Service Untitled

Amazon.com’s newest customer service facility opened on Friday with a fanfare of speeches and a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The new 70,000 square-foot center in Kinetic Park, West Virginia was described as a “perfect fit” by Vice President of Amazon customer service Tom Weiland. The new site will provide the company with more flexibility to train workers and take care of customers.

There are approximately 500 employees, and Amazon is planning through a job fair to immediately hire 200 more innovators and problem solvers. The company states they look for candidates that know what needs to be done and then acts upon those tasks. Products sold and supported at the Huntington facility will be Amazon’s retail Kindle, Amazon Instant Video, and Amazon Prime. Service representatives will be handling phones, emails, and chat contacts.

Customer service representatives are recognized as valuable partners in the company’s success also. Creature comforts such as a quiet reading areas, game room with television, pool tables and ping-pong tables are available for some downtime.

So what makes Amazon so successful? After all the company is rated as one of the favorite online businesses customers want to use. The answers are obvious – Amazon makes everything easy. The company offers low prices, vast selections, fast delivery, and convenient buying and returning. The focus is on the customer experience and having everything the customer wants.

Amazon’s innovative ideas have resulted in price guarantees, alerts to rising and dropping prices, and through this builds consumer confidence – enough to be labeled as one of the “most reputable” businesses. Their product reviews have surpassed most other sites, and more people continue to use Amazon as a research tool. Even the company’s technological advances such as the Kindle e-reader, the Android app store and movie streaming service has set them apart from their competition.

In my own experience, my son just purchased a Kindle for my birthday recently, and not more than two-weeks later, the Kindle Fire was announced. I had already thrown most of the packaging away, but wrapped up the original one, sent it back, no questions asked and I am eagerly awaiting the new one when it is released on November 15.

When once asked what founder of Amazon Jeff Bezos thought about on his own time, he responded he was obsessed with customers and felt driven to become the most customer-centric company on the planet.  It looks as if that might be happening.

photo credit: Chrysaora

JetBlue Flight 504 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Newark, New Jersey was diverted to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut at 1:30 on Saturday because of a freakish snow storm affecting the East Coast. Passengers weren’t allowed to deplane until 9:30 that night and were forced to remain on the tarmac and in the aircraft for seven hours with no food, water or working bathrooms.

The situation already reeks of terrible customer service, but the airline industry often has their own particular spin on egregious situations which somehow is supposed to explain any and all miserable experiences passengers are forced to endure – of course for the sake of our safety. When a dozen passengers called 911 hoping to get an answer why they were not allowed to leave, there were no explanations given. When an unidentified pilot called for help to JetBlue and asked his own company to provide a tug and a towbar, no one from the company responded with any help.

When the plane first landed the passengers were told the plane would de-ice, refuel and fly to Newark. During the seven hour debacle, no logical answer was ever given by JetBlue.

In 2010 the Federal Aviation Commission required that an airline has to provide water and snacks to passengers and the option to deplane after three hours on a domestic flight. If the government determines the airline violated the tarmac delay rule, the airline could be fined $27,500 per passenger. Consumers are not entitled to any of the fines. Pilots did not want police to board the plane until hours later when a taped recording stated:

“I got a problem here on the airplane. I’m gonna need to have the cops on board.”

The ordeal was finally over when police and firefighters came on board to attend to a diabetic person and a paraplegic flier who had difficulty with the circulation in his legs.

The JetBlue website boasts the highest customer service rating among low-cost carriers. According to JD Powers and Associates, the airline scored high grades for the seventh year in a row. The company offers free television, free snacks, leg room and “award-winning service.”

“JetBlue is also America’s first and only airline to offer its own Customer Bill of Rights with meaningful and specific compensation for customers inconvenienced by service disruptions within JetBlue’s control.”

In a JetBlue statement, the organization apologized and blamed the situation on an “unusual combination of weather and infrastructure issues.” The next day however passengers had trouble finding new flights – many of them decided to use ground transportation to get back to Newark and their final trip destinations.

So what could JetBlue have done? Good, bad, or indifferent passengers are entitled to the truth. Two-hundred passengers sitting out on the tarmac should have been enough of an impetus to alert an official who had the power to do something and make a positive decision. It was the airport that finally sent a towbar and tow to Flight 504. JetBlue couldn’t even get it together to help their own company.

photo credit: prayitno

How many of us really take the time to sit down and Google all of the information we need to make a formal complaint when a business treats us poorly? At the time and day this poor service happens we are angry, and we vow the moment we get home we will get a letter out to the CEO of the company and reiterate the miserable events of either our last purchase or service.

As reality settles in, and the other demands of life weigh more importantly upon our daily lives, often the letter doesn’t get written. Good thing for social media and Twitter however, but will that solve all of the problems we can’t quite condense to 140 characters or less? Sometimes we just need a letter with the chronology of events to point out every wrong either imagined or real done to us while spending our hard-earned dollars.

So who do we tell about bad service? Most of us will tell our friends. We go out for a Saturday night dinner with our neighbors, our relatives or our co-workers and the conversation most likely centers around that last unhappy experience at the airport, the restaurant, or the mall. Sometimes we just observe another shopper losing her patience, and we’re not sure if we should stay for the “show” or join in if the complaint is valid. Still imagine all the damage this entire bad customer service experience has had on the business.

How many times have any of us just left our would-be purchases on the ledge or on the counter because service was so slow? That then becomes a direct hit in the company’s wallet, but what can we do about some of this to make service better and keep customers coming back?

Some organizations seem to have misplaced the concept of customers first. Instead company policy intended to streamline and reduce costs wind up costing an organization more money. For example – a consumer’s cable television isn’t working correctly and the customer is told to call back later to see if the problem has been resolved. Unfortunately the  customer has then to repeat the entire telephone maze process again – thus releasing that exhaled breath of pure frustration and obscene muttered curse words.

What happens to customer service when the right candidates aren’t hired for the job? Customer service requires a certain type of person – one that can effectively demonstrate their patience and knowledge of customer preferences. One size does not fit all in the people pleasing category, but all too often customer service jobs start out as entry-level positions with entry-level salaries. In the nearby mall, there is a young adult clothing store which hires its sales personnel by their physical attractiveness – agreed the young women and men are extremely good-looking, but it hasn’t been any boom to their customer service skills. Many of the representatives have had no customer service training and appear to be incapable of making decisions when required they think “out of the box.”

And what every business needs to succeed and rise above the “bad” customer service is to lead by example. I just toured Zappos last week, and along with all of the camaraderie and team spirit, one aspect of the business plan particularly captured my attention. The CEO, Tony Hsieh’s desk and “cubicle” is out in the arena with all of the associates. There’s no special sign – no fancy glass walls – just a dangling bunch of green vines hanging through the aisle way as if out of a scene from a cheesy island adventure. The point – however – Hsieh is involved with the entire organization and has made customer service a priority – not by telling his employees, but being right there in the middle of the action. That my friends is what makes great customer service.

photo credit: jeffkward

In Manchester, Connecticut Big Y Foods, a chain of 61 supermarkets is phasing out the do-it-yourself grocery shopping check out aisles. What was supposed to revolutionize and speed up a trip to the grocery store seems to falling by the wayside in a trade for the human cashiers. In fact, market studies have shown shoppers do prefer the personal contact.

When the idea was first conceived, store owners had already been anticipating less overhead; surely many of the cashiers were going to be replaced by self-check-out scanners. After all, the self-check-outs are quite popular in Kmart, Home Depot, and Walmart. Supermarkets however seem to be different. For instance,  if a shopper buys tomatoes, potatoes, wine, and bread, can a scanner get the customer checked out quicker than a cashier? Having tried it myself at a supermarket there was a bit of confusion. The scanner stopped at the wine purchase to ascertain if I was old enough, the scanner wouldn’t honor my coupons, and a mix-up on the type of tomatoes I purchased scanned the wrong price. A store manager rushed over and helped me, but that experience cost me time, and from then on I have preferred the live models.

Michael Tami, vice-president for information resources and technology for Big Y felt the automated lines were not  providing exceptional customer service, so instead opted to return to the time honored tradition of humans saying, “Hello, have you found everything you needed?”

I also can’t forget the attachment, we as humans possess for the personal touch. Here in South Florida, Publix’ customer service includes someone always willing to help customers load their groceries into their cars. Even if it’s raining – a customer can use a huge green and white umbrella to get you to your car and then pull around to the front entrance and without even getting wet, someone has been waiting to pack up your trunk.

Self-service-checkout lines undoubtedly have a lot to do with demographics. Younger consumers have grown up with self-service lines, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t expecting superior customer service. As the trend forges ahead to using bar code readings on our Smartphones, another phase of innovation – hopefully the personal touch will still move the grocery lines along quicker and more efficiently.

photo credit: Polycart

My client Jennifer called Bank of America to discuss a mortgage modification on her existing loan. Many of her friends and customers who I work with have had positive results modifying their loans; the process although at times frustrating and record intensive has helped many families remain in their homes with a more affordable monthly payment. The banks aren’t really losing anything because they do make it up at the end, they don’t have to spend the time and money on a foreclosure and sheriff’s sale, and they don’t have to clean or care for another distressed piece of real estate.

Jennifer had not spent more than ten minutes on the phone with the bank customer service representative when the agent told Jennifer she would have to ask the remainder of her questions at another time. So is each customer service agent in this very confusing section of mortgage modifications only allotted ten minutes to answer customer questions? Are bank agents pressured to end calls as quickly as possible to handle the astronomical amount of phone calls and inquiries that come in daily about mortgage problems?

I did call Bank America, but could not get through to the particular agent who told Jennifer to call back at another time with the rest of her questions. An analysis of the situation, however makes me think the agent, by rushing a customer off the phone would be missing  information and therefore inhibiting the business process to proceed with any kind of efficiency. Then there’s the angry factor associated with a customer being dismissed. If the customer has to now call back to find the rest of her answers, isn’t the bank just wasting more time? After all Jennifer will have to spend the time going over her background again when she calls back tomorrow.

Limiting talk time is not going to improve customer engagement. More than likely the customer service agent who listened to Jennifer only had limited knowledge of the entire process, and was not prepared to answer the more complex details of the transaction, but customer service representatives can’t appear to be treating customers as if they were burdensome liabilities. In what is the most expensive and important purchase of most people’s lives, banks still need to create a rapport and help to solve problems with positive outcomes by following some basic protocol, and not be forced to be bound by time limits. Not only does customer service suffer, but the stress and pressure on an agent has an effect on job performance.

So what should an organization do? Companies need to begin with identifying the problem and what causes the increase in talk time. Is it because the agent isn’t knowledgeable about her program? Do customers have to be on hold while a supervisor is found? As with so many other customer service problems, education and training of employees is paramount to running any successful operation. Once employees are confident with their job knowledge, handling times decrease which in turn reduces call backs – thus making for a more efficient and less stressful work arena.

Companies hire customer service representatives to connect with customers and solve their problems. In the complex and frustrating world of home mortgages, there are admittedly no simple solutions, but the protocol for helping people wind their way through the maze of government and banking regulations are all standard. The trouble is the complexity of the paperwork, and there is where banking customer service agents need to focus.

Banking is a business, and just like any other business, employees need to be comfortable in their knowledge and their training. Implement better training programs, have supervisors listen in on calls and direct agents, have agents critique their own work, and reward employees for exceptional service.

When customer service agents listen and focus on their customers again, handling times will decrease and more people can still realize the American dream and stay in their homes.

photo credit: Tumbleweed:-)

There is no doubt once a customer has surmounted the difficult climb to the higher levels of Comcast customer service that supervisors beat the bushes down to make sure customer expectations are satisfied and even exceeded. The problem is one has to cross the Rubicon before extraordinary service becomes a reality.

There is no doubt that Comcast is improving. Everyday more than 50,000 employees are out there trying to please 24 million customers. Are customers too fussy or too “high maintenance?” In reality, that is extremely hard to evaluate since state-of-the art video, high-speed Internet and phone service are touted everywhere as being just about perfect when one uses Comcast. Therefore as consumers we demand perfection, or at least a reasonable facsimile of exceptional customer service.

My experience as a first time Comcast customer didn’t fare well – that is until I worked my way up to the corporate offices. Admittedly, once I reached representatives with titles, my problems were immediately solved. It’s not a matter of customer service people not wanting to help, and it’s not that representatives are rude; everyone I spoke to tried to please. The problem therein lies in customer service employees knowledge and training.

What I noticed was the lack of competency for unique issues. None of the first line customer service agents were able to resolve the problem. When they tried to contact a supervisor or manager when I asked, it meant placing me on hold, the agent using another line to call to support, no one answering or responding in the support department, and then having to wait on hold for an extended period of time and nothing was ever resolved.

Comcast does try to validate their policies and procedures with the “Comcast Guarantee,” which includes a 30-day guarantee for a refund if not happy with the company, a $20 credit for a service person not being on time, routine issues resolved in one issue or a $20 credit, treat your home with respect, be available 24/7, and the promise that Comcast is easy to use and readily accessible.

In addition, why not enhance the Comcast experience by better serving the needs of Comcast employees who need better training when on the floor so they will be more confident when handling customers? Why not hire more supervisors and make it a priority that unique problems get priority handling and not be switched over to another department? Owning a customer’s problem and taking that problem to a resolution is what differentiates the acceptable service from the extraordinary.  That is exactly what happened when my problem finally landed at the corporate level. It’s what customers brag about, and it’s the reason they carry their loyalty across the Rubicon.

photo credit: jsmjr

Billie Joe Armstrong used Twitter to make a lot of noise over the Internet about his latest experience on Southwest Airlines when he was recently kicked off because his pants were too low.

@BJA official (Twitter)

Billie Joe Armstrong

Just got kicked off a southwest flight because my pants sagged too low! What the (expletive)! No joke!

Supposedly the story centered around a flight attendant who told Billie Jo to lift up his pants. The flight was preparing to leave when the popular entertainer asked the flight attendant if she had better things to do than to worry about his low slung trousers. The attendant asked him again, and then kicked Billie Joe and his traveling companion off of that flight.

After Armstrong tweeted about his experience, a Southwest Airlines customer service representative contacted him and arranged to get the couple on the next flight out, and in their public statement said:

“We reached out to apologize for this Customer’s experience.”

Armstrong is famous, and the combination of  high-profile plus Twitter and arbitrary reasons to kick people off of planes, surely becomes a public relations nightmare. Many might remember another Southwest Airlines debacle when”portly” celebrity screenwriter and actor Kevin Smith was kicked off a Southwest flight from Oakland to Burbank because he was too fat.

@That Kevin Smith’s (Twitter)

Dear @Southwest Air-I know I’m fat, but was Captain Leysath really justified in throwing me off a flight for which I was already seated?”

And of course Southwest had to think fast and reply since Smith has 1.6 million Twitter followers, and Southwest didn’t want this embarrassing  failure pointed out so publicly on social forums.  But even if you’re not famous, you can still share your problems and more than likely get better results than trying to call on the phone or any other methods of communication.

Here are some suggestions:

Share your problem and tag the company’s Twitter account publicly which means you should include the Twitter handle within your message so all of your followers can see it. We’re finding out that most companies are very serious about Twitter now and have special services employed to track and respond to customers tweeting about their particular organization. Someone tweeting about an embarrassing policy or situation can quickly become an Internet firestorm – not a positive public message any company wants out there.

Google the company’s Twitter account. You can search “company name + Twitter.” And remember, you may have to be consistent. Whereas celebrities with huge followings like Billie Joe and Kevin Smith command a quicker response just because tweets get ugly when there are millions commenting out of anger, rage, and sarcasm – results do happen quickly using the fastest forms of communication known.

Tweets don’t necessarily always have to be nasty or negative. If a customer experience was especially pleasing, or an organization stepped out of the box to be of extraordinary help, why not Twitter and give a company credit when credit is due?

photo credit: gabuken

I was recently attracted to an article about Australia and how it is the normal bill of fare to pay for your meal before it is served. Since I have never been there, does that mean a diner leaves a tip after all is said and done, or do restaurants in Australia just pay the service staff higher wages thus eliminating the need for tipping?

Australians argue that we are the “tipping society.” Supposedly Australian service and hospitality industries pay sufficient wages so that tipping has not become part of their culture.

Using the Australia no tipping example as food for thought, the other night when I was out to dinner, the service wasn’t considered terrible by any means, but the server consistently forgot everything, or so it seemed. For instance, she forgot the bread, refilled the water-glass which was really iced-tea, and served the wrong vegetables to my dinner companion. She seemed preoccupied, but still managed to be attentive enough; more so as the end of the meal approached. That’s most likely because she was anticipating a tip; something no matter how poor service is – with the exception of very few times in my life – would I ever not leave a tip.

Some people consider tipping a reward for good service and not tipping a server is therefore a punishment for bad service. I think tipping is just a part of the American culture, and we are taught from our childhood to tip and tip and tip. We tip at restaurants, we tip parking attendants, we tip hairdressers, we tip bellhops, and the list goes on and on, but are we really tipping for good service? I know I still tip the car attendant the same amount if it takes three minutes or ten minutes to retrieve my car. I still tip my hairdresser the same whether I like the way she blew out my hair or if I’m dashing home after the appointment to redo it myself.

So what are the norms in other countries? In Japan the general rule is no tipping, however there are exceptions. When a business is owned and operated by a western business person, the staff is generally perceived as being underpaid and tipping is their source of income. Standard tipping practices on the average of 10 percent hold out for Argentina, Brazil and Canada.

In the United States, most restaurants will argue that the low wages paid to the serve staff is what keeps the prices of dining at their establishments reasonable. Restaurants will also argue that good servers are worthy of good tips, but this doesn’t preclude the often mandatory service charge included in some bills. At the golf club, a new tariff has been added which designates an extra quarterly charge allegedly to be given to the employees instead of voluntarily tipping at the restaurant or bar.

Somewhere tipping seems to have become mandatory, but are servers still motivated to give that “wow” service when the tip is already included in their Friday paycheck? It’s a mystery!

photo credit: quinn.anya