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The fastest path to outrage? Just call for tech support
Author: Bill Cusick
September 12, 2007
CBS recently ran an updated story that focused on the success of Geek Squad and some of the other on-site tech support companies that are now proliferating through cities and small towns alike. We all know that it’s easier these days to just pull someone in then to spend the 3-4 hours to deal with a “technical situation” yourself on the phone with a coldly polite, disinterested support person seven time zones away.
But here’s what’s really interesting, and I quote: “According to one survey, 29 percent of all callers swear at their customer service representative, 21 percent just scream. The rest presumably are too exhausted to do either.”
Think about that for a moment - almost three out of every ten callers end up swearing at their rep. It’s an amazing number. Can you sense the outrage? If we analyze for a moment, I think we can agree that - of a random sampling of ten people one might know - there are probably three or four who never swear, for any reason. So it looks like, of those willing to throw out an occasional “damnation” or maybe even an f-bomb, fully half will be brought to that brink on a tech support call experience.
And notice it says swear at their rep, not just swear.
Based on personal experience, I would surmise that the screaming and swearing and gnashing of teeth isn’t really just pointed at the representative on the phone at that moment. More likely it’s a cry to the heavens, a cry of agony and despair at having spent half your Saturday stuck in the spare bedroom at the computer, waiting on hold for many long minutes, getting disconnected, booting and rebooting a machine that refuses to follow orders or show any empathy, and there you are with the sun fading and you no closer to YouTube.
I think we have some room for improvement.
Customer experience matters more than advertising? Go figure!
Author: Bill Cusick
September 7, 2007
Somebody just spent a lot of money for a research study that determined the obvious: J.D. Powers looked at which factors are most important to insurance customers in terms of satisfaction and propensity to renew. They found that , “A customer’s experience getting service on an auto insurance policy is far more likely to impact satisfaction and likeliness to renew versus exposure to any kind of brand marketing.”
Price ranked fourth out of five factors.
A smelly, crowded, slightly scary, positive customer experience
Author: Bill Cusick
September 4, 2007
Our office is located in the West Loop, in Chicago. My house is about eight miles away. To get to work I commute on the L, the old elevated train line. The other day, on the way home about 5:30, the L was running late (usually it’s every nine or ten minutes). The platform was crowded, and it was clear from the train as it pulled up that things weren’t going to be pleasant. The crowd jostled for position, trying to position themselves where the doors would stop.
As the train came to a halt, I thought twice about attempting to wedge in, but I was tired and just wanted to get home, so, imagining rush hour in Tokyo, I threw myself into the fray. As I regained my senses, pressed among sweaty strangers, I noticed that, despite the jammed car, there was a seat open, just to my left. Squinting, I realized why: let’s just say it was…tainted.
Standing - well, sort of standing - next to the double doors in my train car was a man who was having some trouble. Truth be told, he appeared to be heavily under the influence of at least one illegal substance. He was fighting a losing battle with verticality, slowly rocking, head bobbing forward to the point where it actually swung outside the train as the doors opened at each stop, only to pull back at the last second, avoiding, if not decapitation, a shock to his system.
At a subsequent stop, a strapping youth standing on the platform, waiting for the doors to open was “called out” by the train’s driver over the PA, “you, at the very back, I saw you hop the gate!” The teen stood, looking blankly forward, towards the disembodied voice. “You think you’re so smart, but I watched you. We have cameras, so I know what you did.” Finally, the doors opened, and the youth jammed in with us, staring down, then up at the ceiling; we did the same.
The ride took about 15 minutes. Then I was home.
So my point? I love the L. It’s convenient; it’s cheap (two bucks, or less); I don’t have to pay $12 or more for parking; and, maybe most importantly, I feel like I’m helping out somehow. Or at least I’m not adding to a problem. I’m not consuming more gasoline; dragging one more automobile out to pump fumes into the atmosphere, keeping my “carbon footprint” smaller.
So when you think about customer experience, about what you offer, think about all the facets, because they all matter. Yeah, I could do with fewer ne’er do wells, or actually sitting once in a while, or a little more air conditioning, but don’t ask me to give it up for a more comfortable ride in a spacious Lexus. For me, it’s no contest.
