my sales person sent me an email telling me that they were no longer my sales person and gave me the new name ( copied her as well). In the letter he stated that because of "growth" I had changed.
30 minutes later my "sales person" sent me a note and told me they were no longer my sales person, due to growth it was now a new person. About five hours later, sales person number "two" verified that I was indeed the being supported by sales person number "three" and they would be getting in touch with me.
No response from either the escalation or the "third" sales person.
Some thoughts:
1. It is blatantly obvious when you get someone on the phone for support that does not know what they are doing. He had no clue how to verify the problem let alone fix it. What was so painful was that this is a key feature of the program and he had no clue what it was. Recognizing that every call center has to have new people which means a learning curve there must be a standard to "get on the phone". New and "learning" is okay. Customers are patient and recognize that people can be new at something. In the right situation a new person can build loyalty by trying to solve the problem. In this situation a quick escalation is needed to not lose the customers support. New and "clueless" is unacceptable. Having to prove they offered the feature was craziness.
2. For the consumer- I stayed on the phone with the guy way too long. My gut told me he did not know what he was doing. I hate to ask for a supervisor/second level too early. Some people just ask immediately, I don't. At the same time, I waited too long and slowly started to get mad at myself for investing my time. (Thus the long blog...)
3. There is a reason that call centers measure first resolution. It makes a difference. When a customer calls with a problem and hangs up with the same problem you have serious dissatisfaction and a loss of confidence. Not getting the answer or outcome they wanted is a different experience then not accomplishing anything. I have the lowest service level at Salesforce so they delay of 24-48 hours can easily be solved by me paying more money for quicker support. No problem there except my"problem" is a standard everyday feature that should not have to wait two days to fix. Hopefully you see the difference. Service people must have the ability ( companies need to have the process) to escalate or "transcend" the standard support terms when the problem is so basic to operations. In other words, they should have escalated me anyway right at that moment with or without a "premier contract".
4. On the selling side, there is just no excuse. I appreciate the "second salesperson" following up however I am still waiting on the 3rd....
I would tell you how it all ended but I still do not have a "dashboard" so the results are still pending....
Monday, June 20, 2011
Say what?
My mortgage is with Litton Loans. I ran into a problem the other day. I needed a statement of my activity. Figured I could get it online and created an online account. I could not figure out how to print a report so I sent the following:
"I have opened an online account and I want to print off my statement. When I click on view my statement, nothing comes up... What do I do?"
This was the first response I received:
Dear Michael Tamer :
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your mortgage loan. You are a valued customer and we hope to assist you as soon as possible. Please allow 60 business days for a Customer Service Specialist to properly research and respond to your inquiry. It is important that you continue making your monthly payments according to your loan agreement.
We appreciate your consideration in this matter. If we can be of further assistance, please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-247-9727.
Sincerely,
Litton Loan Servicing LP
They are going to "assist me as soon as possible" but I should allow 60 days?
What possible strategy would they have for putting 60 days?
What is crazy is that they sent me an email the very next day and answered my question:
Dear Michael Tamer :
In regards to the inquiry you posted to our website on 26-MAY-11 :
The response to your inquiry is:
Our records reflect your loan is set up on automatic payments. Therefore Billing Statements are not generated. A copy of the Detail Transaction History ("History") will be mailed to you under separate cover. This History documents the transaction dates with an effective backdate, if applicable, brief descriptions, next due date, principal balance, and how the funds were applied.
Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office. You may call our Customer Service Department at 800-247-9727 or the Default Counseling area at 800-999-8501. If you wish to respond via email, please access our website at http://www.LittonLoan.com and forward a new inquiry through the 'Contact Us' page.
Sincerely,
Litton Loan Servicing LP
I have heard of setting "low expectations" and then exceeding them but this is taking things a little too far.
Some thoughts:
1. Set a target for response that you can meet on a professional and regular basis. I recognize the value in "over-peforming" however this time period is way too long. When you set such a long period you can expect to immediately get a phone call.
2. Recommended target should be next business day at the latest.
3. Do not use terms like : "We hope to assist you." This implies that you might not be capable of assisting (as in competent) or maybe even in worse; " we are not sure we have enough people".
I appreciate the next day response.
"I have opened an online account and I want to print off my statement. When I click on view my statement, nothing comes up... What do I do?"
This was the first response I received:
Dear Michael Tamer :
Thank you for your recent inquiry regarding your mortgage loan. You are a valued customer and we hope to assist you as soon as possible. Please allow 60 business days for a Customer Service Specialist to properly research and respond to your inquiry. It is important that you continue making your monthly payments according to your loan agreement.
We appreciate your consideration in this matter. If we can be of further assistance, please contact our Customer Service Department at 1-800-247-9727.
Sincerely,
Litton Loan Servicing LP
They are going to "assist me as soon as possible" but I should allow 60 days?
What possible strategy would they have for putting 60 days?
What is crazy is that they sent me an email the very next day and answered my question:
Dear Michael Tamer :
In regards to the inquiry you posted to our website on 26-MAY-11 :
The response to your inquiry is:
Our records reflect your loan is set up on automatic payments. Therefore Billing Statements are not generated. A copy of the Detail Transaction History ("History") will be mailed to you under separate cover. This History documents the transaction dates with an effective backdate, if applicable, brief descriptions, next due date, principal balance, and how the funds were applied.
Should you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office. You may call our Customer Service Department at 800-247-9727 or the Default Counseling area at 800-999-8501. If you wish to respond via email, please access our website at http://www.LittonLoan.com and forward a new inquiry through the 'Contact Us' page.
Sincerely,
Litton Loan Servicing LP
I have heard of setting "low expectations" and then exceeding them but this is taking things a little too far.
Some thoughts:
1. Set a target for response that you can meet on a professional and regular basis. I recognize the value in "over-peforming" however this time period is way too long. When you set such a long period you can expect to immediately get a phone call.
2. Recommended target should be next business day at the latest.
3. Do not use terms like : "We hope to assist you." This implies that you might not be capable of assisting (as in competent) or maybe even in worse; " we are not sure we have enough people".
I appreciate the next day response.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Customers at work....
One of our clients, recently asked a question of their customer in response to a customer service interaction they had just completed. The question was; "What should "Tom" be proud of from your conversation?" Here is what that customer wrote:
"His attitude. He even answered the phone like he liked his job. How someone says hello to me seems to really affect how I feel for the rest of my dealings with that person. It is amazing how problems get solved quicker and more efficiently when you are dealing with someone like him."
How many times do we tell our employees that the tone of their voice matters?
How often do we express that how you start a call goes a long way to how well you finish?
How can we keep an employee focused on the fact that for the customer this is their most important issue and not simply one of "50" we will deal with today?
This customer communicated this information to "Tom" directly and with passion. Tom's behavior will be affected by this comment. Tom will remember this comment.
Will you?
www.tamerpartners.com
"His attitude. He even answered the phone like he liked his job. How someone says hello to me seems to really affect how I feel for the rest of my dealings with that person. It is amazing how problems get solved quicker and more efficiently when you are dealing with someone like him."
How many times do we tell our employees that the tone of their voice matters?
How often do we express that how you start a call goes a long way to how well you finish?
How can we keep an employee focused on the fact that for the customer this is their most important issue and not simply one of "50" we will deal with today?
This customer communicated this information to "Tom" directly and with passion. Tom's behavior will be affected by this comment. Tom will remember this comment.
Will you?
www.tamerpartners.com
Sunday, January 9, 2011
A Belated Happy New Year & Year End Reviews
Only nine days behind schedule on wishing you a Happy New Year. "Having done that...". let's talk about 2011 and the opportunity in front of us.
At the end of December I had the privilege to watch one of our clients working through reviews. A laborious task for the Supervisor and really nerve wracking for the employee that receives it. What was fascinating is that the manager was doing a whole bunch of cutting and pasting of direct customer comments in to each review question. The supervisor had figured out that the employees were much more receptive to comments from customers than they were from the supervisor throughout the year. The year end review was not going to be any different. On average over 50% of the supervisors comments about the employees performance were directly from the customers.
Even more impressive was that when the supervisor directed the employees to areas of improvement for the coming year, they also targeted the customers to "watch and coach these areas". It sounded something like this.
"George it is clear from this past year that your biggest area of improvement needs to be improving your empathy with your customers- Customer One: George did a good job but I did not feel he really cared about me or my problem. He helped me but it did not seem like he really wanted to help. Customer Two: I had to repeat myself three times. Don't get me wrong, he heard me; I could just never get him to see my problem...
In 2011, George we are going to instruct the customers to look specifically for you to show empathy and express care and concern for their problems. We will also provide you with a review of material....
Customers actively involved in finding the problems, verifying the behavior and then part of changing the behavior. One more thing, the customers were not paid for this direct involvement. They did it because they care.
Almost like empathy....
www.tamerpartners.com
At the end of December I had the privilege to watch one of our clients working through reviews. A laborious task for the Supervisor and really nerve wracking for the employee that receives it. What was fascinating is that the manager was doing a whole bunch of cutting and pasting of direct customer comments in to each review question. The supervisor had figured out that the employees were much more receptive to comments from customers than they were from the supervisor throughout the year. The year end review was not going to be any different. On average over 50% of the supervisors comments about the employees performance were directly from the customers.
Even more impressive was that when the supervisor directed the employees to areas of improvement for the coming year, they also targeted the customers to "watch and coach these areas". It sounded something like this.
"George it is clear from this past year that your biggest area of improvement needs to be improving your empathy with your customers- Customer One: George did a good job but I did not feel he really cared about me or my problem. He helped me but it did not seem like he really wanted to help. Customer Two: I had to repeat myself three times. Don't get me wrong, he heard me; I could just never get him to see my problem...
In 2011, George we are going to instruct the customers to look specifically for you to show empathy and express care and concern for their problems. We will also provide you with a review of material....
Customers actively involved in finding the problems, verifying the behavior and then part of changing the behavior. One more thing, the customers were not paid for this direct involvement. They did it because they care.
Almost like empathy....
www.tamerpartners.com
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Words vs. Numbers
Here is the test. Which would you rather have for customer experience feedback?
A. On a scale of 1 to 5 how would you rate our customer service? Score: 4.7
B. Customer response:" I like your company and you did a great job with our service. Your service representative George took some extra time and fixed my information so it would be easier to purchase again.
Most people would choose B.
How about this one?
A. On a scale of 1 to 5 how would you rate our customer service? ( 5,000 responses) Score: 4.7
B. Customer Response (1): Your representative George did a good job. He was typing while I was talking so I had to repeat myself a couple of times. Your competitor ABC Corporation is now offering a change in their services for a much shorter delivery time. I wish you folks would offer that.
Now which one would you pick? Which one is best for George?
Words as you know are powerful. Most executives want numbers. They "role up" much better than customer comments and words. For your front-line representatives, they want words. Words truly change behavior. Numbers are valuable but there are too many for a front-line representative. If you want behavior change, look for words from your customers.
Monday, September 20, 2010
Award Ceremony in San Diego California
This week on Monday the North Texas Toll Authority won the "Presidents Award" from the IBTTA (International Tolling) for their Customer Driven Management program. The Chairman of the Board; Paul Wageman accepted the award on behalf of the NTTA.
The NTTA won an award because 1000's of their customers have chosen to participate in coaching, encouraging and giving advice to NTTA's front-line customer service and sales folks.
When was the last time your company won an award for being truly Customer Driven?
www.tamerpartners.com
PS: San Diego is amazing.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Saving Money with Your Customers Help
If you are not focused on finding ways to save money then you must be working for a company on another planet. The economy stinks for most industries and the pressure is on to find ways to save money. Here is a unique concept, let you customers help you out.
Using Customer Driven Management, your customers can help do the work for you that either A. You do not have the time or resources to do it they way you really want it done or B. You do not have the time or resources to do it at all.
Customers not only can help but they want to help as well.
Here are some areas where you can reduce costs in your customer sales and service areas with CDM:
1. Customers can help you coach employees. You can raise the Supervisor to Employee ratios by adding the customers into the coaching process. You end up with more coaching for less cost. How much does a supervisor cost at your organization? If you could go from 1 to 15 to 1 to 20 or maybe 1 to 20 to 1 to 30, how much could you save?
2. Quality Monitoring- Let you customers into the QM process. At worst case you will still have to do compliance monitoring. Your customers can do everything else. How many QM people do you have? What if you only had to QM compliance issues? What could you save?
3. Focus groups and marketing research- Don't pay an organization to conduct expensive focus group work, use your customers. They are passionate, accurate, credible and infinite. How much do you spend in focus groups and customer experience research?
4. Mystery shopping- Use your own customers for mystery shopping. What better way to increase loyalty than to have your customers help you get better. Do you have a mystery shopping line item in your budget?
The North Texas Tollway Authority did all of they and won an award. On June 10, 2010, the NTTA put out the following press release in this link: June 10, 2010
Interested in winning an award and saving money? What value would that bring your company? What value would that bring your career?
Friday, July 9, 2010
Congratulations American Airlines!
Well done! American Airlines did it right. They made a mistake and they corrected it. I have been remiss in following up on my last blog. No excuses. American Airlines did the right thing. If you read my other blog, you can figure out what the problem was.
American Airlines changed their policy, gave me my money back and changed the airline ticket for me. Not only that they did it professionally. They wrote, they called (more than once...) and they stuck with it till it was done the right way.
Well done.
How you treat your customers matters. You know it and I know it. Our challenge is that we all think it but very few follow through and do something about it. The reason usually is we do not have enough time or money to really make any significant change. As a result, we wait, we settle, and we do not get any better.
Help is here.
We are embarking on a new program called the CDM Challenge. We partner with your customers to help you win the challenge. We take your toughest employees and put your customers to work helping them get better. That's right. Your toughest customer service employees, coached and trained by your customers. How do you win? Your employees get better! No additional hiring, no training just your most valuable asset: your customers helping you get better.
Want more information? Go to www.tpcdm.com/uwulhdl2krxc7avb
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