As I live my life in this rather hectic environment we have all created with Twitter, Facebook, Blogging and the world of technology in general, I have seen a lot of improvement in how people do things. I can see the effects of Social Networking and how it has helped individuals and their business. I would predict that we will now see it more and more move into the Business arena. It has begun and it will be interesting to see how it affects the way companies do business.
I for one don't find many businesses that embrace Customer Service and putting their Customers first. I can think of a few that come to mind and that would be GoDaddy, Lowe's and Lexus.
I recently had an experience with Google that was the "Anti-Customer Service" experience when it comes to Customer Satisfaction. You cannot talk with a person at Google. They have this incredible automated system that by far is not perfect or helpful. There is no way to contact a live person at Google. In my efforts to simply renew a Domain Name, I had to call "GoDaddy" for support. They confessed that they have a number they can call Google with, however they are by contract not allowed to release the number and they could not help me...again by contract. I lost the Domain Name and there was little I could do. I felt as if Google yelled at me....WE HATE YOU AND WE DON'T WANT TO HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH YOU. Now that is Anti-Customer Service.
How about AT&T.....oh I love them. I needed to separate my bill so that I could allocate one part to business and one part to personal. I was told it would cost me $20.00 more a month to do that. Again....it's like WE HATE YOU AND WE WANT TO DO EVERYTHING WE CAN TO SCREW YOU! What ever happened to Anti-Trust Law AT&T? I've ordered a digital phone system that runs off my internet and I'm killing my relationship with AT&T! Woohoo....that makes me feel good!
I'm not sure here....who is leading the way as far as the best Customer Service, Google or AT&T?
Well and Bank of America.....oh my....we'd better not go there. Four letter words are not a good idea when blogging and I personally have a policy against mean four letter words.....so we will leave this one alone.
I would hope that as Social Networking has helped individuals embrace a transparency about who they are and how they do business that the same trend will move into the business world. Oh....I know we rather can't see AT&T on Twitter, however as the blogging world continues to blog about how the Consumer gets screwed over and over....one would think they would have to address their business practice.
Bank of America is an example where the word getting out about the fact that they were not doing loan modifications or approving short sales, forced them into change. Now that is powerful!
I remain hopeful for the future that as we in the world of Social Networking and the Blogosphere continue to address the nature of own personal lives and experiences, we will continue to have an impact on business and how the Consumer is better served. I believe that the term came about to represent honoring the Customer and making sure their experience was satisfactory. Those companies that excel at Customer Service and get ratings of Excellence will lead the way for the future. I can only hope those that don't are DOOMED!
Here is the Forbes link to the latest Survey on Customer Satisfaction Ratings for Large Business. Enjoy and remember who's doing what to whom!
I am Jeanean Gendron, your Redding and Shasta County Specialist. I can be reached at 530 276-7417. I answer my phone.
You are so right and blogging about it helps others know who is doing well..or not so well.
I thought BofA was the latest 4 letter word....LOL...great rant!
All I can say is Grrrr! I happily took a call from Bankok the other night at 3AM because I knew it was one of my clients who travels all the time and just got mixed up with the time. My husband wasn't as happy as I was but that's his problem :)
Karin Elliott, IBA mountain Homes
True customer service has been replaced by mistrust, combined with a fear of liability. A worsening economy has also brought out the worst in many people merely trying to survive.
On the flip side, I also see a genuine (though not predominant) sense of care from those in different businesses that are grateful and appreciative of the help and support provided by some of the very companies you name.
It all comes down to the people that you're dealing with, not the company. While the company should set the tone, there are many that are simply 'tone deaf', failing to recognize that the consumer is the basis for their existence.
Having worked countless years in finance, hospitality, as well as banking, I see that customer service has taken a beating, but will soon come roaring back.
One company that I think excels on customer service is Southwest Airlines. I don't even think about using another airline. They're always on time. If you call Southwest, you'll speak to a live person who will cheerfully help you with your reservation. Once I booked the wrong return flight, showed up at the airport and they very nicely said "no problem, that happens" and changed my flight, no charge.
Have you ever been in the grocery check-out and have the cashier and bagger chatting like you're not even there. That's no customer service. Good topic for a post Jeanean.
Linda Metallo, Re/max Impact, Lockport, Il.
Hi Jeanean so many idoits and so few of us. I am with you on the frustrations that we all face. But at least your B of A story has a hopeful ending
I think monopolies know they don't have to provide customer service because we can't go anywhere else, and they just don't care. Sometimes, all it takes is a simple, "I'm sorry; I'll try to fix it," that's in order, but they can't seem to get those words out of their mouths.
I think that the preception of customer service is what is bogging up the big companies that makes them feel that they have it right. All the time they have it way wrong and they are mistreating their customers. And I do not know what to say about the "caring" part, because they don't.
Jeanean, My goodness, I couldn't agree with you more. I don't think companies care at ALL anymore. But the lack of customer service is not only large companies but my local CVS. I wonder what happened to things like "Thank you" or a greeting.....
In any of the jobs I did before had I treated someone that way I would have been let go...on the spot! I didn't know Google was bad but PLEASE DON'T GO NEAR DELL COMPUTERS!!
Thanks for a sad, wonderful and very true post!
Jeanean,
There are some companies who still offer good customer service, however you're right that many of them treat total strangers better than they do their own customers (a lot of banks are like this).
Jo
Jeanean - since BOA now owns 45% of all banking in the US, I guess they always felt and still do feel like they can do what they want. I just recently that the new CEO of BOA is going to try to instill customer service and he said they will stop pushing the products on customers as they were pushing to many wrong and expensive products...I couldn't believe he said that, but the verdict is out!