Mobile lacks

clipped from www.crmbuyer.com The Hunt for Customer Satisfaction in the Wireless World Print Version E-Mail Article Digg It Reprints By Jason Gertzen The Kansas City Star 07/25/07 10:20 AM PT Cell phone companies seem to have a distinctive knack for ticking off consumers. The industry stands out as the No. 1 source of consumer complaints, beating out car dealers, collection agencies and Internet shopping services, among others, according to a 2006 report by the Better Business Bureau. The bottom line: Consumers should conduct careful research, proceed cautiously and prepare to be persistent. With nearly 240 million cell phone subscribers in the United States, the devices are ubiquitous. Yet buying a phone and signing a calling contract continues to be fraught with pitfalls.

Why call center people are paid more...

nice

funny

clipped from itsringing.blogspot.com 1 ) Tech Support : "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop." Customer : "Ok." Tech Support : "Did you get a pop-up menu?" Customer : "No." Tech Support : "Ok. Right click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?" Customer : "No." Tech Support : "Ok, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?" Customer : "Sure, you told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'." 2) Customer : "I received the software update you sent, but I am still getting the same error message." Tech Support : "Did you install the update?" Customer: "No. Oh, am I supposed to install it to get it to work?"

At Their Service

Your company is nothing without customers. Make sure you play nice by following these steps.

By Guy Kawasaki | Entrepreneur Magazine - August 2007

Your company is nothing without customers. Make sure you play nice by following these steps.

1. Start at the top. Your attitude toward customer service is the primary determinant of the quality of your company's service. If you think customers are a pain and always want something for nothing, that attitude will permeate your company, and service will be lousy.

2. Put the customer in control. The best kind of customer service happens when management enables employees to put the customer in control. This requires two leaps of faith: trusting customers not to take advantage, and trusting employees. If you make these leaps, your customer service quality will skyrocket. If not, you'll soon learn the hard way that nothing's more frustrating to customers than companies claiming something is "against company policy."

3. Take responsibility for your shortcomings. A company that does so will likely provide great customer service for two reasons: First, it's acknowledged that problems are the company's responsibility to fix. Second, customers won't have to go through the aggravating process of getting you to accept blame.

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4. Don't point the finger. As computer owners, we all know that when programs don't work, vendors often point the finger: "It's Apple's system software." A great company figures out what the solution is regardless of whose fault the problem is. As my mother said, "You're either part of the problem or part of the solution."

5. Don't finger the pointer. Great customer service companies don't shoot the messenger. Whether a customer, employee, vendor or consultant is doing the pointing, don't silence the messenger--just fix the problem.

6. Don't be paranoid. A common justification for antiservice is "What if every customer did this?" To cite the often-told story of a customer returning a tire to Nordstrom, what if everyone started returning tires to Nordstrom? Don't assume the worst case will become the common case. There will be abusers, yes, but generally, people are reasonable.

7. Hire the right people. Customer service isn't a job for everyone. The ideal candidate derives great satisfaction from helping people and solving problems. When you hire folks without a service orientation, it can be a bad experience for the employee and the customer.

8. Underpromise and overdeliver. The goal is to delight a customer. For example, the signs at Disneyland estimating how long you'll have to wait in line are purposely overstated. That way, when you get to the ride quicker than expected, you're delighted. If the signs were understated, you'd be angry because Disneyland lied to you.

9. Integrate customer service into the mainstream. Sales makes the big bucks. Marketing does the fun stuff. Accounting cuts the paychecks. Customer support does the dirty work of talking to pissed-off customers. Customer service has as much to do with a company's reputation as any other department--so integrate customer service into your company's mainstream instead of considering it a profit-sucking necessary evil.

10. Put it all together. Suppose a part breaks in a gizmo you sold. First, take responsibility: "I'm sorry it broke." Second, don't point the finger--don't say, "We buy that part from a supplier." Third, put the customer in control: "When would you like the replacement by?" Fourth, underpromise and overdeliver: Send it at no additional charge via a faster shipping method than necessary. That's how you create legendary customer service.

"Empower entrepreneurs" isGuy Kawasaki'smantra. He is co-founder of Truemors.com and VC firm Garage Technology Ventures, and is author of eight books.

Bad Customer Service Negates the Best Marketing Plans

Bad Customer Service Negates the Best Marketing Plans

Susan Gunelius July 23, 2007

Know More: Marketing Strategy Antonio Cangiano, Best Buy, brand, brand loyalty, branding, customer service, marketing, Target, Toys R Us

The best laid marketing plans can be destroyed with the smallest customer service mistakes. The power of the internet continues to grow and that means customer service issues are publicized for the world to see and learn from.

Antonio Cangiano's recent negative experience at his local Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) provides a perfect example of the backlash companies feel when poor customer service situations become top stories in the blogosphere and beyond. Even Consumerist.com published a post about Antonio's nightmare of trying to return merchandise at Best Buy whose return policy is unclear and apparently full of loopholes.

Return policies are a prime source of customer complaints lately. Stores like Target (NYSE: TGT) and Toys 'R Us are not shy about their new return policies that leave much to be desired from the customer's point-of-view and have many customers (like me) shopping at competitors' stores.

Will retailers see the light and revamp their return policies and customer service? You'd think customer service would be a top priority, but sadly, it falls to the wayside these days. Great customer service is not the norm anymore, but it does make a great differentiator and keeps customers coming back.

What do you think? Read Antonio's story here. Do you think Best Buy could handle this situation better? Do you think they'll react differently now that Antonio's story is crossing the web?

Sprint is crazy

Talk about a terrible brand move

clipped from news.com.com July 5, 2007 10:45 AM PDT Sprint breaks up with high-maintenance customers Posted by Marguerite Reardon The squeaky wheel doesn't always get the grease. At least not if the squeaky wheel is a Sprint Nextel customer. On June 29, 2007, Sprint sent letters notifying some customers that their service would be canceled by the end of July due to excessive calls to customer service. "Our records indicate that over the past year, we have received frequent calls from you regarding your billing or other general account information," the letter reads. "While we have worked to resolve your issues and questions to the best of our ability, the number of inquiries you have made to us during this time has led us to determine that we are unable to meet your current wireless needs." (You can take a look at one of these letters posted within this discussion stream on a Sprint users' forum.) And click here to see an image of one of the letters.