Not the best award Talk Talk have had

Next week sees the new Mary Portas series Secret Shopper starting on C4,Wednesday 9pm.

This will be a must watch because it seeks to show warts and all the lack of customer service that seems normal in this country.

Scary Mary gathers the evidence and confronts the chiefs to show them just how bad things are.

Brilliant…it’s about time that customer service was elevated to where it belongs, to the top of the customer experience.

At the same time the Daily Mail today delivers the results of it’s worst customer service award…and the Wooden Spoon goes to Talk Talk..

Other contenders were Santander,HMRC,Ryanair,Nationwide and the Royal Mail.

It seems that Talk Talk have done very little Listen Listen and customers have been treated in the most appalling manner….Calls not returned,staff that were rude,and dishonest claiming that faults would be fixed and lying about tariffs to get customers to change to a higher one.Some customers have had no phone or internet for months and still could not get anything done to sort it out.

Chasing new customers is one thing but failing to deliver on service standards to existing customers is unforgivable.

We need to stand up for ourselves and insist on good service as a given and not fall over backwards when we encounter a helpful,friendly and smiling face that makes our encounter truly great.

All companies in what ever sector may just be about to get the Portas treatment from a lot more people…about time….

This old thing still works well

Rumours of its demise have been greatly exaggerated..

A recent article in B2B Marketing highlighted just how popular the channel still is and that it is et to grow.

Recent research shows the main uses for Telemarketing appear to be for “generating new leads” and for booking “sales appointments” closely followed by “lead qualification”.

These primary demand generation factors,whilst important,are not the only use that Telemarketing can be put to.

It’s interesting that this Telemarketing survey was conducted via Email…Customeyes have been saying for some time that Tel-E-Marketing is the way forward where both elements are combined.

An interesting finding from the research was that customer feedback and research were also cited as uses of Telemarketing.

As a research tool the telephone is vastly underrated and can deliver some amazing results.People love to tell you things and “conversations” not calls allow you to explore and dig more than any email or social media campaign can.

Social media is a great marketing and research channel when used in conjunction with the telephone.

We are becoming more used to punching out emails as a first means of communication than getting on the phone and building rapport.

Maybe it’s time that the phone was dusted off and used more often.

If you need some help with your Telemarketing then please do email us….or push the boat out and call…

Full survey results available at www.b2bm.biz/telemarketing

It's never snowed before has it?

Passengers are very angry at being ignored and not helped…customer care and statisfaction is at an all time low.

We all know that the snow has taken it’s toll on us in recent weeks and in particular in the last few days for us Southerners…other areas in the country have been harder hit but it’s only now that the BBC has decided that it’s an issue….it’s having an impact on BBC heartland so it’s news worthy…

The issue remains that the snow was not unexpected, it had been forecast yet there has been little or no contingency plans put in place to deal with the associated problems.

Airlines have not been anything like as pro active on the customer care front as they could have.In fact this BBC video seems to imply that there has been zero customer care from the major airlines who have totally failed it seems to manage customer expectations.

When the going gets tough companies should get going and pull all the stops out to make sure that customers/passengers get looked after and are made to feel part of the brand.

If there better provision was made for stranded passengers then those passengers would be telling the world how a bad experience was made into a better one by great customer care.Some of the people who have been let down will doubtless think twice before flying with particular carriers….

You can beat the big boys....keep trying

A great article in the FT on 23rd November  -”The Value of Being an Underdog” gives hope to those of us who are up against industry Leviathans.

At times all effort seems futile until cracks appear that allow us smaller,leaner outfits to steal an advantage.

Steve Jobs once said “why join the navy when you can be a pirate?”…this approach has allowed Apple to still be seen as a challenger brand,a maverick that delivers great products.

4 key areas were identified as crucial to the challenger approach.

1.Decide what you stand for and stick to it..retain your core principles

2.Craft a compelling story….make sure that you have a consistent bio that grabs attention

3.Build a Lighthouse Identity….Adam Morgans phrase relates to being a thought leader and instigator – don’t navigate by the consumer let them navigate by you..

4.Be Brave…stick with what you believe to be the right way…

There is of course another factor and that is confidence… be supremely confident in the image that you portray and in story you build your company on.

To challenge successfully takes determination and steely nerves and a dose of basic research awareness…

Steve Jobs may think focus groups are a waste of time but the average company can only benefit when undertaking some straight forward business intelligence ground work.

Who is doing what and where?

What does the market place customer have to say about who is in and who is out?

Any nugget can be turned to your advantage…it was after all a small stone that felled Goliath…a small stone that was delivered effectively…

Go get ‘em

At least you know what will happen....

Names are important to any brands success, fruit juice to people.

Some names just don’t travel well, this Polish fruit Juice wouldn’t last long on Tesco shelves.

Some names are embedded in the customer concious and should never be changed or messed about with.It’s part of the brand personality as is the logo that supports that name.

There have been some great examples of re branding going wrong.This site has covered the Coke fiasco.The recent Gap logo saga clearly showing that the customer will fight back if not listened to.

Good re brands could include Aviva…after some time customers have accreted the new name and image…what was the previous name? How many remember or care?

Famous back tracking, apart from Gap, includes the Kellog’s 1998 name change from Coco Pops to Choco Krispies.The company had underestimated the public’s love of Coco Pops and quickly successfully turned disaster to success by starting a publicity campaign using a phone line referendum for customers to vote on the name. Coco Pops made a triumphant return managing to enhance the brands position in the market.

The point of all this is that customers have a voice that should never be ignored.Social media platforms make it impossible to escape the barrage of customer feelings both good and negative.

Loyalty

Consumers  and customers are essentially conservative,early adopters are few compared to those that stay with a brand. Loyalty is all and companies should invest time and effort in making sure that loyalty remains well placed, ie, with you as the supplier.

Listening to the market can prevent mistakes if considering a brand overhaul. Listening to market chatter is also a fundamental requirement in making sure that you understand your customers and those in the market you operate.Research can save the day and should be there to guide marketing decisions.

I’ll just try a small sip to start with….

Research can reveal some interesting things if you look

Not just a tree....let me know what you see

It is sometimes difficult to see what is in front of you,sometimes even harder to act upon what you’ve seen.

It is easier to ignore or sideline issues until we are ready to face them,that normally means we never will really deal with the issue.

This can have very serious consequences, a leaky pipe often becomes a burst pipe which means gallons of expensive water all over your new Axminster.

The same is true when considering research and cost effective approachs to listening to your customers.

Factoring in a regular customer research budget needn’t be expensive or a drain on resources.Would companies rather spend a small amount of money regularly or lose valuable customers?

The answer seems obvious but very few companies seem to follow this simple maxim.

The 1-10-100 rule applies here.

Every pound that you have spent on research is well invested.If you had to correct a problem then it would cost you ten times the amount to adjust had you not have spent the early amount.

Should an issue go totally unnoticed until very late in your  customer experience cycle then you may end up paying 100 times what you could have paid in the research phase to put it right.At this point you would have lost valuable customers and the viral impact could well escalate out of all proportion.

In any recession or turbulent trading conditions the three must haves are Training,Customer Research and Marketing…and customer research is a crucial element.

The full Buisness Week Editors  quote went along these lines

“The customer has become a bloody nuisance whose unpredictable behaviour damages carefully made strategic plans,whose activities mess up computer operations and who stubbornly insists that purchased products should work”

Managing that unpredictability is what makes some companies great and others no so.

Research has shown on numerous occasions that customers don’t always complain, when they do they tell more people than would a customer who has a positive story to tell.

In some ways its good to have complaints as it can engender loyalty.If the issue is put right then waves of positive comments will spread form the once disgruntled customer.It’s important to recognise that no complaints can mean the opposite of good news…customers are unhappy but you just hear about it, they’ve voted with their wallets and gone to a rival.

Theodore Levitt said “Absence of complaints is the surest sign of a bad relationship with customers”.

So how can you have a better relationship with your customers?Get more complaints….

Not exactly…you need to make sure that better is a mechanism for complaints and that you make sure that complaints are discovered when they are niggles and not full blown anger tinged issues…

The easiest way to do this is of course to make sure that you have systems in place that regularly checks the customer experience and that you are in touch with your customers and the market in which you operate.

Research,Listen, Learn and benefit from good feedback…can anyone afford not to?

Listening may force companies to act…

Customeyes have always maintained that companies and brands should listen to their customers before someone else does…after all customers have spent their money on your products and services, and you want to hold on to them. At any price?

Daleks that won't rule the world....

Look what happened to Coca Cola when they didn’t listen to their customers…

Recently there have been some great examples of when listening to those customers may not result in agreement and lead the company down a different route than was orginally intended.

Lucy Kellaway in Monday’s FT tells the saga of GAP’s logo and how customers forced the company into changing the redesign back to the old logo.Interesting debate will follow I’m sure as to the power and impact of social media and ownership issues concerning corporate governance.

The other story relates to the BBC backing down on the new Daleks. Fans of Doctor Who rose to complain that the new red, blue and yellow models were not in keeping and the BBC caved in and have decided not to use them.Fans complained that the new Daleks looked like Teletubbies.

Do the majority make it right?Should companies cave in to all customer demands? Does this mean that Social Media now has a negative influence on corporate direction?

Why does it pay sometimes to be economical with the truth? Because dealing with some companies forces you to if you want a desired outcome.

Take today. I am having huge problems with my ISP and seem to be the only person who can’t stay connected to the web long enough to do anything.

Having checked all the obvious things with my PC it became obvious that the problem was me but my provider.

I call and get a whole bunch of options that nearly address my problem,I’m not moving or don’t wish to add options to my package so that narrowed things down.

I press the appropriate button on my phone and wait for some time before a friendly voice asks for security details,account numbers etc and then proceeds to ask what the problem is. Just as I get to the good part the line goes dead…

Second call the same that third time it just rings out..by now I have been on the phone for nearly an hour.Not a huge amount of time but an annoying amount considering the list of things to be done before I can clock off for the day.

My solution was to press the I’m leaving you button…before I could react the phone was answered and an even friendlier voice asked what they could do to help. I explained that I had pressed the wrong option and they grew chilly telling me that they were there to help and basically stop customer churn. They did transfer me to a very supportive person who managed to solve my connection issues.

The point of this is that I had to lie to get to what I wanted. All the options should have been answered as swiftly giving the customer some confidence that the supplier is on their side.

Each call should be treated with equal gravity, it shouldn’t matter if you are un happy with the service or are moving house, that call should always be a priority.

The majority of customer experiences are judged on the single criteria of the quality of the customer service.This is valid but not always appropriate.

Customer service should be the end result of  a series of exchanges and not the sole deteriminant of how good a company has performed.

The old adage that “coffee stains on the passenger trays tells me that the engines are not being looked after” is very apt.

If a company can’t get the last part of the equation right then it shows that there has to be an inbalance somewhere else for the answer to be wrong.Too often the key elemnets of the experience and customer touch points are ignored or badly handled.

Take a holiday example.

Olympic Holidays were great at getting me and the family to the hotel which was fantastic.If asked at this point I would have given them 12 out of 10.Great price,great service and attention to our needs.

It all fell apart very quickly.

The Rep was never around to ask if things were OK,excursions were poor and under delivered on expectations and were massively over priced.

On some excursions guests were simply dumped in small towns for hours at a time with nothing better to do than spend money in tourist shops and in local cafes.There was no explanation of what these tours actually would entail merely a promise of something to be savoured.

OK,I know that holiday companies are there to make money and that package holidays are just that,packages of experiences,mostly poor.Choice and free will prevailed and guests did not have to pay too much for too little….but…

A key brand,Olympic Holidays,clearly failed in their handling of the individual customer experiences and ultimately led many guests to change their positive perception of them to a very negative one.

Every facet of the customer journey needs to be seen as important if the overall perception that a customer has of a brand is to be positive and reinforced.Failure to ignore any one part just ruins all the good work that had previously been done to establish the brands position.

Why do companies continue to do this?Taking a customers money in the hope that they will come back again is short termism if not supported by an active intent to please at evey stage of the interaction.