June 3, 2008

Sucking It Up

“Great product, customer service sucks! Sucks! SUCKS!”

How’d you like to stumble upon a conversation about your company that reads like that?

That’s how some company representatives learn about Get Satisfaction. While searching for info about their products online, they see a big complainer. Sometimes, you just can’t resist clicking through to read a good rant. I know I can’t. But it’s no fun when it’s a rant about you.

At that point, you’ve got two choices: Ignore it (and hope it goes away), or engage. Since it probably won’t be going away anytime soon — it’s going to be up there in Google search for a long time — you’d probably be well-advised to get involved in the conversation. Even if you don’t change their mind, you can at least show them that you’re listening.

I believe they call that validation. Whether complaints are legitimate or not, whether you have a way to fix it or not, you’ll always move the conversation forward by validating a complaint with some kind of positive response. That’s the hardest part of customer service, the killing-them-with-kindness part. But, you’d be surprised at how people respond. Many big complainers come back with a surprisingly contrite attitude.

Case in point: Lane, our president at Get Satisfaction, unexpectedly invited everyone from his GMail account to join him on LinkedIn. He felt like the “invite” interface on LinkedIn had deceived him. So he complained mightily on Get Satisfaction. Sure enough, the folks from LinkedIn saw his complaint and jumped right in to respond and try to find a way to fix the problem. They even said, “Thank you very much for posting this feedback.”

Lane responded: “Well, now I just feel like a jerk. :) Steve and Adam, thanks for being so responsive to my issue. First off, let me apologize for overreacting….”

And so it often goes. Not always, but much more than I ever expect to see.

I share this little customer service parable because we have a new company rep on our site who could perhaps use a little validation of his own. He’s jumped onto Get Satisfaction to represent his company, TomTom.

I’ve done my own complaining in the past about GPS device makers and how they seem to be disproportionately represented on Get Satisfaction with a wealth of unhappy customers chiming in, but no company employees brave enough to get in there and make a difference. My attempts at reaching out to these GPS companies have not been successful, but perhaps it’s because I wasn’t reaching the right people.

Since joining Get Satisfaction a few weeks ago, this GPS rep has gone in and responded to numerous complaints, some many moons old. Give him a pat on the back — or a fresh complaint — if you get a chance. I’m hoping he can change the minds of angry GPS owners; or at the very least, show them that their complaints are being heard.

Here’s to not sucking.

[LinkedIn and TomTom are both on Get Satisfaction.]

By Eric Suesz | Posted in Satisfaction, customer service, hospitality, reputation | Comments (2)
May 1, 2008

Comcast Cares. No, Really.

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Comcast, who hasn’t exactly had a great public image in the last few years, appears to be slowly changing that.

When Comcast showed up on Get Satisfaction, they had a lot of complainers. Hell hath no fury like an Internet junkie scorned. Boy, there were some angry folks.

But then, someone from Comcast stepped in and said, we hear you and we’d like to help make it better. And they keep on saying that.

If you haven’t read about him, Frank Eliason is the man at Comcast who seems to be spearheading this new approach. He swoops in on conversations on Get Satisfaction and offers to help fix problems. Plus, he’s set up a Twitter account (follow him!) as an additional way to monitor and respond to Comcast customers who are broadcasting their cable and Internet frustrations on Twitter.

That Twitter/Get Satisfaction combo seems to be working pretty well, as evidenced by this conclusion from a Get Satisfaction user today:

Wow, I stepped out for two hours and by the time I got back I had 3 voicemails from Comcast — from Corporate HQ in Philadelphia, from the California Executive office, from the local office here. An hour later I had the Comcast tech out here, he removed the trap outside, on the street just as I expected, then phoned in to close my order and enable the boxes again. I’m all settled now.

Learnings:

- Get Satisfaction works. Publicity is powerful.
- Comcast listens, kudos to them (including @comcastcares on Twitter)
- The execs and techs involved in such elevated customer care are doing a wonderful job, but it’s like putting out lots of little fires. I think at one point it will rise to the level that will convince Comcast to invest more ( a LOT more) in training their support troops so that there would not be fires to put out in the first place.
- Oh, have I mentioned that Get Satisfaction works? :-)

After reading that today, I feel like I need to give a tip of the Get Satisfaction community manager’s hat to Frank Eliason for pushing for the kind of consumer change that everyone wants and needs. Keep it up, and I bet you’ll be seeing more customer outbursts like that one.

By Eric Suesz | Posted in Satisfaction, community, customer service, delight, reputation | Comments (2)
March 30, 2008

MyStarbucksIdea.com: A Half-Full Idea

The big news this past week in Web 2.0 world: Starbucks dipped its toe into the pool where community and customers converge.

They launched a new Web site, MyStarbucksIdea. It’s essentially a Dell IdeaStorm clone designed to get feedback from customers. Give us your ideas on how to improve Starbucks, they say. Sounds fairly straightfoward, but there is monumental disagreement as to whether this idea is good, bad, or somewhere in between.

Is it merely a virtual suggestion box with voting? That’s the take of many people on Jim Romenesko’s StarbuckGossip.com, a site that’s always been critical of the company. “MyStarbucksIdea.com was clearly inspired by my site, which was created nearly four years ago to move barista/customer conversations to the Web,” Romenesko tells the Seattle Times. “My site will continue to thrive because it’s an authentic reflection of how customers and employees feel about the company. MyStarbucksIdea.com, on the other hand, is clearly a corporate propaganda site.”

He’s right about one thing. It’s missing the big detail that marks a true community: authenticity.

The way I see it, the site looks like a collection of possible improvements their marketing department already knew their customers wanted. Give us free Wi-Fi. Stop selling those warmed-over breakfast sandwiches and start serving something healthy like fruit. Give me a free cup of coffee on my birthday. I bet they’ve heard nearly all of these ideas before. I can’t help but imagine their marketing department sitting in a massive room scribbling out a giant flow-chart bracket on a whiteboard — their own version of March Madness.

But, it may be unduly harsh to call it propaganda. Yes, it’s censored and filtered, and yes, it’s wearing a grass-roots disguise, but it is doing one thing right: involving customers in conversations about Starbucks’ products. Whether you love or hate Starbucks, I think they deserve some credit for this relatively bold step. They need to lose their impulse to control the conversation if they want to be seen as legitimately caring about what their customers have to say, but it is a step in the right direction.

I’m betting that Starbuck’s new foray into customer feedback is an idea that nearly every media-savvy Forbes 500 executive will be pondering this week. If this idea gets co-opted and adopted by others, here’s hoping they get the other half right — the true community involvement — and not just ladle in an extra helping of marketing.

Starbucks is on Get Satisfaction.]

By Eric Suesz | Posted in Branding, community, customer service, reputation | Comments (8)
March 23, 2008

“Customer Service at its Finest”

Last week, I rapped lyrical about how awesome Rackspace’s commitment to customer service seems. This week, I’ve stumbled on the exact opposite: worst customer service ever.

The back story: Someone added a company to Get Satisfaction this week and began a conversation designed to warn prospective customers away from an online eyeglass seller. Fair enough.

And, to make it as fair as can be, I sent a friendly note to the company to let them know that someone had started this conversation. I do this a lot. It’s part of my job to encourage companies to engage with people who are talking about their products on our site, whether that talk is positive or negative. Most companies find out that even supremely angry customers will do a 180-degree turn when they see that the company is actually responding to them and trying to help them fix the problem. We see a lot of these “wow, I can’t believe you responded” moments on Get Satisfaction, and it’s always a pleasure to see it happen.

This time that did not happen. Instead, the proprietor of the business shot back an e-mail to me with a clip-art image of a businessman shooting me the bird. This message, in fact:

RE_ Your company on our site 2014 Inbox

Rude and crude, to be sure, and it certainly doesn’t live up to the motto in the sender’s e-mail signature: “Customer Service at its Finest”. It’s business suicide to engage with people like this, especially since the Internet allows customers to amplify and broadcast their discontent.

Sure enough, a Google search of the company’s name turns up a lot, including numerous accusations of selling fake sunglasses and a Better Business Bureau search turns up reports of “aggressive and harassing behavior” from the company’s owner. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.

It made me wonder about other ways to research questionable companies online. One way to see if people have reported a business as fraudulent is to check with Ripoff Report. It’s worth noting, though, that even Ripoff Report has been accused of questionable business practices.

It’s hard to pinpoint a positive in this kind of experience. One comfort I think people can take in this online reseller’s behavior is that the business probably won’t last very long. The power of customer discontent on the Internet is mighty strong. Indeed, as I was researching this company, I saw this entry on Reseller Ratings, a Web site that helps consumers locate the best (and worst) online sellers:

“I almost purchased sunglasses until I saw this post.”

By Eric Suesz | Posted in Satisfaction, customer service, hall of shame, reputation | Comments (12)
March 18, 2008

Promises, Promises

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Two weeks ago, Rackspace, the San Antonio-based IT hosting provider, announced their Fanatical Support Promise.

Sounds like a PR campaign, huh?

Only, it’s not. These folks mean it. As they put it:

“It’s the no excuses, no exceptions, can-do way of thinking that Rackers [Rackspace employees] bring to work every day. Your complete satisfaction is our sole ambition. Anything less is unacceptable. Working hard 24×7x365 to support you is more than our job. It’s who we are. Our driving purpose is to take care of your business, to make sure things go as smoothly as possible. And if for some reason they don’t, you’ll be surprised at the lengths we go to make things right. Any issue you have is quickly taken care of by your own expert Rackspace Support Team, so you’ll never have to worry about it again. Ever.”

Did they just say, “Your complete satisfaction is our sole ambition?” That’s just about the most forceful customer service attitude I’ve ever heard, and I wanted to call it out as an example for anyone else who’s planning on being known for their support. You should steal their idea — but only if you mean it.

This is a great strategy, but they’d better be able to back it up because the long and short of this promise is that Rackspace will break any contract their customers have signed with them if those customers are unhappy. That’s a pretty impressive stance for an IT host. It basically kills the contract, but it extends a big hand to potential customers. It also means they will actually have to perform for you, which is the way I personally like my subscription-based services. I like to be able to cut them off if I’m unhappy. I’m petty like that.

What makes this promise really impressive to me is that it empowers customer service reps to step up and provide authentic help — to do whatever needs doing to get things done. That’s a key detail that most stodgy corporations get very wrong: They prefer their reps to be nameless and faceless and by-the-book. I wasn’t surprised to learn, then, that Rackspace is also on the 2008 list of Money magazine’s 100 best places to work. I also notice that Rackspace recently announced their 4,000th customer. Sounds like they’re doing a heck of a lot right.

Is it possible to actually be this awesomely incredible at customer service? Probably not, but it’s certainly possible to try, and they are apparently willing to try harder than anyone else.

This sounds like more than just customer service to me. It sounds like marketing. Smart marketing.

[Rackspace is on Get Satisfaction.]

By Eric Suesz | Posted in Branding, customer service, hall of fame, reputation | Comments (4)