| It has recently (painfully) come to my attention that | | | | our account and set up our greetings by the next day. |
| there are many companies out there that think having | | | | Of course, 3 days later, I received no email and initiated |
| a call center is a nice way to kill two birds with one | | | | an online chat with a customer service agent (I can't |
| stone- answering the phone and providing customer | | | | stand being on the phone any more than I have to). He |
| service. There have been several times recently that | | | | kept asking me the same questions over and over, |
| I've contacted a company for a variety of reasons | | | | "what is your address? was this account established |
| and couldn't get a satisfactory resolution from the call | | | | by phone? what is your email address? was this |
| center employee who answered. I have started asking | | | | account established by phone?" I finally caved and |
| for a contact phone number for someone working at | | | | asked him to just call me. He told me that they were |
| the actual company, and I have been surprised to find | | | | experiencing "system issues" the day I set up our |
| that most companies I've dealt with that employ call | | | | account (just my luck...) and that he would get me over |
| centers do not have any other employees trained to | | | | to the Sales Dept. I assumed I would be placed on hold |
| or designated to assist a customer. | | | | while he filled in a salesperson on the problem and that |
| I really focused in on this issue recently when my | | | | I would be connected to him or her. WRONG. I was |
| Project Manager, Kelly, got a new printer (I am not one | | | | immediately bounced into auto-hold nightmare, listening |
| for casting stones, so I won't name the brand, but I will | | | | to horrendous, static-y hold music for over 10 minutes. |
| tell you that it rhymes with "smache p"). She got it | | | | T E N M I N U T E S! Hold time is like dog years, |
| home, set it up and it wouldn't print. Kelly is a smart girl, | | | | multiply by 7 and that's how long it feels to a person |
| she checked the manual and did some troubleshooting, | | | | on hold. Finally, a salesperson picked up and I have to |
| including checking the ink level, which estimated that | | | | start all over from scratch. I wasted another 45 |
| she had plenty of ink (it was after all a new printer that | | | | minutes setting up my account, again. I ended the call |
| came with a new ink cartridge). So, she called the 800 | | | | by asking if there was someone at the actual phone |
| number and within mere minutes (in the double digits) | | | | company that I could talk to about the situation and |
| she was talking to someone who was difficult to | | | | was told that there wasn't a "designated customer |
| understand, who asked for all kinds of personal | | | | contact at the company". I wanted to scream. But I |
| information, and then asked a set of canned, rapid-fire | | | | didn't. I hung up wondering what our long term |
| troubleshooting questions. | | | | relationship with this company would be like. |
| This all ended in determining that although the printer | | | | The lesson learned from these experiences? Too |
| "estimated" a moderate level of ink, and although it | | | | many companies rely on call center employees to fulfill |
| was a new ink cartridge from the manufacturer, they | | | | customer service. They don't. They don't care about |
| don't actually put enough ink in the cartridge to really do | | | | your company. They don't care about your goals, |
| anything other than the alignment print test. "It IS just an | | | | products, culture, or philosophy and they certainly aren't |
| estimate" he told her. He then promptly hit her up with | | | | thinking outside the box to solve a problem. They are |
| a sales pitch to order more ink. She politely declined | | | | sitting in a cubicle reading a script on a screen, drinking |
| (she is a proper Brit, you know), hung up and went to | | | | a Big Gulp, watching the clock (I know first hand, one |
| the store for more ink. Not good. | | | | of my first jobs in high school was at a call center). |
| This experience hit closer to home- I did some | | | | So, this big long rant about customer service really is |
| research to find a new telecom provider for my | | | | about your company's marketing- Think about all |
| company, and determined what company we would | | | | marketing dollars that were spent to get Kelly to buy |
| use. We felt very confident about this choice since this | | | | that printer, or for that phone service to get our |
| company is associated with another well known | | | | business, and think about the cost of client acquisition. It |
| corporation we currently do business with. I called on a | | | | is all wasted when you entrust customer service to a |
| Monday and invested 40 minutes in setting up an | | | | third party call center. Give your customers a number |
| account, and "Paul" assured me I would be receiving | | | | where someone who cares and can assist them |
| an email with all the information I would need to access | | | | answers the phone and kill the call center! |