Social media is grand, and yes, it’s proving to be valuable for customer service in some scenarios.
But it’s exposing a big disconnect: the companies embracing using things like Twitter or blogs aren’t necessarily taking those principles and applying them to their more traditional ideas of customer service and the operations that support it.
Best Buy’s Twelpforce
Yesterday, I had a small experience on that front with my local Best Buy store. I tried to call the store to find out if they had a product in stock. Four times. No one ever picked up the phone.
In typical social media fashion, I vented on Twitter, and headed out to the Apple store to find what I needed.
In rather short order, @Coral_BestBuy reached out to help. But of course, she couldn’t, at least immediately.
As awesome as Coral is (and she really was), she’s part of the corporate team, not the one at my local store that’s failing to answer their phone. She’s a couple of levels removed, and while she told me she was sending an email to store management, the problem is not of her construction. She can only rattle the cage on her end, apologize to me, and try to make things right the best she can.
(Aside: Let’s be clear. This was a minor inconvenience on my end. No one died. I don’t need anything to fix the problem. But to me it’s pointing to something bigger.)
The Disconnect
I love the potential of using things like Twitter for customer service. We at Radian6 use it too, and I’ve had some great experiences with folks like Coral, and the teams at Seesmic, Evernote, Comcast, and the Roger Smith Hotel.
Some of these companies are really taking the intent behind social media engagement – to improve their customers’ experience – and bringing it into the operations of their companies. Or, perhaps more accurately, they’re building companies that are equipped to deliver those kinds of customer experiences in the first place, and they’re deploying the social media tools as one way to do that.
The trouble happens when the companies are building something like a Twitter brigade as a surface treatment, or an isolated channel. The folks manning the accounts aren’t really empowered to do or change much operationally, and there are still some significant shortcomings in customer experience via the call center or the website..
It creates a disparate experience, and an inconsistent one that still doesn’t reflect well on the brand. It drives people to use Twitter, sure, but more because they are more certain of a response, and less because of deep affection for Twitter itself.
For the optimist, it can appear like they’re trying, but that the mainstream operations haven’t caught up to the new stuff.
To the cynic, it can look like they’re chasing the trendy tools, and ignoring the underlying problems they have, both culturally and operationally.
Life on the Front Lines
I live and breathe life in the social media trenches, along with a super kick-ass team. We are responding to and experiencing the front lines of social media on a daily basis. So I get it.
And we are fortunate, because our executive management team looks to us to actually inform process, operations, and product development to help align what we do with what our community tells us they need. But that’s not always the case.
How much are folks like Coral empowered to actually change the broken processes that are affecting customer experience? Can she really call up my local store and make sure they fix the phone answering problem, or does her authority end with a sternly worded email?
What happens when you just park an intern in front of the Twitter stream? The expectations for delivery on the part of the customer might not match the execution ability of that person.
I always talk about offering solutions instead of just pointing at problems, so I’m going to try and tackle the “so what can we do about it” question in a separate post. But do you see the problem here?
If we go about social media from the outside in, it’s going to have a really hard time taking root. If the intentions of social media are not wired into the function and purpose of a company, and if those manning the social media posts aren’t able to help inform and drive necessary change, it’s just veneer.
What Can We Change?
I’ll be thinking on this and delivering some ideas. But I want to hear from you too. Let’s talk in detail about not just that we need to bring social media into the operations, but how we’re going to do that.
Do you have thoughts and ideas to share? What do you think?
Lisa Barone wrote a post a few months back about Comcast and how they have a great social media presence but their day to day operations/customer service is still poor. Sure they do a great job helping you when get on Twitter to complain but their day to day operations don’t change because of it. Best Buy is no different. Their business model has always been to have cheap labor and staff the store with barbones amount of associates as possible. (I will never be able to figure out why they have 12 registers and only four cashiers at Christmas, no matter what the length of the line is.) That strategy isn’t any different than most big box retailers.
A lot of big companies seem to look at participating in social media as a way to placate a vocal group of people that publicly could damage the brand on some level. While fixing the problems at the root is often to costly (in their minds) to do, it is easier to deal with issues as they arrise on these platforms and deal with them there.
Why improve the overall experience when you can just solve the problems for a vocal few?
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
Kevin – So are you interested in taking my challenge? What would you recommend as a solution, or some steps toward one?
Sorry that was a little bit of a ramble without getting to a point.
I guess strategically we can sit here and come up with solid ideas: localized “community” managers, a response strategy where national reps can get someone in a local store right away, or numerous other ideas. But the root of the problem is not the strategy of these companies and how they approach social media but how they approach customer service. That is the attitude that needs to change, not necessarily the mechanics of it.
Using Best Buy or Comcast as as example how much local competition do they actually have as companies? (Circuit City is done, no other store offers the selection Best Buy does. With cable companies they pretty much own the market they are in with satellite being the only major competitor.) Why do they need to change the experience? We would all like them to but from a bottom line perspective they are probably approaching it the way they do because it makes them look good without being that expensive to maintain.
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
I’m often talking about the fact that social media is as much a cultural shift as an operational one, so I’m with you. Which begs the bigger and hairier questions.
How do you start actually creating attitudinal change? I’ve been reading Drive by Daniel Pink and Switch by the Heath brothers, and both talk about that deeply. And I’m more and more fascinated by the real root causes of these things that are MANY levels below the tools and tactics these companies are using to get things done.
It is an interesting question to dive into. (And now I have a few more books for my reading list.)
How much do you think companies look at the social web and what I like to call “fake internet rage” as a factor? How many times have all of us complained on Twitter about a place we where eating or shopping at only to return to it later on because it is just convenient for us? Look at Wal-Mart it probably has the most hateful stuff written about any company on the internet and most of it with good cause but what has the real impact been on them? From a bottom line perspective for a lot of these really large companies there is no real impact from these discussions.
The fact is when you gain power be it in politics or business the attitudes and opinions of the public ultimately matter very little. Do I think a shift in attitude would be great for everyone involved? Yes. But do I think it is realistic? No, unless there is a cause to make them change.
I think we are going to see companies use these tools to rebrand themselves, share information, etc. But fixing the day to day operations that impact your customer experience just doesn’t seem like there is any true value there. (Sadly, I wish there was.)
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
Lisa Barone wrote a post a few months back about Comcast and how they have a great social media presence but their day to day operations/customer service is still poor. Sure they do a great job helping you when get on Twitter to complain but their day to day operations don’t change because of it. Best Buy is no different. Their business model has always been to have cheap labor and staff the store with barbones amount of associates as possible. (I will never be able to figure out why they have 12 registers and only four cashiers at Christmas, no matter what the length of the line is.) That strategy isn’t any different than most big box retailers.
A lot of big companies seem to look at participating in social media as a way to placate a vocal group of people that publicly could damage the brand on some level. While fixing the problems at the root is often to costly (in their minds) to do, it is easier to deal with issues as they arrise on these platforms and deal with them there.
Why improve the overall experience when you can just solve the problems for a vocal few?
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
Kevin – So are you interested in taking my challenge? What would you recommend as a solution, or some steps toward one?
Sorry that was a little bit of a ramble without getting to a point.
I guess strategically we can sit here and come up with solid ideas: localized “community” managers, a response strategy where national reps can get someone in a local store right away, or numerous other ideas. But the root of the problem is not the strategy of these companies and how they approach social media but how they approach customer service. That is the attitude that needs to change, not necessarily the mechanics of it.
Using Best Buy or Comcast as as example how much local competition do they actually have as companies? (Circuit City is done, no other store offers the selection Best Buy does. With cable companies they pretty much own the market they are in with satellite being the only major competitor.) Why do they need to change the experience? We would all like them to but from a bottom line perspective they are probably approaching it the way they do because it makes them look good without being that expensive to maintain.
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
I’m often talking about the fact that social media is as much a cultural shift as an operational one, so I’m with you. Which begs the bigger and hairier questions.
How do you start actually creating attitudinal change? I’ve been reading Drive by Daniel Pink and Switch by the Heath brothers, and both talk about that deeply. And I’m more and more fascinated by the real root causes of these things that are MANY levels below the tools and tactics these companies are using to get things done.
It is an interesting question to dive into. (And now I have a few more books for my reading list.)
How much do you think companies look at the social web and what I like to call “fake internet rage” as a factor? How many times have all of us complained on Twitter about a place we where eating or shopping at only to return to it later on because it is just convenient for us? Look at Wal-Mart it probably has the most hateful stuff written about any company on the internet and most of it with good cause but what has the real impact been on them? From a bottom line perspective for a lot of these really large companies there is no real impact from these discussions.
The fact is when you gain power be it in politics or business the attitudes and opinions of the public ultimately matter very little. Do I think a shift in attitude would be great for everyone involved? Yes. But do I think it is realistic? No, unless there is a cause to make them change.
I think we are going to see companies use these tools to rebrand themselves, share information, etc. But fixing the day to day operations that impact your customer experience just doesn’t seem like there is any true value there. (Sadly, I wish there was.)
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
I don’t shop at Best Buy, I’m more of an amazon.com, click and bring it to me kind of guy, but it’s a bit disappointing to hear that the Twelpforce really is just a digital call center. Obviously I’m not in the trenches like most that will read this post, but you have to wonder why a channel like this isn’t being utilized at the retail level as opposed to it being essentially a duplication of an existing communications channel.
If each store had a social media account and a person (preferably someone in store management) responsible for monitoring it, then they would be in a position to actually help a customer. It is also surprising in light of the fact that a lot of social media tools are becoming more and more location based. It would appear that it would be more effective if the Twelpforce were localized where their customers actually needed them.
And I’m obviously just using Best Buy as an example based on your post, but I think this could be applied more broadly to things like auto dealerships. You have companies like Ford doing great things in social media, but you can’t buy a Ford from Ford. It surprises me that more dealerships (not necessarily just Ford) aren’t embracing social media channels, especially in instances where the manufacturer has a solid presence, because they are the ones in position to actually capitalize on opportunities.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner =-.
I like where you’re headed with the localization of the outreach. So what are your thoughts about how to coordinate that and tie it back to the company operations overall? Right now, it’s all corporate centralized so the local stuff is suffering. Making it hyperlocal could create the opposite problem, with the left hand and right hand not working in tandem at all.
How can you start looking at putting out consistent standards of engagement, experience, and practice while maintaining a high touch at a local level?
I agree that a swing to the 100% opposite could be a bad thing. Again, using Best Buy as an example, maybe instead of having a centralized twelpforce that they were localized by region. At this time the store level may not necessarily be the best solution chain wide, but you could have social media contacts at the highest volume stores, in the regional or district management offices to service lower volume stores that would provide faster access to management and finally at the corporate level for chain wide monitoring, training and continuing education.
Having a presence to access store management on a high volume store and regional level could help to improve things, then you’d have the corporate point of contact for escalations. This may be simplistic from a theoretical level, but it could be a start.
Some here have mentioned that it is also a hiring issue, which I complete agree with. Retail outlets leave a lot to be desired in terms of customer service these days. That isn’t exclusively a Best Buy problem, but rather the retail industry – in my opinion.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner =-.
It Google+ circles too obvious? They could be used organized as tiers or a “phone tree”??
I don’t shop at Best Buy, I’m more of an amazon.com, click and bring it to me kind of guy, but it’s a bit disappointing to hear that the Twelpforce really is just a digital call center. Obviously I’m not in the trenches like most that will read this post, but you have to wonder why a channel like this isn’t being utilized at the retail level as opposed to it being essentially a duplication of an existing communications channel.
If each store had a social media account and a person (preferably someone in store management) responsible for monitoring it, then they would be in a position to actually help a customer. It is also surprising in light of the fact that a lot of social media tools are becoming more and more location based. It would appear that it would be more effective if the Twelpforce were localized where their customers actually needed them.
And I’m obviously just using Best Buy as an example based on your post, but I think this could be applied more broadly to things like auto dealerships. You have companies like Ford doing great things in social media, but you can’t buy a Ford from Ford. It surprises me that more dealerships (not necessarily just Ford) aren’t embracing social media channels, especially in instances where the manufacturer has a solid presence, because they are the ones in position to actually capitalize on opportunities.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner =-.
I like where you’re headed with the localization of the outreach. So what are your thoughts about how to coordinate that and tie it back to the company operations overall? Right now, it’s all corporate centralized so the local stuff is suffering. Making it hyperlocal could create the opposite problem, with the left hand and right hand not working in tandem at all.
How can you start looking at putting out consistent standards of engagement, experience, and practice while maintaining a high touch at a local level?
I agree that a swing to the 100% opposite could be a bad thing. Again, using Best Buy as an example, maybe instead of having a centralized twelpforce that they were localized by region. At this time the store level may not necessarily be the best solution chain wide, but you could have social media contacts at the highest volume stores, in the regional or district management offices to service lower volume stores that would provide faster access to management and finally at the corporate level for chain wide monitoring, training and continuing education.
Having a presence to access store management on a high volume store and regional level could help to improve things, then you’d have the corporate point of contact for escalations. This may be simplistic from a theoretical level, but it could be a start.
Some here have mentioned that it is also a hiring issue, which I complete agree with. Retail outlets leave a lot to be desired in terms of customer service these days. That isn’t exclusively a Best Buy problem, but rather the retail industry – in my opinion.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner =-.
I believe the disconnect with large companies comes from the fact Social Media is placed in departments that are not on the front lines, like in your experience. The management of social media is given to the marketing, PR, and/or customer service departments which are removed from where the point of sale actually takes place. So while you have a great conversation with someone in HQ, it does not translate into success at the local store. Domino’s pizza has been in the reverse of this trend. It has allowed its franchised stores to run their own social media that is relevant and timely to the location they serve. This article talks about it here.
It comes down to large companies being willing to trust those on the front lines to carry the message, protect the brand, and build strong relationships with their customers. The messaging in social media cannot be controlled from a far away HQ.
Erroin, I’d ask you the same thing I did PJ above. What does that require operationally to actually WORK? It’s easy to say, but not so easy to coordinate hundreds of local representatives that are decentralized. But I’m not a fan of a big corporate wall, either. Any ideas, from an execution perspective?
I believe companies should follow the model used by Dominos. Using your Best Buy experience as an example, those stores should have a social media watch group. That is able to query by using the locations feature in Twitter to answer your specific questions. Decentralization is the key and a corporation has to trust people on the line. Employees to be those monitors can be screened and interviewed for those positions. Training can be done on a monthly or quarterly basis to keep employees on message but still free to communicate in the language of the local customer. Since all of this information is open in the stream, it is easy to inspect.
While the disconnect in corporate communications isn’t anything new, social media does increases the visibility – and frustration. There’s not a one-size-fits-all fix, nor a fast fix. Social media has created a fundamental shift that will eventually require a fundamental change in corporate organization, i.e. a C-level with directs in each segment of business focused on social media incoming as well as outgoing communication. Easier said than done – but critical. Nice post.
Hi Lynelle –
All that’s true. But again, we talk about fundamental shifts and the need for leadership and communication, but where’s the discussion and the nitty gritty about how to DO all of that? That’s where I am now. I’m focusing on the wiring, from an execution standpoint. No there’s no one-size-fits all, but there ARE some ways we can explore more detailed ideas that can be adapted to different circumstances. I want to start talking about THOSE.
I believe the disconnect with large companies comes from the fact Social Media is placed in departments that are not on the front lines, like in your experience. The management of social media is given to the marketing, PR, and/or customer service departments which are removed from where the point of sale actually takes place. So while you have a great conversation with someone in HQ, it does not translate into success at the local store. Domino’s pizza has been in the reverse of this trend. It has allowed its franchised stores to run their own social media that is relevant and timely to the location they serve. This article talks about it here.
It comes down to large companies being willing to trust those on the front lines to carry the message, protect the brand, and build strong relationships with their customers. The messaging in social media cannot be controlled from a far away HQ.
Erroin, I’d ask you the same thing I did PJ above. What does that require operationally to actually WORK? It’s easy to say, but not so easy to coordinate hundreds of local representatives that are decentralized. But I’m not a fan of a big corporate wall, either. Any ideas, from an execution perspective?
I believe companies should follow the model used by Dominos. Using your Best Buy experience as an example, those stores should have a social media watch group. That is able to query by using the locations feature in Twitter to answer your specific questions. Decentralization is the key and a corporation has to trust people on the line. Employees to be those monitors can be screened and interviewed for those positions. Training can be done on a monthly or quarterly basis to keep employees on message but still free to communicate in the language of the local customer. Since all of this information is open in the stream, it is easy to inspect.
While the disconnect in corporate communications isn’t anything new, social media does increases the visibility – and frustration. There’s not a one-size-fits-all fix, nor a fast fix. Social media has created a fundamental shift that will eventually require a fundamental change in corporate organization, i.e. a C-level with directs in each segment of business focused on social media incoming as well as outgoing communication. Easier said than done – but critical. Nice post.
Hi Lynelle –
All that’s true. But again, we talk about fundamental shifts and the need for leadership and communication, but where’s the discussion and the nitty gritty about how to DO all of that? That’s where I am now. I’m focusing on the wiring, from an execution standpoint. No there’s no one-size-fits all, but there ARE some ways we can explore more detailed ideas that can be adapted to different circumstances. I want to start talking about THOSE.
btw, I love your new look… How do you like MINE? Who IS this person??
Bizarre. These avatars pull from Gravatar, so you might want to check your account over there?
btw, I love your new look… How do you like MINE? Who IS this person??
Bizarre. These avatars pull from Gravatar, so you might want to check your account over there?
Amber, your post could not have come at a better time! I just had the worst experience in my life with Dell computers http://bit.ly/bC4wpu. I have three defective computers on my hands and they are quibbling with me over a few hundred dollars in repair costs. I reached out to their social media teams, namely, @teamblackhawk, @RichardatDell and @LionelatDell. They too, were slow to respond, but then got me to the “right people,” who then disappointed me with their lack of empathy. There also is a smug attitude pervasive in the ranks there that does not fit their annoying “Lollipop” happy ads.
Dell’s Facebook page is a wasteland of dissatisfied customers as well.
So if they keep getting kudos and recognition for their social media programs by us social media types, yet they’re still not providing good computers and customer service to their customers, what use is the social media outlets? I say it’s useless.
Hi Claire, sounds like a sucky experience, and I’m sorry about that.
So if you had the ear of someone that could actually create change at Dell about how to better handle stuff like this, what would you recommend to them?
I would ask Dell to set aside it’s “NO is always the answer” playbook and have some common sense. I was a brand advocate for them, and a good customer too. I have purchased six Dell computers in the last five years. So common sense should tell them that I would have STILL been a brand advocate for them if they had made my situation right.
They know I have a blog and a social media presence, which I have vowed to use to patrol social media forever to tell people not to buy Dells. I know this is a nuclear option of sorts, but you tell me if what happened to me wasn’t nuclear first. Paid full price for these new laptops and ALL THREE of them are now either completely dead or not working properly. Does no one there know what it must be like to share your business computer with two college students?
I’m asking them to focus in on why I bought three laptops for my family. It’s because we all need a reliable computer. They just don’t seem to understand that.
.-= Claire Celsi´s last blog ..Jodi and Steve’s Dell Fail Story =-.
Claire, with all due respect, that’s not a strategy. I know how frustrated you must be with your experience, and maybe it’s not our job to instruct these companies on how to change.
But telling a company to “get common sense” isn’t realistic. They, I’m sure, think they have plenty of it. So from a communication perspective, you’re both talking to brick walls. What I’m trying to get through is that impasse: how do we as customers effectively articulate our needs and desires, and how can companies do a better job of actually putting that stuff into practice, and then communicating better about what they’re trying and why?
I’m beginning to think we have a deeper communication problem than almost anything else, at a very base human level.
The common sense part may not be a “strategy” per se, but wouldn’t you agree that cultivating brand loyalty with returning customers is? Or blogger relations? Especially with Dell, who only had its first “Come to Jesus” with bloggers slamming its customer service? C’mon Amber, we can’t forget history. It teaches many lessons.
.-= Claire Celsi´s last blog ..Jodi and Steve’s Dell Fail Story =-.
No, definitely not disputing that. So here’s where I’m going with all of this.
If they don’t “get” that cultivating brand loyalty for returning customers is important, as demonstrated in your mind by the way they’ve treated you, we have two choices.
1) We can determine that fixing that disconnect is their problem entirely, and we say “you figure it out” while we speak with our business, take a stand, and go buy elsewhere.
Or
2) We continue to communicate in clear, specific, and articulate terms what *precisely* we want these companies to do better or differently. We can say “I want you to demonstrate that brand loyalty is important to you by developing a policy to waive the repair fees for defective computers at all times for repeat buyers because not doing so erodes our trust that you care about whether we ever buy another computer from you” or something to that effect.
My point is much broader than you (so thanks for being my example). It’s that we, as customers, are really good at shouting when we’ve been wronged, but I don’t think we’re doing much to think through what we’d actually like the companies to change, and explain that in clear terms that they can act on.
I’m not ever saying that bad customer service is acceptable. But I’m personally on a crusade to take these discussions down to root, applicable levels and improve the communication capabilities on both ends of the teeter totter.
Amber, your post could not have come at a better time! I just had the worst experience in my life with Dell computers http://bit.ly/bC4wpu. I have three defective computers on my hands and they are quibbling with me over a few hundred dollars in repair costs. I reached out to their social media teams, namely, @teamblackhawk, @RichardatDell and @LionelatDell. They too, were slow to respond, but then got me to the “right people,” who then disappointed me with their lack of empathy. There also is a smug attitude pervasive in the ranks there that does not fit their annoying “Lollipop” happy ads.
Dell’s Facebook page is a wasteland of dissatisfied customers as well.
So if they keep getting kudos and recognition for their social media programs by us social media types, yet they’re still not providing good computers and customer service to their customers, what use is the social media outlets? I say it’s useless.
Hi Claire, sounds like a sucky experience, and I’m sorry about that.
So if you had the ear of someone that could actually create change at Dell about how to better handle stuff like this, what would you recommend to them?
I would ask Dell to set aside it’s “NO is always the answer” playbook and have some common sense. I was a brand advocate for them, and a good customer too. I have purchased six Dell computers in the last five years. So common sense should tell them that I would have STILL been a brand advocate for them if they had made my situation right.
They know I have a blog and a social media presence, which I have vowed to use to patrol social media forever to tell people not to buy Dells. I know this is a nuclear option of sorts, but you tell me if what happened to me wasn’t nuclear first. Paid full price for these new laptops and ALL THREE of them are now either completely dead or not working properly. Does no one there know what it must be like to share your business computer with two college students?
I’m asking them to focus in on why I bought three laptops for my family. It’s because we all need a reliable computer. They just don’t seem to understand that.
.-= Claire Celsi´s last blog ..Jodi and Steve’s Dell Fail Story =-.
Claire, with all due respect, that’s not a strategy. I know how frustrated you must be with your experience, and maybe it’s not our job to instruct these companies on how to change.
But telling a company to “get common sense” isn’t realistic. They, I’m sure, think they have plenty of it. So from a communication perspective, you’re both talking to brick walls. What I’m trying to get through is that impasse: how do we as customers effectively articulate our needs and desires, and how can companies do a better job of actually putting that stuff into practice, and then communicating better about what they’re trying and why?
I’m beginning to think we have a deeper communication problem than almost anything else, at a very base human level.
The common sense part may not be a “strategy” per se, but wouldn’t you agree that cultivating brand loyalty with returning customers is? Or blogger relations? Especially with Dell, who only had its first “Come to Jesus” with bloggers slamming its customer service? C’mon Amber, we can’t forget history. It teaches many lessons.
.-= Claire Celsi´s last blog ..Jodi and Steve’s Dell Fail Story =-.
No, definitely not disputing that. So here’s where I’m going with all of this.
If they don’t “get” that cultivating brand loyalty for returning customers is important, as demonstrated in your mind by the way they’ve treated you, we have two choices.
1) We can determine that fixing that disconnect is their problem entirely, and we say “you figure it out” while we speak with our business, take a stand, and go buy elsewhere.
Or
2) We continue to communicate in clear, specific, and articulate terms what *precisely* we want these companies to do better or differently. We can say “I want you to demonstrate that brand loyalty is important to you by developing a policy to waive the repair fees for defective computers at all times for repeat buyers because not doing so erodes our trust that you care about whether we ever buy another computer from you” or something to that effect.
My point is much broader than you (so thanks for being my example). It’s that we, as customers, are really good at shouting when we’ve been wronged, but I don’t think we’re doing much to think through what we’d actually like the companies to change, and explain that in clear terms that they can act on.
I’m not ever saying that bad customer service is acceptable. But I’m personally on a crusade to take these discussions down to root, applicable levels and improve the communication capabilities on both ends of the teeter totter.
Too many companies don’t encourage their employees to take small risks when dealing with their customers. Every employee in any company should consider themselves as “customer service” — it’s the reason that you have a job. I wish more companies followed the Zappos model of getting their employees in the customer service spirit and empowered them to handle situations that they may run into. Whether it’s hearing a complaint about an experience at your kid’s baseball game or getting a customer transferred to you when you have no idea how to help them, we all should take ownership of the customer experience.
Also, we’re following that path of localized outreach at our company — people like connecting with local company presences because it makes them feel as though more action might result from their complaints/requests. It makes great sense and if the strategy is thought out holistically, then a broad, yet localized, approach will work.
Jamie
.-= Jamie Sandford´s last blog ..Metafolksonomy and the Social Web: Introduction =-.
Jamie – But here’s the thing. Coral DID consider herself customer service. She apologized on behalf of the brand, and did HER very best to soothe me. But that doesn’t change a thing at the store, now does it? So how do we translate what Coral knows to THEM, and create both the functional and cultural change that’s needed? Go to the stores and teach them about social media? Get them involved somehow?
We all “get” that folks should want to understand their role in customer service, but fact is, they don’t. So what’s broken? The teaching? the people? The communication? and where do we start to FIX it instead of talking about what “should” be happening?
(Not picking on just you, but I’m eager to move past the “yeah, they should really rethink that” and instead start guiding some of the change we actually want to see.)
I would probably target the strategy/buy-in at the outset as the problem here. There’s no integration between the two channels so that it does come across as seamless. Too often I see where companies treat the local establishments as a mere warehouse where goods can be picked up and delivered. They don’t see it as a critical part of the chain where the product, the brand, and the customer intersect. Customer service failure at that point can be downright cataclysmic.
You’re only going to change behavior by providing an incentive to do so. If there’s no consequence to the store not taking care of you, then so what? Where’s the motivation for me to care as the store manager?
Again, it goes back to what we’ve all said over and over — the integration of any multi-channel customer service solution HAS to have buy-in (and follow-through) by all of the channels involved.
If not, then you get the experience that you had.
.-= Jamie Sandford´s last blog ..Metafolksonomy and the Social Web: Introduction =-.
One more time then – digging a level deeper – what do you DO (I mean really, functionally DO) to get that buy in? Do you have meetings? Call people? Write presentations? Start an internal blog or wiki?
We’re all telling companies that they have to change, but I’m just not sure many of them know where to start. And if we’re demanding it of them, do we have a responsibility to give them any guidance about what we want them to do? Or is it their problem to figure out, and if so, what is the value of us sounding off to them in social media about what we aren’t happy with?
I think Jamie touched on a great point
“You’re only going to change behavior by providing an incentive to do so. If there’s no consequence to the store not taking care of you, then so what?”
When some of these larger brands face so little competition there is no real incentive to change. Sure the people that reside in the social media bubble can discuss it and debate it but when you need to go buy a large screen TV ultimately how many options do you have on a local level?
Like you said Amber we are all telling companies that they have to change but in reality how many of them actually need to? When it comes to a bottom line and landscape where there isn’t much local competition what value does making these changes really present to them?
BTW- I think this is an interesting and great discussion!
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
Look out — she’s cracking the whip. 😉 (I keeeeed, I keeed….)
The Message…
Let’s start with the message/goal across the channels. I’ve found that there is sometimes a rub between the “online staff” and the “local office staff”. They have to both understand their importance in the sales process. Nielsen has a some great research from 2007 that shows how much better stores that had BOTH channels did over companies that just had one or the other. So they compliment one another. Show the store managers and online staff this data. If they see each other as disparate worlds, they will fail. So managers of both “worlds” must both be on board and see the value that they each have in the customer chain.
Incentive…
There must be some incentive for the two worlds to work together.
Maybe you give store managers a handful of monetary “attaboys” to hand out to Twelpforce employees who handle a situation well and bring a happy customer into the store? Builds camaraderie between the channels.
Conversely, give the store managers an incentive for the most number of Twelpforce issues handled at their stores. Make them desire to get the hand-offs.
And the metrics…
So what if the Twelpforce “hand off” log is analyzed each month and random hand-offs are picked to see what ultimately happened? This is an internal quality control exercise.
Maybe there are also customer satisfaction surveys that are part of this. Don’t they mention this at the register at the “bottom of your receipt” that you can go online and take a survey? So surveys are part of their culture. They should use them. Find out what the customer actually thought of the whole process.
These are just a few tactical ideas. It’s easier said than done, but I really think you have to do a lot more than just give them the message. It’s about actually building a relationship between the channels themselves.
.-= Jamie Sandford´s last blog ..Metafolksonomy and the Social Web: Introduction =-.
Too many companies don’t encourage their employees to take small risks when dealing with their customers. Every employee in any company should consider themselves as “customer service” — it’s the reason that you have a job. I wish more companies followed the Zappos model of getting their employees in the customer service spirit and empowered them to handle situations that they may run into. Whether it’s hearing a complaint about an experience at your kid’s baseball game or getting a customer transferred to you when you have no idea how to help them, we all should take ownership of the customer experience.
Also, we’re following that path of localized outreach at our company — people like connecting with local company presences because it makes them feel as though more action might result from their complaints/requests. It makes great sense and if the strategy is thought out holistically, then a broad, yet localized, approach will work.
Jamie
.-= Jamie Sandford´s last blog ..Metafolksonomy and the Social Web: Introduction =-.
Jamie – But here’s the thing. Coral DID consider herself customer service. She apologized on behalf of the brand, and did HER very best to soothe me. But that doesn’t change a thing at the store, now does it? So how do we translate what Coral knows to THEM, and create both the functional and cultural change that’s needed? Go to the stores and teach them about social media? Get them involved somehow?
We all “get” that folks should want to understand their role in customer service, but fact is, they don’t. So what’s broken? The teaching? the people? The communication? and where do we start to FIX it instead of talking about what “should” be happening?
(Not picking on just you, but I’m eager to move past the “yeah, they should really rethink that” and instead start guiding some of the change we actually want to see.)
I would probably target the strategy/buy-in at the outset as the problem here. There’s no integration between the two channels so that it does come across as seamless. Too often I see where companies treat the local establishments as a mere warehouse where goods can be picked up and delivered. They don’t see it as a critical part of the chain where the product, the brand, and the customer intersect. Customer service failure at that point can be downright cataclysmic.
You’re only going to change behavior by providing an incentive to do so. If there’s no consequence to the store not taking care of you, then so what? Where’s the motivation for me to care as the store manager?
Again, it goes back to what we’ve all said over and over — the integration of any multi-channel customer service solution HAS to have buy-in (and follow-through) by all of the channels involved.
If not, then you get the experience that you had.
.-= Jamie Sandford´s last blog ..Metafolksonomy and the Social Web: Introduction =-.
One more time then – digging a level deeper – what do you DO (I mean really, functionally DO) to get that buy in? Do you have meetings? Call people? Write presentations? Start an internal blog or wiki?
We’re all telling companies that they have to change, but I’m just not sure many of them know where to start. And if we’re demanding it of them, do we have a responsibility to give them any guidance about what we want them to do? Or is it their problem to figure out, and if so, what is the value of us sounding off to them in social media about what we aren’t happy with?
I think Jamie touched on a great point
“You’re only going to change behavior by providing an incentive to do so. If there’s no consequence to the store not taking care of you, then so what?”
When some of these larger brands face so little competition there is no real incentive to change. Sure the people that reside in the social media bubble can discuss it and debate it but when you need to go buy a large screen TV ultimately how many options do you have on a local level?
Like you said Amber we are all telling companies that they have to change but in reality how many of them actually need to? When it comes to a bottom line and landscape where there isn’t much local competition what value does making these changes really present to them?
BTW- I think this is an interesting and great discussion!
.-= Kevin´s last blog ..Consider the Source =-.
Look out — she’s cracking the whip. 😉 (I keeeeed, I keeed….)
The Message…
Let’s start with the message/goal across the channels. I’ve found that there is sometimes a rub between the “online staff” and the “local office staff”. They have to both understand their importance in the sales process. Nielsen has a some great research from 2007 that shows how much better stores that had BOTH channels did over companies that just had one or the other. So they compliment one another. Show the store managers and online staff this data. If they see each other as disparate worlds, they will fail. So managers of both “worlds” must both be on board and see the value that they each have in the customer chain.
Incentive…
There must be some incentive for the two worlds to work together.
Maybe you give store managers a handful of monetary “attaboys” to hand out to Twelpforce employees who handle a situation well and bring a happy customer into the store? Builds camaraderie between the channels.
Conversely, give the store managers an incentive for the most number of Twelpforce issues handled at their stores. Make them desire to get the hand-offs.
And the metrics…
So what if the Twelpforce “hand off” log is analyzed each month and random hand-offs are picked to see what ultimately happened? This is an internal quality control exercise.
Maybe there are also customer satisfaction surveys that are part of this. Don’t they mention this at the register at the “bottom of your receipt” that you can go online and take a survey? So surveys are part of their culture. They should use them. Find out what the customer actually thought of the whole process.
These are just a few tactical ideas. It’s easier said than done, but I really think you have to do a lot more than just give them the message. It’s about actually building a relationship between the channels themselves.
.-= Jamie Sandford´s last blog ..Metafolksonomy and the Social Web: Introduction =-.
Great post, and neatly points out the trouble of message consistency in businesses with multiple locations and business lines. I’m in the middle of a consulting engagement for a major franchise organization, wrestling with the same questions. Yes, you must have a national presence, but is it HELPFUL or just promotional? Further complicated by the fact that even with today’s best tools, it’s sometimes difficult to ferret out geography from a person’s tweets. About which store are they complaining? How this issue gets codified in the next 24 months is going to change the way customer experience and customer expectations are thought about long into the future. Somebody should write a book about it.
.-= Jay Baer´s last blog ..Are You Taking Social Media Shortcuts? =-.
Yep, it needs to be helpful to matter. Otherwise, frankly, it becomes a liability because you’re not meeting the expectation you’re setting yourself up for, and the customers are going to stark kicking at the weak spots. The weak spots have always been there, but we have armadas of people *looking* for them now more than we ever have, and they’re ready to make sure the company sees them, too.
Great post, and neatly points out the trouble of message consistency in businesses with multiple locations and business lines. I’m in the middle of a consulting engagement for a major franchise organization, wrestling with the same questions. Yes, you must have a national presence, but is it HELPFUL or just promotional? Further complicated by the fact that even with today’s best tools, it’s sometimes difficult to ferret out geography from a person’s tweets. About which store are they complaining? How this issue gets codified in the next 24 months is going to change the way customer experience and customer expectations are thought about long into the future. Somebody should write a book about it.
.-= Jay Baer´s last blog ..Are You Taking Social Media Shortcuts? =-.
Yep, it needs to be helpful to matter. Otherwise, frankly, it becomes a liability because you’re not meeting the expectation you’re setting yourself up for, and the customers are going to stark kicking at the weak spots. The weak spots have always been there, but we have armadas of people *looking* for them now more than we ever have, and they’re ready to make sure the company sees them, too.
Sales is a HUGE disconnect here, as well, and it isn’t the salespeople’s fault. For the past couple of weeks we’ve been engaging with several social media vendors and the quality of engagement as we are handed off from the “evangelist” to the actual salesperson is markedly different, mainly because the latter hasn’t been part of the conversation.
http://brandsavant.com/an-observation-about-sales-and-social-media/
You’re absolutely right about that one, Tom, and it’s something that I’m noticing more and more. There are disconnects from the front lines to SEVERAL related touchpoints in organizations, and sales is definitely one of them. Thanks for raising that important point. It deserves more discussion (hint, hint).
Sales is a HUGE disconnect here, as well, and it isn’t the salespeople’s fault. For the past couple of weeks we’ve been engaging with several social media vendors and the quality of engagement as we are handed off from the “evangelist” to the actual salesperson is markedly different, mainly because the latter hasn’t been part of the conversation.
http://brandsavant.com/an-observation-about-sales-and-social-media/
You’re absolutely right about that one, Tom, and it’s something that I’m noticing more and more. There are disconnects from the front lines to SEVERAL related touchpoints in organizations, and sales is definitely one of them. Thanks for raising that important point. It deserves more discussion (hint, hint).
Step 1:) C-level with ‘the-buck-stops-here’ responsibility for connecting the dots
Step 2:) Inventory of social media touch points that already exist
Step 3:) Review and compare to business objectives
That would be a good start. Step 3.5 might be to hire Radian6, heh? Step 3.75 might be to hire me. Then Step 4 would depend on 3, 3.5 and 3.75…
Not sure what happened with the avatar – but thanks for the Gravatar tip. Think it’s fixed.
.-= Lynnelle´s last blog ..Social Media & Speed Demons: Observations from the Road – #2 =-.
do you think it’s really operationally realistic for the C-level folks to connect the dots? I’m thinking it might have to happen a step or two closer to daily ops than that. C-level is rarely involved at that degree of detail.
Like steps 2 and 3 though. Now we’re getting somewhere. 🙂
Step 1:) C-level with ‘the-buck-stops-here’ responsibility for connecting the dots
Step 2:) Inventory of social media touch points that already exist
Step 3:) Review and compare to business objectives
That would be a good start. Step 3.5 might be to hire Radian6, heh? Step 3.75 might be to hire me. Then Step 4 would depend on 3, 3.5 and 3.75…
Not sure what happened with the avatar – but thanks for the Gravatar tip. Think it’s fixed.
.-= Lynnelle´s last blog ..Social Media & Speed Demons: Observations from the Road – #2 =-.
do you think it’s really operationally realistic for the C-level folks to connect the dots? I’m thinking it might have to happen a step or two closer to daily ops than that. C-level is rarely involved at that degree of detail.
Like steps 2 and 3 though. Now we’re getting somewhere. 🙂
Damn. Not yet.
.-= Lynnelle´s last blog ..Social Media & Speed Demons: Observations from the Road – #2 =-.
Damn. Not yet.
.-= Lynnelle´s last blog ..Social Media & Speed Demons: Observations from the Road – #2 =-.
Goes without saying this is a great topic for discussion and an important one at that. So much so, that I was inspired to create a blog post in response to yours.
In an attempt to summarize:
A multi-faceted business strategy needs to be created from the results of brand monitoring, discover the trends, and address the squeakiest wheel. The buy-in is going to occur when the C-suite is provided a top line summary; presentations will need to be created, case studies conducted that shed some light on positive ROI. As marketers with a stake in seeing Social CRM earn it’s seat at the dinner table, it is our duty to find the correlation that support the success of a new business strategy that is customer-centric.
The original blog post can is here: The Importance of Developing A Social CRM Strategy
“address the squeakiest wheel”
Really? Is the squeakiest wheel always right and deserving of priority?
As for ROI, I’m going to forego my typical soapbox here and say only that if you need someone to illustrate ROI for good customer service, and if you really need to make a business case for why the customer needs to be at the center of what you do, you’ve got more than social media problems, and you’d better start digging deeper and forgetting about Twitter for the moment.
Amber,
Thanks for responding to my post.
When the squeaky wheel is representative of a common or trending complaint and not the loudest individual complainer, I do feel it deserves priority. Social media has given consumers a platform to voice opinions and frustrations. There is tremendous value in receiving feedback from customers, positive or negative. Given this insight into the consumer’s mind, businesses should derive an action plan that addresses the problem with the highest frequency. This could be the foundation of a Social CRM strategy.
As for ROI, the business case that needs to be addressed is not “why the customer needs to be the center”, rather “why you need to rethink the way you are currently doing business” to ensure that the customer remains the center. Technology has changed the marketplace and while Marketing and Advertising are catching up, Operations, at times, seems world apart. Digital strategies across all departments need to be developed. Selling off this type of investment in a CRM strategy that incorporates social will require the delivery of metrics that support positive ROI. I don’t think that companies need to hop off Twitter, though, because there are other internal operational issues that need to be addressed. Trial and error gave us the light bulb, not fear.
Sad to say, there are departments within organizations, and even employees, that needed to be educated on the importance of putting the customer in the center. Everyone does not have the drive to exceed expectations and those that do are not on the front line for very long. Is it a hiring issue or is it a training issue? I think it might be a little of both.
Having a vested interest is seeing social efforts delve into levels beyond marketing; I am excited to see where this conversation takes us today.
Melissa
Goes without saying this is a great topic for discussion and an important one at that. So much so, that I was inspired to create a blog post in response to yours.
In an attempt to summarize:
A multi-faceted business strategy needs to be created from the results of brand monitoring, discover the trends, and address the squeakiest wheel. The buy-in is going to occur when the C-suite is provided a top line summary; presentations will need to be created, case studies conducted that shed some light on positive ROI. As marketers with a stake in seeing Social CRM earn it’s seat at the dinner table, it is our duty to find the correlation that support the success of a new business strategy that is customer-centric.
The original blog post can is here: The Importance of Developing A Social CRM Strategy
“address the squeakiest wheel”
Really? Is the squeakiest wheel always right and deserving of priority?
As for ROI, I’m going to forego my typical soapbox here and say only that if you need someone to illustrate ROI for good customer service, and if you really need to make a business case for why the customer needs to be at the center of what you do, you’ve got more than social media problems, and you’d better start digging deeper and forgetting about Twitter for the moment.
Amber,
Thanks for responding to my post.
When the squeaky wheel is representative of a common or trending complaint and not the loudest individual complainer, I do feel it deserves priority. Social media has given consumers a platform to voice opinions and frustrations. There is tremendous value in receiving feedback from customers, positive or negative. Given this insight into the consumer’s mind, businesses should derive an action plan that addresses the problem with the highest frequency. This could be the foundation of a Social CRM strategy.
As for ROI, the business case that needs to be addressed is not “why the customer needs to be the center”, rather “why you need to rethink the way you are currently doing business” to ensure that the customer remains the center. Technology has changed the marketplace and while Marketing and Advertising are catching up, Operations, at times, seems world apart. Digital strategies across all departments need to be developed. Selling off this type of investment in a CRM strategy that incorporates social will require the delivery of metrics that support positive ROI. I don’t think that companies need to hop off Twitter, though, because there are other internal operational issues that need to be addressed. Trial and error gave us the light bulb, not fear.
Sad to say, there are departments within organizations, and even employees, that needed to be educated on the importance of putting the customer in the center. Everyone does not have the drive to exceed expectations and those that do are not on the front line for very long. Is it a hiring issue or is it a training issue? I think it might be a little of both.
Having a vested interest is seeing social efforts delve into levels beyond marketing; I am excited to see where this conversation takes us today.
Melissa
Wow, this is the most fun and interesting post I’ve seen in a long time. Not only because of the post itself, but I literally went reading the comments one by one. Like I always say, the juice of a post is found at the end of the page.
Amber, the problem I think is because these companies depend on people like you and me and everyone here to think for them. And at the end of the day, we’re all marketers — we sell. Nowadays we stamp the “You need a social media presence!” solution on every proposal we make without actually thinking what’s causing the problem.
From my part, considering what happened at Best Buy, this is how I’ll face it on a 3 step process:
1. Identify and contain the problem: We have a communication issue at the store level. Use the 10% rule — if we have 10 locations and this is happening at one them, chances are it’s also occurring at least at on more location.
2. Establish initial focus: In this case, accountability — Is there anyone accountable for helping customers over the phone?
No? Well, why not? Let’s start a policy on making sure at least one person is in charge of answering the phones on every shift but also has the slowest section of the store (ie. car audio, DVDs?). Their primary job is to help over the phone and secondary objective is to bring support to the team when needed. This policy will also include how to answer and more importantly, how to transfer the call to a knowledgeable person on the floor. That way we open the line for the next caller.
Yes? Then, what kind of INCENTIVE do we have in place for that employee to be compelled to answer the phone?
We marketers usually fail on this step as we try to identify a collection of elements when really there’s always just one culprit causing the issue. But I understand why most do it: when we complicate the problem the bill grows larger.
3. Fix, respond, and measure: This is also a.k.a. “get to work!”. Deploy your strategy and train resources as necessary. Don’t make a binder when you can explain it in three paragraphs.
Responding means communicating your strategy not only to those involved in your company but also to the community. And at this particular juncture is when social media needs to kick in: because it can be active instead of passive. Publish on your fan page the problem you had and how you’re fixing it. Share the knowledge. Convert followers into ambassadors.
Problem is that we use social media tools to communicate back to that particular customer and think we fixed the situation. Sorry to burst your bubble but one person is not enough: we need to see that person as the CATALYST, not the end of the line.
When would we get that us humans drive their methods and actions based on a perceived value of power. We crave power. It’s just part of our nature.
Imagine the difference between these two scenarios and place yourself at the center of it all (customer):
You complain. You get a response. You’re somewhat satisfied.
OR
You complain. You get a response via email saying that you stirred up the pot. You keep track of what’s happening by clicking on the link and following what the company is doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. You tell others “Hey, look what I created!”.
You see the difference? How many others would you make part of the story?
Hey, but at the end of the day we’re just marketers: we sell.
Hope this helps and kudos on this great post! Now back to work. –Paul
.-= Paul L’Acosta´s last blog ..marketingfails: RT @LorieAHuston: Don’t smoke around your pet. Secondhand smoke is dangerous for pets just like it is for people #dogtalk =-.
Paul, OUTSTANDING comments. Thank you so much for contributing. I especially love your part about an individual not being the solution, but the catalyst.
And I agree about companies wanting others to think for them, to a point. But I also think there’s a LOT of empty ranting that happens without offering constructive alternatives, which is a passion point of mine. If we’re going to take these tools in our hands and command that businesses listen, I think we have a responsibility to help create the solutions, not just point our fingers and demand that businesses bend to our will.
The other thing I have a bit of issue with is the notion of incentive. Go read Drive by Daniel Pink if you haven’t. If we have to give people “incentives” to pick up the damn phone at their place of business, we have a hiring problem, not an incentive problem.
Wow, this is the most fun and interesting post I’ve seen in a long time. Not only because of the post itself, but I literally went reading the comments one by one. Like I always say, the juice of a post is found at the end of the page.
Amber, the problem I think is because these companies depend on people like you and me and everyone here to think for them. And at the end of the day, we’re all marketers — we sell. Nowadays we stamp the “You need a social media presence!” solution on every proposal we make without actually thinking what’s causing the problem.
From my part, considering what happened at Best Buy, this is how I’ll face it on a 3 step process:
1. Identify and contain the problem: We have a communication issue at the store level. Use the 10% rule — if we have 10 locations and this is happening at one them, chances are it’s also occurring at least at on more location.
2. Establish initial focus: In this case, accountability — Is there anyone accountable for helping customers over the phone?
No? Well, why not? Let’s start a policy on making sure at least one person is in charge of answering the phones on every shift but also has the slowest section of the store (ie. car audio, DVDs?). Their primary job is to help over the phone and secondary objective is to bring support to the team when needed. This policy will also include how to answer and more importantly, how to transfer the call to a knowledgeable person on the floor. That way we open the line for the next caller.
Yes? Then, what kind of INCENTIVE do we have in place for that employee to be compelled to answer the phone?
We marketers usually fail on this step as we try to identify a collection of elements when really there’s always just one culprit causing the issue. But I understand why most do it: when we complicate the problem the bill grows larger.
3. Fix, respond, and measure: This is also a.k.a. “get to work!”. Deploy your strategy and train resources as necessary. Don’t make a binder when you can explain it in three paragraphs.
Responding means communicating your strategy not only to those involved in your company but also to the community. And at this particular juncture is when social media needs to kick in: because it can be active instead of passive. Publish on your fan page the problem you had and how you’re fixing it. Share the knowledge. Convert followers into ambassadors.
Problem is that we use social media tools to communicate back to that particular customer and think we fixed the situation. Sorry to burst your bubble but one person is not enough: we need to see that person as the CATALYST, not the end of the line.
When would we get that us humans drive their methods and actions based on a perceived value of power. We crave power. It’s just part of our nature.
Imagine the difference between these two scenarios and place yourself at the center of it all (customer):
You complain. You get a response. You’re somewhat satisfied.
OR
You complain. You get a response via email saying that you stirred up the pot. You keep track of what’s happening by clicking on the link and following what the company is doing to make sure it doesn’t happen again. You tell others “Hey, look what I created!”.
You see the difference? How many others would you make part of the story?
Hey, but at the end of the day we’re just marketers: we sell.
Hope this helps and kudos on this great post! Now back to work. –Paul
.-= Paul L’Acosta´s last blog ..marketingfails: RT @LorieAHuston: Don’t smoke around your pet. Secondhand smoke is dangerous for pets just like it is for people #dogtalk =-.
Paul, OUTSTANDING comments. Thank you so much for contributing. I especially love your part about an individual not being the solution, but the catalyst.
And I agree about companies wanting others to think for them, to a point. But I also think there’s a LOT of empty ranting that happens without offering constructive alternatives, which is a passion point of mine. If we’re going to take these tools in our hands and command that businesses listen, I think we have a responsibility to help create the solutions, not just point our fingers and demand that businesses bend to our will.
The other thing I have a bit of issue with is the notion of incentive. Go read Drive by Daniel Pink if you haven’t. If we have to give people “incentives” to pick up the damn phone at their place of business, we have a hiring problem, not an incentive problem.
Thanks Amber. I agree that we definitely must hold ourselves accountable on how we create those solutions to our customers. That’s why I’m always hunting for blogs like yours that focus on the end result and how we implement strategies to get there instead of blogs that focus on the topic and the “8 ways to make social media work for your company”. Same. Same. Old.
I read Pink’s Drive and probably I gave the notion of incentives at the job level. I’m not talking about a $25 gift card or a certificate of recognition, but how are we connecting the employee to his/her duties. What’s their drive besides making money? How can we motivate to do better? Are we addressing their needs not only as an employee but also as a human being that is part of our team?
Thanks again and see you soon!
.-= Paul L’Acosta´s last blog ..marketingfails: RT @LorieAHuston: Don’t smoke around your pet. Secondhand smoke is dangerous for pets just like it is for people #dogtalk =-.
Thanks Amber. I agree that we definitely must hold ourselves accountable on how we create those solutions to our customers. That’s why I’m always hunting for blogs like yours that focus on the end result and how we implement strategies to get there instead of blogs that focus on the topic and the “8 ways to make social media work for your company”. Same. Same. Old.
I read Pink’s Drive and probably I gave the notion of incentives at the job level. I’m not talking about a $25 gift card or a certificate of recognition, but how are we connecting the employee to his/her duties. What’s their drive besides making money? How can we motivate to do better? Are we addressing their needs not only as an employee but also as a human being that is part of our team?
Thanks again and see you soon!
.-= Paul L’Acosta´s last blog ..marketingfails: RT @LorieAHuston: Don’t smoke around your pet. Secondhand smoke is dangerous for pets just like it is for people #dogtalk =-.
Great Post! I’m currently reasearching ways to improve customer service and integrate it in Social Media at my organization. Our customer service is really bad, customers talk about it all the time and we can’t hide it. The processes are slow and sometimes innefective. In our case I’m looking to make my Social Media reports ring the bell of upper management and show them that the problems are damaging the brad more than they are aware of. This will help justify where Social Media positions should be in the organization and to which teams we can help in order to finally improve processes and make customers smile.
Social Media needs to be integrated as a Feedback channel, but it also needs to have enough power to influence change in the process and finally inform that the problem has been taken care of.
That’s why social media can’t belong or be in marketing or the technical department, but needs to bring support to various areas and be able to deliver consumer expectations to the customer service departments so their processes can be improved.
.-= Jorge´s last blog ..Change Work: Change the World =-.
Great Post! I’m currently reasearching ways to improve customer service and integrate it in Social Media at my organization. Our customer service is really bad, customers talk about it all the time and we can’t hide it. The processes are slow and sometimes innefective. In our case I’m looking to make my Social Media reports ring the bell of upper management and show them that the problems are damaging the brad more than they are aware of. This will help justify where Social Media positions should be in the organization and to which teams we can help in order to finally improve processes and make customers smile.
Social Media needs to be integrated as a Feedback channel, but it also needs to have enough power to influence change in the process and finally inform that the problem has been taken care of.
That’s why social media can’t belong or be in marketing or the technical department, but needs to bring support to various areas and be able to deliver consumer expectations to the customer service departments so their processes can be improved.
.-= Jorge´s last blog ..Change Work: Change the World =-.
Amber, there it is, you hit the root! The catalyst to your whole problem with Best Buy was someone in the store did not answer the phone. Social media didn’t do anything to you, a person in the store did! This is 100% a hiring problem. Companies such as Best Buy are using social media to connect with their customers but it is too late once they get them. Damage is done, I am mad and I have already told people about my experience.
Yes, it is nice that someone said sorry but as humans we want vindication we want to know what happened. That is why @Ramon_DeLeon ‘s strategy worked so well. Amy got a direct apology from the person that was behind her problem. http://bit.ly/8ElwSH The reason this was able to happen was because his presence was local NOT hundreds of miles away. He could affect the situation right now!
Telling the large company that they need to work more locally with social media is all fine and well but FIRST they must deal with what caused the problem and that is people. Better hiring processes and Better training!
Although I get your statement with incentives I think it can be toned down to a point. Good example, I used to work for GAP in college. I was a great employee; I went from associate to assistant manager in 2 years. Not a typical thing. I was loyal to that store because of the way they treated me. INCLUDING their incentive program which didnt include money really just being told that I’m doing a great job and giving me points that can lead to a great prize down the road.
My point is if they fix their hiring problems, incentives can be good reinforcements for the already good employees. Kind of like when your family tells you they are proud it feels good. The same when work says you are doing a great job. It makes good people better.
I was wondering if anyone was going to get to this issue. IMO, people are probably the biggest part of the problem. You have to hire the right people! If you aren’t hiring the right people, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using a typewriter, a telephone or twitter. The other part of the problem is the company itself. After you’ve hired the right people, you have to train them and empower them to do their jobs. Employees need to understand what it means to provide a great customer experience then be able to actually get out there and do it.
Whenever I read about stuff like this, I can’t help but wonder why it seems to be so damn hard for people and companies to do right by their customers. A great example I’d like to pass on to everyone was posted by Simon Mainwaring last month on his blog. It shows how one person can do the right thing and, in so doing, turn the customer into a loyal fan. Just sayin’….
Amber, there it is, you hit the root! The catalyst to your whole problem with Best Buy was someone in the store did not answer the phone. Social media didn’t do anything to you, a person in the store did! This is 100% a hiring problem. Companies such as Best Buy are using social media to connect with their customers but it is too late once they get them. Damage is done, I am mad and I have already told people about my experience.
Yes, it is nice that someone said sorry but as humans we want vindication we want to know what happened. That is why @Ramon_DeLeon ‘s strategy worked so well. Amy got a direct apology from the person that was behind her problem. http://bit.ly/8ElwSH The reason this was able to happen was because his presence was local NOT hundreds of miles away. He could affect the situation right now!
Telling the large company that they need to work more locally with social media is all fine and well but FIRST they must deal with what caused the problem and that is people. Better hiring processes and Better training!
Although I get your statement with incentives I think it can be toned down to a point. Good example, I used to work for GAP in college. I was a great employee; I went from associate to assistant manager in 2 years. Not a typical thing. I was loyal to that store because of the way they treated me. INCLUDING their incentive program which didnt include money really just being told that I’m doing a great job and giving me points that can lead to a great prize down the road.
My point is if they fix their hiring problems, incentives can be good reinforcements for the already good employees. Kind of like when your family tells you they are proud it feels good. The same when work says you are doing a great job. It makes good people better.
I was wondering if anyone was going to get to this issue. IMO, people are probably the biggest part of the problem. You have to hire the right people! If you aren’t hiring the right people, it doesn’t matter whether you’re using a typewriter, a telephone or twitter. The other part of the problem is the company itself. After you’ve hired the right people, you have to train them and empower them to do their jobs. Employees need to understand what it means to provide a great customer experience then be able to actually get out there and do it.
Whenever I read about stuff like this, I can’t help but wonder why it seems to be so damn hard for people and companies to do right by their customers. A great example I’d like to pass on to everyone was posted by Simon Mainwaring last month on his blog. It shows how one person can do the right thing and, in so doing, turn the customer into a loyal fan. Just sayin’….
Hi Amber,
I think you brought an interesting point on how companies sometimes what to help or help in a superficial way, but the core culture is practically non existant.
I feel as a consumer a lack of human sympathy and basic respect in the corporate world. We often forget that consumers and employees are actually human beings with feelings and needs. In contrast to the standard corporate culture that is trying to portray that they actually feel as a real person.
Unless 21 century companies will start to think and act human by respecting the time, salary and rights of employees and lead through example and passion and not false vision and mission statements. I believe maybe then employees would return the service by showing real appreciation to their clients… and see them as wonderful human beings not as a sale bonus. Google is a great example, in the real sens they just respect their employees and the work they do, this is why nobody leaves Google.
Alice
I think that’s what a lot of social media is *really* getting at – intent and attitude. We don’t care if you’re on Twitter. We care that you treat us like people.
Stay tuned tomorrow. More on that subject.
Hi Amber,
I think you brought an interesting point on how companies sometimes what to help or help in a superficial way, but the core culture is practically non existant.
I feel as a consumer a lack of human sympathy and basic respect in the corporate world. We often forget that consumers and employees are actually human beings with feelings and needs. In contrast to the standard corporate culture that is trying to portray that they actually feel as a real person.
Unless 21 century companies will start to think and act human by respecting the time, salary and rights of employees and lead through example and passion and not false vision and mission statements. I believe maybe then employees would return the service by showing real appreciation to their clients… and see them as wonderful human beings not as a sale bonus. Google is a great example, in the real sens they just respect their employees and the work they do, this is why nobody leaves Google.
Alice
I think that’s what a lot of social media is *really* getting at – intent and attitude. We don’t care if you’re on Twitter. We care that you treat us like people.
Stay tuned tomorrow. More on that subject.
Amber,
In Ken Follet’s “The Pillars of the Earth”, set in 14th century England, a girl once rich and now destitute begs a goldsmith for work as a household servant. He says she’s not suited. Why?
“A wise man would not employ you as a servant. You’re used to giving orders and you would find it very hard to be on the receiving end…all your life, others have served you, and even now, you feel in your heart of hearts that things should be arranged to please you.”
On one hand, we have customers who feel the whole world should be arranged to suit them; on the other, there are some in positions of customer service who at times, in their hearts of hearts, feel the same way.
So how do you connect the dots? I think Paul D’Acosta makes an excellent comment about incentives. Sure no one *should* need an incentive to pick up the phone if they value their job…but in a world where we are trained to seek happiness and satisfaction, but rarely are trained to “serve” (professionally, I mean), why not tie pay and performance reviews and recognition to one’s ability to meet customer needs? Why not initiate competition around taking care of business and going the extra mile for customers…make it a game…make it fun? Why not manage so that service and sales people get the rewards and recognition they feel they deserve for doing their jobs? Not giving up on values but focusing on what works and recognizing that while I’ve had some great customer service experience, customer service isn’t always the most sought after job in the company.
And to get really granular: From what I can tell, at Best Buy the phones are often handled, in part, by the folks on the floor. If it’s really busy in the store, either the in-store shopper or the phone caller is going to have to wait for service. I’d look at decentralizing the Twelp force a bit so that there’s a local contact and give them access to in-store databases, so that they can try to address a customer request like yours, Amber.
Finally, for what it’s worth, I’d guess that you caught your local Best Buy on a bad day…in my experience (in their backyard, admittedly), they run a pretty good ship and are trying really hard to get it right from the top on down.
.-= Ken Kadet´s last blog ..What Should I Do Today? =-.
I heart that you quoted me Ken Follett. 🙂 Loved that book.
“why not tie pay and performance reviews and recognition to one’s ability to meet customer needs”
I think that’s the holy grail in some ways, but companies struggle with the “meet customer needs” part. They’ve tried do to that with the satisfaction “give us a 5” hogwash, and the result was that employees gamed the system because their compensation depended on it. It didn’t change their motivation, or their intent, just their behavior (and not to the good).
I’m glad to hear from a few people that Best Buy overall is doing well by folks. And like I said, they were an example to me of a larger idea. Coral was great, and everyone has an off day.
Amber,
In Ken Follet’s “The Pillars of the Earth”, set in 14th century England, a girl once rich and now destitute begs a goldsmith for work as a household servant. He says she’s not suited. Why?
“A wise man would not employ you as a servant. You’re used to giving orders and you would find it very hard to be on the receiving end…all your life, others have served you, and even now, you feel in your heart of hearts that things should be arranged to please you.”
On one hand, we have customers who feel the whole world should be arranged to suit them; on the other, there are some in positions of customer service who at times, in their hearts of hearts, feel the same way.
So how do you connect the dots? I think Paul D’Acosta makes an excellent comment about incentives. Sure no one *should* need an incentive to pick up the phone if they value their job…but in a world where we are trained to seek happiness and satisfaction, but rarely are trained to “serve” (professionally, I mean), why not tie pay and performance reviews and recognition to one’s ability to meet customer needs? Why not initiate competition around taking care of business and going the extra mile for customers…make it a game…make it fun? Why not manage so that service and sales people get the rewards and recognition they feel they deserve for doing their jobs? Not giving up on values but focusing on what works and recognizing that while I’ve had some great customer service experience, customer service isn’t always the most sought after job in the company.
And to get really granular: From what I can tell, at Best Buy the phones are often handled, in part, by the folks on the floor. If it’s really busy in the store, either the in-store shopper or the phone caller is going to have to wait for service. I’d look at decentralizing the Twelp force a bit so that there’s a local contact and give them access to in-store databases, so that they can try to address a customer request like yours, Amber.
Finally, for what it’s worth, I’d guess that you caught your local Best Buy on a bad day…in my experience (in their backyard, admittedly), they run a pretty good ship and are trying really hard to get it right from the top on down.
.-= Ken Kadet´s last blog ..What Should I Do Today? =-.
I heart that you quoted me Ken Follett. 🙂 Loved that book.
“why not tie pay and performance reviews and recognition to one’s ability to meet customer needs”
I think that’s the holy grail in some ways, but companies struggle with the “meet customer needs” part. They’ve tried do to that with the satisfaction “give us a 5” hogwash, and the result was that employees gamed the system because their compensation depended on it. It didn’t change their motivation, or their intent, just their behavior (and not to the good).
I’m glad to hear from a few people that Best Buy overall is doing well by folks. And like I said, they were an example to me of a larger idea. Coral was great, and everyone has an off day.
Amber, excellent post and discussion! My recent experiences with Best Buy have been much the opposite. I’m sensing great consistency in communication and attitude at the store level, in social media, and on their corporate website chat. The Best Buy people I engage with seem comfortable making decisions and are focused on the right thing – namely, making the shopping, service, and buying experiences painless. Your experience indicates that Best Buy still has a ways to go before every employee is communicating in sync. It has to start at the top, with a clear statement of how Best Buy wants to engage customers, repeated over and over. I agree with some of the other commenters that Best Buy is already doing a good job of that, but you can never let up!
.-= Brad Shorr´s last blog ..Big Packaging Innovation from a Small Business =-.
Amber, excellent post and discussion! My recent experiences with Best Buy have been much the opposite. I’m sensing great consistency in communication and attitude at the store level, in social media, and on their corporate website chat. The Best Buy people I engage with seem comfortable making decisions and are focused on the right thing – namely, making the shopping, service, and buying experiences painless. Your experience indicates that Best Buy still has a ways to go before every employee is communicating in sync. It has to start at the top, with a clear statement of how Best Buy wants to engage customers, repeated over and over. I agree with some of the other commenters that Best Buy is already doing a good job of that, but you can never let up!
.-= Brad Shorr´s last blog ..Big Packaging Innovation from a Small Business =-.
Amber, great post and fantastic comments. Like others I’m always surprised by all the praise brands like BB and Dell get for their SM efforts, when I read so many “bad CS” stories like this one.
Paul, Lynelle, and Jaime had some great suggestions. I’ll add my ramblings.
The fix needs to happen on both ends: local and corporate, though I’ll admit to not knowing how. Someone said it’s an HR hiring issue at the local store. True, staffing and training need to be fixed. What influence @Coral can have on that is questionable.
Can a brand as big as BB have a “local” customer service account for every store? That may be unrealistic, but there needs to be better metrics and accountability that affects real time results. The local managers need to be empowered to make real changes that better serve their different markets.
You mentioned that @Coral considered herself customer service, did you ever identify which store was the issue? Just curious (Jay asked too.) Think maybe a Twelpforce rep should have a way to priority contact the local shift managers on duty, if necessary.
On the flip side, do those manning the Twitter stream have real world brand experience, on the front lines as you say? To what degree will TPTB on the C-level care if 1 phone goes unanswered for 4 attempts (even from an influential blogger such as yourself)? There will need to be a shift to redefine benchmarks for both customer service and social media success. FWIW.
.-= Davina K. Brewer´s last blog ..Twitterversary: 7 things I have learned about Social Media (so far) =-.
Yep, I told her specifically what store. I’m sure she did whatever she could to relay the message directly to the store management.
And to be clear, I’m not trying to throw my weight around to get attention from BestBuy. I don’t need anything. What I do want to do is open up a larger discussion like this one that starts mapping those sticky points, and slogging through them. That’s what drives me, anyway. Solving the puzzles.
The shift has to happen at multiple levels at the same time, driven by persistent people. Period. But I guess I’m issuing some blanket challenges here to see what companies are digging deep to do the hard work that it takes, and embrace the implications that come alongside.
Amber, didn’t mean to suggest you were trying to use your status or anything. Sorry. ITA that companies do need to dig in, commit to providing customer service and using tools like social media to deliver that service. That shift does need to happen across the board. It’ll be interesting to see who responds to your challenge.
.-= Davina K. Brewer´s last blog ..Twitterversary: 7 things I have learned about Social Media (so far) =-.
Amber, great post and fantastic comments. Like others I’m always surprised by all the praise brands like BB and Dell get for their SM efforts, when I read so many “bad CS” stories like this one.
Paul, Lynelle, and Jaime had some great suggestions. I’ll add my ramblings.
The fix needs to happen on both ends: local and corporate, though I’ll admit to not knowing how. Someone said it’s an HR hiring issue at the local store. True, staffing and training need to be fixed. What influence @Coral can have on that is questionable.
Can a brand as big as BB have a “local” customer service account for every store? That may be unrealistic, but there needs to be better metrics and accountability that affects real time results. The local managers need to be empowered to make real changes that better serve their different markets.
You mentioned that @Coral considered herself customer service, did you ever identify which store was the issue? Just curious (Jay asked too.) Think maybe a Twelpforce rep should have a way to priority contact the local shift managers on duty, if necessary.
On the flip side, do those manning the Twitter stream have real world brand experience, on the front lines as you say? To what degree will TPTB on the C-level care if 1 phone goes unanswered for 4 attempts (even from an influential blogger such as yourself)? There will need to be a shift to redefine benchmarks for both customer service and social media success. FWIW.
.-= Davina K. Brewer´s last blog ..Twitterversary: 7 things I have learned about Social Media (so far) =-.
Yep, I told her specifically what store. I’m sure she did whatever she could to relay the message directly to the store management.
And to be clear, I’m not trying to throw my weight around to get attention from BestBuy. I don’t need anything. What I do want to do is open up a larger discussion like this one that starts mapping those sticky points, and slogging through them. That’s what drives me, anyway. Solving the puzzles.
The shift has to happen at multiple levels at the same time, driven by persistent people. Period. But I guess I’m issuing some blanket challenges here to see what companies are digging deep to do the hard work that it takes, and embrace the implications that come alongside.
Amber, didn’t mean to suggest you were trying to use your status or anything. Sorry. ITA that companies do need to dig in, commit to providing customer service and using tools like social media to deliver that service. That shift does need to happen across the board. It’ll be interesting to see who responds to your challenge.
.-= Davina K. Brewer´s last blog ..Twitterversary: 7 things I have learned about Social Media (so far) =-.
Amber,
You are absolutely right that there is a disconnect.
My “9-to-5 gig” is focused in the automotive industry (Talk about a dysfunctional and disconnected industry)
The challenges we face are similar to yours except we are 5-10 years behind.
The more advanced dealerships and dealer groups experience your same frustration. However, the majority of dealerships are a bit closer to the frontline and can interact with the customer experiencing the problem and directly address the problem. Or, we are closer to the frontline staff to change the staff behavior or change the staff member.
I see the potential solutions being more empowering to the frontline staff. For example, offering the staff member store credits to alleviate problems per month. For example, every staff member would be permitted $100 in store credits to response and improve any problems arising through the course of the month. Unfortunately, this solution is still a band-aid and not prevention.
On the prevention side, I believe the solution is a mindset shift. Speaking strictly to the automotive industry, the mentally of protectionism and confrontation has to change to transparency and partnership with the consumers. Once this mental shift happens the results will speak evident.
.-= Andy Warner´s last blog ..How Do You Communicate? =-.
Amber,
You are absolutely right that there is a disconnect.
My “9-to-5 gig” is focused in the automotive industry (Talk about a dysfunctional and disconnected industry)
The challenges we face are similar to yours except we are 5-10 years behind.
The more advanced dealerships and dealer groups experience your same frustration. However, the majority of dealerships are a bit closer to the frontline and can interact with the customer experiencing the problem and directly address the problem. Or, we are closer to the frontline staff to change the staff behavior or change the staff member.
I see the potential solutions being more empowering to the frontline staff. For example, offering the staff member store credits to alleviate problems per month. For example, every staff member would be permitted $100 in store credits to response and improve any problems arising through the course of the month. Unfortunately, this solution is still a band-aid and not prevention.
On the prevention side, I believe the solution is a mindset shift. Speaking strictly to the automotive industry, the mentally of protectionism and confrontation has to change to transparency and partnership with the consumers. Once this mental shift happens the results will speak evident.
.-= Andy Warner´s last blog ..How Do You Communicate? =-.
Oh! Customer service issues?
Before becoming a web marketer last month, I spent seven years in retail. The situation is fairly dire on the inside as well – even here in Canada. The systems are outdated from the ground up, and don’t provide any relevance to the expected consumer experience today.
Feel like a laugh? I published an open exit letter to the industry, link follows. In fact, here’s an excerpt:
“The face of retail itself is changing. We’ve all seen it coming. I bought more electronics online in the last two years than I did in store, even with my employee purchase plan, because cost has become such a point of contention between the unseen brown box from Amazon and the hands-on feel of the store. Where Radio Shack, and by extension The Source by Circuit City won has always been customer engagement, trivia knowledge base, human business, and staff enthusiasm. I’ve seen every single one of these drop dramatically in all new hires since I came on in 2005. The point of differentiation between Us and Them has always been the in-store experience, and the consumer’s base need for that is coming sharply to an end. The changes I’m seeing in our business model are not helping them choose to return to us.
Put another way, my employee number is (was) 34xxx. One of the staff here has a number beginning with 64xxx. I read this as, nearly as many employee numbers have been issued in the last five years as had been issued in the more than 25 years before. We’re blowing through five times as many people as we ever did in the past. How can these new people, this disposable work force, possibly gain, sort, and retain all of the knowledge our long-time customers expect? Doing wrong by our staff does wrong by our customers.”
And here’s the full article. Think you’ll find it worth the read. http://bit.ly/a07oLt
.-= Ian M Rountree´s last blog ..Hark, A meme! =-.
Oh! Customer service issues?
Before becoming a web marketer last month, I spent seven years in retail. The situation is fairly dire on the inside as well – even here in Canada. The systems are outdated from the ground up, and don’t provide any relevance to the expected consumer experience today.
Feel like a laugh? I published an open exit letter to the industry, link follows. In fact, here’s an excerpt:
“The face of retail itself is changing. We’ve all seen it coming. I bought more electronics online in the last two years than I did in store, even with my employee purchase plan, because cost has become such a point of contention between the unseen brown box from Amazon and the hands-on feel of the store. Where Radio Shack, and by extension The Source by Circuit City won has always been customer engagement, trivia knowledge base, human business, and staff enthusiasm. I’ve seen every single one of these drop dramatically in all new hires since I came on in 2005. The point of differentiation between Us and Them has always been the in-store experience, and the consumer’s base need for that is coming sharply to an end. The changes I’m seeing in our business model are not helping them choose to return to us.
Put another way, my employee number is (was) 34xxx. One of the staff here has a number beginning with 64xxx. I read this as, nearly as many employee numbers have been issued in the last five years as had been issued in the more than 25 years before. We’re blowing through five times as many people as we ever did in the past. How can these new people, this disposable work force, possibly gain, sort, and retain all of the knowledge our long-time customers expect? Doing wrong by our staff does wrong by our customers.”
And here’s the full article. Think you’ll find it worth the read. http://bit.ly/a07oLt
.-= Ian M Rountree´s last blog ..Hark, A meme! =-.
Amber,
Senior Mgt don’t get it. The don’t use twitter, fb or google buzz. And as they dont use it, the potential impact is muted across the org. In 20 years time, when your generation takes these roles, then SM will be the norm.
Social Media will simply be called Media.
my 2c.
Ivan
Amber,
Senior Mgt don’t get it. The don’t use twitter, fb or google buzz. And as they dont use it, the potential impact is muted across the org. In 20 years time, when your generation takes these roles, then SM will be the norm.
Social Media will simply be called Media.
my 2c.
Ivan
Amber –
Okay. Time to jump in. Much like Paul L’Acosta, I read all of the comments before adding my thoughts. I even brought an old school pen & paper and took some notes while reading the comments. Ha ha.
So hear goes…
1. First, I love how you build an entire blog post around this issue. I love that you don’t focus on the minutia of the situation – instead, you challenge us to think of the broader implications. I also love that you force us to think about a solution and not just continue the rant. Brilliant.
2. The Best Buy story you share reminds me of the Southwest Airlines / Kevin Smith incident last month. Without focusing on the entire situation, Christy Day (aka @SouthwestAir) was in a tough position. She replied to Kevin Smith within 14 minutes. 14 minutes. But, really what could she do other than apologize? Similar to @Coral_BestBuy, she did not have a “direct line” to the flight attendants on board that SWA plane or the customer service reps at the airport. So … what to do? More on that later.
3. I see Twelpforce as having a Twitter presence to help with technical (product) issues & offer advice. In fact, their Twitter bio states, “A collective force of Best Buy technology pros offering tech advice in Tweet form.” I’m not saying this is right or wrong; however I’m not sure Best Buy is thinking of Twelpforce as an integrated solution. I know this is not your point, but it was just an observation.
How we can help create change.
Now … some thoughts and suggestions to create real change.
1. Create mechanisms to provide feedback. In this case, a recent tweet by @Coral_BestBuy’s includes a link to their survey. This is not *the* answer, but it’s a start. Provide customers a mechanism (& incentive!) to give honest feedback.
2. Hire smart humans and empower them. I have a post later today on Social Butterfly Guy that touches on this point, using Apple as an example. (I don’t love the post, but that’s another story.) When you set guidelines (read: not strict rules) and allow employees to think like humans, you’re likely to have a better result for the customer. This is where empathy comes in. Jamie Sandford touched on the Zappos culture above. Spot on.
3. Provide front-line customer service reps with tools to access all channels. The wording if off on that one, but I’m basically agreeing w/ Davina. Like @SouthwestAir, @Coral_BestBuy needs a way to contact store managers. This could be IM or Twitter (@ or DM), phone (which may have been tough in this case – ha ha). This is relatively easy in a small company. BSF is 30+. I have the IM, email, Skype and cell phone of everyone in the entire organization. With hundreds or thousands of employees, this is clearly a bit tougher.
I love where you are going with this concept, Amber. I don’t think it’s an easy one to solve, but – with the help of your strong community (see comments) you are already making progress. I’d love to help brainstorm this out a bit more…
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow
.-= DJ Waldow´s last blog ..Nerds, Dorks, Geeks, and Cool Dudes =-.
Amber –
Okay. Time to jump in. Much like Paul L’Acosta, I read all of the comments before adding my thoughts. I even brought an old school pen & paper and took some notes while reading the comments. Ha ha.
So hear goes…
1. First, I love how you build an entire blog post around this issue. I love that you don’t focus on the minutia of the situation – instead, you challenge us to think of the broader implications. I also love that you force us to think about a solution and not just continue the rant. Brilliant.
2. The Best Buy story you share reminds me of the Southwest Airlines / Kevin Smith incident last month. Without focusing on the entire situation, Christy Day (aka @SouthwestAir) was in a tough position. She replied to Kevin Smith within 14 minutes. 14 minutes. But, really what could she do other than apologize? Similar to @Coral_BestBuy, she did not have a “direct line” to the flight attendants on board that SWA plane or the customer service reps at the airport. So … what to do? More on that later.
3. I see Twelpforce as having a Twitter presence to help with technical (product) issues & offer advice. In fact, their Twitter bio states, “A collective force of Best Buy technology pros offering tech advice in Tweet form.” I’m not saying this is right or wrong; however I’m not sure Best Buy is thinking of Twelpforce as an integrated solution. I know this is not your point, but it was just an observation.
How we can help create change.
Now … some thoughts and suggestions to create real change.
1. Create mechanisms to provide feedback. In this case, a recent tweet by @Coral_BestBuy’s includes a link to their survey. This is not *the* answer, but it’s a start. Provide customers a mechanism (& incentive!) to give honest feedback.
2. Hire smart humans and empower them. I have a post later today on Social Butterfly Guy that touches on this point, using Apple as an example. (I don’t love the post, but that’s another story.) When you set guidelines (read: not strict rules) and allow employees to think like humans, you’re likely to have a better result for the customer. This is where empathy comes in. Jamie Sandford touched on the Zappos culture above. Spot on.
3. Provide front-line customer service reps with tools to access all channels. The wording if off on that one, but I’m basically agreeing w/ Davina. Like @SouthwestAir, @Coral_BestBuy needs a way to contact store managers. This could be IM or Twitter (@ or DM), phone (which may have been tough in this case – ha ha). This is relatively easy in a small company. BSF is 30+. I have the IM, email, Skype and cell phone of everyone in the entire organization. With hundreds or thousands of employees, this is clearly a bit tougher.
I love where you are going with this concept, Amber. I don’t think it’s an easy one to solve, but – with the help of your strong community (see comments) you are already making progress. I’d love to help brainstorm this out a bit more…
DJ Waldow
Director of Community, Blue Sky Factory
@djwaldow
.-= DJ Waldow´s last blog ..Nerds, Dorks, Geeks, and Cool Dudes =-.
Oh! Customer service issues?
Before becoming a web marketer last month, I spent seven years in retail. The situation is fairly dire on the inside as well – even here in Canada. The systems are outdated from the ground up, and don’t provide any relevance to the expected consumer experience today.
Feel like a laugh? I published an open exit letter to the industry, link follows. In fact, here’s an excerpt:
“The face of retail itself is changing. We’ve all seen it coming. I bought more electronics online in the last two years than I did in store, even with my employee purchase plan, because cost has become such a point of contention between the unseen brown box from Amazon and the hands-on feel of the store. Where Radio Shack, and by extension The Source by Circuit City won has always been customer engagement, trivia knowledge base, human business, and staff enthusiasm. I’ve seen every single one of these drop dramatically in all new hires since I came on in 2005. The point of differentiation between Us and Them has always been the in-store experience, and the consumer’s base need for that is coming sharply to an end. The changes I’m seeing in our business model are not helping them choose to return to us.
Put another way, my employee number is (was) 34xxx. One of the staff here has a number beginning with 64xxx. I read this as, nearly as many employee numbers have been issued in the last five years as had been issued in the more than 25 years before. We’re blowing through five times as many people as we ever did in the past. How can these new people, this disposable work force, possibly gain, sort, and retain all of the knowledge our long-time customers expect? Doing wrong by our staff does wrong by our customers.”
Oh! Customer service issues?
Before becoming a web marketer last month, I spent seven years in retail. The situation is fairly dire on the inside as well – even here in Canada. The systems are outdated from the ground up, and don’t provide any relevance to the expected consumer experience today.
Feel like a laugh? I published an open exit letter to the industry, link follows. In fact, here’s an excerpt:
“The face of retail itself is changing. We’ve all seen it coming. I bought more electronics online in the last two years than I did in store, even with my employee purchase plan, because cost has become such a point of contention between the unseen brown box from Amazon and the hands-on feel of the store. Where Radio Shack, and by extension The Source by Circuit City won has always been customer engagement, trivia knowledge base, human business, and staff enthusiasm. I’ve seen every single one of these drop dramatically in all new hires since I came on in 2005. The point of differentiation between Us and Them has always been the in-store experience, and the consumer’s base need for that is coming sharply to an end. The changes I’m seeing in our business model are not helping them choose to return to us.
Put another way, my employee number is (was) 34xxx. One of the staff here has a number beginning with 64xxx. I read this as, nearly as many employee numbers have been issued in the last five years as had been issued in the more than 25 years before. We’re blowing through five times as many people as we ever did in the past. How can these new people, this disposable work force, possibly gain, sort, and retain all of the knowledge our long-time customers expect? Doing wrong by our staff does wrong by our customers.”
Observation 1
Many companies put their toe in the social media water as a marketing initiative. But they very quickly realise that people will not allow them the luxury of distinguishing between marketing and customer service. Conversations before the toe went in the water would have been about tone of voice and integrating with marketing campaigns. Conversations after the toe is immersed quickly turn to ‘back end’ infrastructure. ‘Is our product available in Germany?’, ‘Who is the best person to answer this customer’s question?’, ‘What IS our policy on this issue?’
Observation 2
I suspect that whilst most customer service professionals will recognise the potential of social media, it will be some way from the top of their list of priorities. Other big capital-intensive projects will be higher up the pecking order. Legacy issues might mean that they are not sitting on a single-view customer database for instance. Sorting that sort of issue will always come first. Meanwhile marketing are dipping their toe in the water…
.-= Phil Adams´s last blog ..This book moved me.I read a lot and derive some form of… =-.
Observation 1
Many companies put their toe in the social media water as a marketing initiative. But they very quickly realise that people will not allow them the luxury of distinguishing between marketing and customer service. Conversations before the toe went in the water would have been about tone of voice and integrating with marketing campaigns. Conversations after the toe is immersed quickly turn to ‘back end’ infrastructure. ‘Is our product available in Germany?’, ‘Who is the best person to answer this customer’s question?’, ‘What IS our policy on this issue?’
Observation 2
I suspect that whilst most customer service professionals will recognise the potential of social media, it will be some way from the top of their list of priorities. Other big capital-intensive projects will be higher up the pecking order. Legacy issues might mean that they are not sitting on a single-view customer database for instance. Sorting that sort of issue will always come first. Meanwhile marketing are dipping their toe in the water…
.-= Phil Adams´s last blog ..This book moved me.I read a lot and derive some form of… =-.
Really loved this post, Amber, and truly gets down to what we as a University are doing and looking to get a lot better at.
Looking at it from an edu perspective – you have admissions/international admissions, financial aid, career services, student services, alumni, operations, etc. Then dig even deeper to localized issues and that’s when you get into specific campuses and their respective deans & operational folks that you have to deal with.
Head spinning, yet? 🙂
Seriously though, we have HUGE opportunities – and where we have set processes from a high-level operational standpoint (which is sometimes ‘on the fly’ and not completely streamlined), there’s an overarching need for that connection on all of those aforementioned touch points.
How are we/do we get there?
For large organizations, it really starts IMO with the executive team and having them help lead the charge in changing processes and how we function operationally – because we all know that this sort of change 1 – doesn’t happen overnight and 2 – isn’t easily accepted by all.
Because this change is going to include a lot of integration between colleagues and teams that never communicated before. It’s going to incorporate respective team leads that are the conduits when certain issues arise. It’s going to require training across those touch points and require a ‘go-to’ person/team when something like your Best Buy issue does happen. How? Through a deep look at the structure of the organization, identifying teams/leads, continued training and providing resource documents, and honestly a whole lot more that we and other org’s are figuring out.
And in the end, we all hope to have built a culture that lives and breathes this. Where it becomes second nature, and where a student from a location thousands of miles away isn’t in disarray because their issue that they raised on Facebook goes unanswered.
Kind of spewing out thoughts as I type, but you’ve touched on a great topic and one many organizations have overlooked. One thing’s for sure though, we’re ready to help lead the charge to help change that.
Really loved this post, Amber, and truly gets down to what we as a University are doing and looking to get a lot better at.
Looking at it from an edu perspective – you have admissions/international admissions, financial aid, career services, student services, alumni, operations, etc. Then dig even deeper to localized issues and that’s when you get into specific campuses and their respective deans & operational folks that you have to deal with.
Head spinning, yet? 🙂
Seriously though, we have HUGE opportunities – and where we have set processes from a high-level operational standpoint (which is sometimes ‘on the fly’ and not completely streamlined), there’s an overarching need for that connection on all of those aforementioned touch points.
How are we/do we get there?
For large organizations, it really starts IMO with the executive team and having them help lead the charge in changing processes and how we function operationally – because we all know that this sort of change 1 – doesn’t happen overnight and 2 – isn’t easily accepted by all.
Because this change is going to include a lot of integration between colleagues and teams that never communicated before. It’s going to incorporate respective team leads that are the conduits when certain issues arise. It’s going to require training across those touch points and require a ‘go-to’ person/team when something like your Best Buy issue does happen. How? Through a deep look at the structure of the organization, identifying teams/leads, continued training and providing resource documents, and honestly a whole lot more that we and other org’s are figuring out.
And in the end, we all hope to have built a culture that lives and breathes this. Where it becomes second nature, and where a student from a location thousands of miles away isn’t in disarray because their issue that they raised on Facebook goes unanswered.
Kind of spewing out thoughts as I type, but you’ve touched on a great topic and one many organizations have overlooked. One thing’s for sure though, we’re ready to help lead the charge to help change that.
I’ve had similar experiences recently with Network Solutions. Talked with customer service on the phone and got an unsatisfactory answer. Tweeted about it a couple of times and someone contacted me via twitter to send a message via email. Sent the same complaint via email and received a call that resolved the issue. There was no connection between the three. Even the guy that answered the email had no clue that we had received that email due to tweets.
I think the biggest issue is infrastructure. Are traditional customer services reps using the same systems as those answering email or community managers listening on social media? Are the folks monitoring social media being held responsible for entering that information into the customer service applications? Are the three groups under the same management structure with the same goals and objectives?
.-= Sue Anne´s last blog ..sue_anne: 5 Ways to Increase Donations through Social Media http://is.gd/9WUzh =-.
I’ve had similar experiences recently with Network Solutions. Talked with customer service on the phone and got an unsatisfactory answer. Tweeted about it a couple of times and someone contacted me via twitter to send a message via email. Sent the same complaint via email and received a call that resolved the issue. There was no connection between the three. Even the guy that answered the email had no clue that we had received that email due to tweets.
I think the biggest issue is infrastructure. Are traditional customer services reps using the same systems as those answering email or community managers listening on social media? Are the folks monitoring social media being held responsible for entering that information into the customer service applications? Are the three groups under the same management structure with the same goals and objectives?
.-= Sue Anne´s last blog ..sue_anne: 5 Ways to Increase Donations through Social Media http://is.gd/9WUzh =-.
I love the dialog above and will toss a couple of other pennies in the pot. Thanks Amber for continuing to drive to some SMART goals.
I think that it is critical to all companies to develop meaningful mission/vision/values and wrap their brands up with those things. Many companies have m/v/v in a dusty book sitting on a shelf somewhere and they forget to communicate this info to their employees. Additionally, when m/v/v are not intrinsic to the brand, they can be corrosive. When m/v/v aren’t core to the organization, of course they aren’t core to their employees. It has to be simple, obvious, and in their face (because unfortunately most employees at the store level are just trying to collect a paycheck). If a value of customer service is ingrained in each aspect of their employment, it makes it easier to focus on customer service when you have a customer in front of you or on the phone.
Also, I think it is possible to incent employees in multiple ways. The most important way is to provide an engaging place to work, where people feel respected and valued. If employees are just working for a paycheck, they are less engaged then if they are working for something bigger than themselves.
Start at the top and work your way down. No one in the organization is exempt from being an ambassador for the brand. Be consistent.
As that consistency is developed, the dots are closer together and easier to connect. There is a commonality between all parts of the organzation. Focus on local, regional, national, global channels at the points where they come together to go to the next level and use the chain to drive the change. Include “corporate/virtual” personnel in the chain, attach them to a region, allow them to develop relationships with their counterparts in the stores, so that there is a specific person for them to go to when there is customer service feedback in the SM channels. Recognize the people that are in the chain educate them about the value that they are in that role. “Great job in serving customer X. Due to your efforts, they will be back to make additional purchases and they will refer their friends. Our relationships with our customers are key to our success. Thank you for being on the frontlines for us.”
I don’t have a blog yet, so I can’t link anyone to it. (blush), I’m a newbie. I am on twitter @ambercleveland
I love the dialog above and will toss a couple of other pennies in the pot. Thanks Amber for continuing to drive to some SMART goals.
I think that it is critical to all companies to develop meaningful mission/vision/values and wrap their brands up with those things. Many companies have m/v/v in a dusty book sitting on a shelf somewhere and they forget to communicate this info to their employees. Additionally, when m/v/v are not intrinsic to the brand, they can be corrosive. When m/v/v aren’t core to the organization, of course they aren’t core to their employees. It has to be simple, obvious, and in their face (because unfortunately most employees at the store level are just trying to collect a paycheck). If a value of customer service is ingrained in each aspect of their employment, it makes it easier to focus on customer service when you have a customer in front of you or on the phone.
Also, I think it is possible to incent employees in multiple ways. The most important way is to provide an engaging place to work, where people feel respected and valued. If employees are just working for a paycheck, they are less engaged then if they are working for something bigger than themselves.
Start at the top and work your way down. No one in the organization is exempt from being an ambassador for the brand. Be consistent.
As that consistency is developed, the dots are closer together and easier to connect. There is a commonality between all parts of the organzation. Focus on local, regional, national, global channels at the points where they come together to go to the next level and use the chain to drive the change. Include “corporate/virtual” personnel in the chain, attach them to a region, allow them to develop relationships with their counterparts in the stores, so that there is a specific person for them to go to when there is customer service feedback in the SM channels. Recognize the people that are in the chain educate them about the value that they are in that role. “Great job in serving customer X. Due to your efforts, they will be back to make additional purchases and they will refer their friends. Our relationships with our customers are key to our success. Thank you for being on the frontlines for us.”
I don’t have a blog yet, so I can’t link anyone to it. (blush), I’m a newbie. I am on twitter @ambercleveland
Excellent study, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing just a little study on that. And he actually purchased me lunch because I discovered it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Many thanks for lunch!
Excellent study, I just passed this onto a colleague who was doing just a little study on that. And he actually purchased me lunch because I discovered it for him smile So let me rephrase that: Many thanks for lunch!