Customer Service Buzz

On my daily browse of the New York Times, I ran across an article listing the biggest pet peeves for consumers.  I had a sneaking suspicion that customer service would make it on this list, and as the title of this post infers, we did.  The comment on the service experience went as follows:

ENOUGH AFTER-CALL SURVEYS!
“You call, say, an airline for a reservation, and after navigating the monkey bars that stand between you and a human being, a recording asks if you can stay on the line once the call is completed and take a brief survey about the experience.  The answer is no. If the point is for Company X to improve its customer rep system, it is probably recording and “monitoring” those conversations, as we are often reminded by the same automated voice. So the company should eavesdrop on its own time without asking to take up any more of ours.”

The experience described above represents an unfortunate, but common, sentiment that could be dismissed as simply a rant.  But, what I find interesting about the complaint above is it shows how customers don’t always appreciate the different purposes and value between the IVR for routing vs. the IVR for surveys. Read More »

I’m sitting at the airport waiting for a flight to Minneapolis where I’ll be attending a few CCC meetings.  I’m at gate B72.  Coincidentally, the flight at the adjoining gate—B74—is also going to Minneapolis (different airline).  The flights are scheduled only 10 minutes apart; I’m leaving on Airline A at 11am, and Airline B next door leaves at 11:10. 

Here’s where it gets interesting: although my flight is listed “on time,” Airline B is boarding the plane already—the one that is supposedly leaving 10 minutes AFTER my flight.  General confusion is breaking out at my gate.  One guy says the gate agent told him our flight is delayed—the plane won’t arrive for 20 minutes.  The people on my flight are now glaring at the gate agent—who has not made a peep—as we watch Airline B prepare to depart. 

This is an unfortunate situation, and one that could have been mitigated with up-to-date information.  (Incidentally, the announcement has been made that our flight is delayed and we should NOT try to board next door.  Now people are asking why the flight is still listed “on time.”) Read More »

What’s your favorite type of hold music?  Do you like some smooth jazz or light rock?  Or maybe you prefer silence while you wait?  Me personally, I like to listen to some classical music while I’m waiting to talk to a customer service rep.

Whether it’s the recommendation to use nature sounds instead of actual music, a ranking of the top worst hold music songs of all time, or the innovative use of your own staff to record hold music – seems like everyone has an opinion on the matter.  From everything about deciding on the music itself to inserting messaging throughout – I’ve even heard members talk about letting their customers choose which kind of hold music to listen to or let customers choose to wait in silence.

But, there may soon come a time when all of these questions are rendered irrelevant.

Meet LucyPhone. Read More »

We’ve all been there.  Endless circles, no clear directions on how to get out, choices that are appealing but aren’t quite what you’re looking for.  No, I’m not talking about your last trip to Ikea.  I’m talking about IVR h*ll. 

Let’s face it: even if you have the best IVR around, your customers probably inwardly groan as soon as they hit your intro message.  What I’ve found in helping companies with IVR design is usually some very quick fixes exist to help alleviate at least some of the pain that customers associate with the IVR. 

According to CCC data, the two statistically significant drivers of customers experience related to the IVR are speed and ease of use.  Customers are saying to you, “make it quick and painless, please!”  Just like our work on customer effort in the live phone channel – eliminating unnecessary effort is the key.  Read More »

My colleagues and I travel a lot for our jobs.  Not like “George Clooney in Up in the Air a lot”, but quite a bit.  And one of my peers who was traveling in Europe recently was a victim of the volcanic ash cloud disaster that impacted so many travelers.    

By the way, if you haven’t been paying attention, the volcano that erupted in Iceland has disrupted air travel at least three times in the past month or so, and as recently as just a few days ago.  

Alright, so my friend was stuck in France and it literally took trains, busses, a ferry ride and one plane trip to ultimately return to the States, and in his seven days of travel he had multiple daily interactions with contact centers. Unfortunately, he reported that most of the organizations he interacted with were woefully unprepared for handling this event, had massive wait times, and provided little in the way of resolution. 

Read More »

Procter & Gamble, Walmart, and Walgreens are all limiting customer choice in the grocery and drug store aisle.  Why aren’t their customer service and support organizations following suit?

In line with the economic downturn, many retailers and consumer product good firms have realized that limiting customer choice can actually help drive purchase decisions.

The “Paradox of Choice” movement has evangelized this idea.  But it seems the message hasn’t trickled down to service and support…yet.

Read More »

When you ask people what they dislike about customer service, what’s one of the first things they mention?

While some customers may mention the hold time or the length of the call with the customer service agent, more often than not people complain loudly about IVRs. They are viewed as a necessary evil for many customers and companies alike. Making the IVR an easier experience for the average person is a noble goal. But unfortunately, a negative IVR experience in the past can condition customers to the unfortunate habit of zeroing out at all costs (honestly, we’ve all done it before, pressing zero repeatedly to escape the touch-tones).

We’ve all heard of sites like GetHuman that help customers bypass IVRs by showing which numbers to hit to either:

1. get to any frontline staff as soon as possible or

2.  route to the correct department

Why are sites like these so popular? The reality is that most customers don’t always realise IVRs are for routing purposes, which actually benefit them.

Companies continually reinvest in getting IVRs right but how can we help customers with shortcuts? Or put another way, what if we brought an easier IVR experience to the customer?

Well, there’s an app for that. Read More »