Tag Archive: Customer Service

What Happens When They Figure This Thing Out?

Written on July 30, 2009 by Adam Kmiec in Marketing & Advertising

The interesting thing about “social media” is how quickly people, companies, and organizations have hopped into the space. Some like Comcast and Best Buy are using it less for “campaigns” and more as a fundamental underpinning of their business. As they blaze a path for how to make social media work hard for the business other companies are going to sit up, take notice, and follow the blueprint. Social media is going to evolve from the squishy unsophisticated mess that it currently is, into a stable, predictive, formulaic strategy for business success.

I’m a little concerned though that as companies drink the social media fruit punch and start seeing the return on investment opportunities, social media will become less useful to the people, customers, and consumers who made it something to pay attention to. Look back through history and you can see that as a technology or an “opportunity” matures it becomes less useful for providing value.

Think I’m crazy? Look at call centers. They’re horrible to use. The whole purpose of them today is to avoid letting you talk to a human being. It’s all about “automation.” But, it wasn’t always that way. When phones and call centers were still an evolving medium you could always get a real person to help you out. The phone is just one example and there are many others.

In short, what’s going to happen to the value we derive from social media when companies figure this “thing” out? Are we going to get screwed? Will you be able to talk directly to Frank at Comcast? Will Zappos really be able to retain their wide open culture? I don’t think so.

It’s not a question of if, but a question of when.

Tags: Comcast, Customer Service, Social Media, Zappos

I’m Done With Northwest

Written on June 18, 2009 by Adam Kmiec in Misc.

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I read a blog post the other day that talked about need to be short and to the point when writing. With that in mind, here’s how I feel about Northwest/Delta.

Thanks for trying, but ultimately failing to make sure I didn’t make to Minneapolis to see the birth of my second child, John Paul. Never, again will I fly Northwest/Delta. It’s Southwest all the way.

I should have learned by lesson after this event, but I didn’t. I mistakenly assumed that things would change after the Northwest/Delta merger. They changed alright, but for the worse. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Tags: Customer Service, Delta, Northwest

Shutterfly Understands The Value Of Customer Service

Written on April 12, 2009 by Adam Kmiec in Marketing & Advertising, Misc., Photo

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Earlier this weekend, I received this email from Shutterfly.

A NOTE FROM SHUTTERFLY’S CEO

Dear Shutterfly Customer,

You may have heard recently that an increasing number of online photo services including Kodak Gallery and HP Snapfish are forcing customers to make a purchase or they will delete their photos. I’m writing to remind you that your photos are safe with Shutterfly.

As a father of three boys, an avid photographer, and someone who knows the importance and the satisfaction of sharing life’s joy, I want to assure you we understand these are not just photos, but your treasured memories.

As a reminder, with Shutterfly you get:

Free secure storage. In fact, we archive multiple copies of your images for safe keeping.
No forced deletion of your memories. And no minimum purchase required.
High-quality backups. We store your photos at the same resolution at which you uploaded them.
Free photo sharing. Friends and family can view your pictures without having to sign up.
Free personalized websites. Your own safe, secure place to share photos, journals, video and more.
100% satisfaction guarantee. If you’re not satisfied with your purchase, we’ll refund your money.

The more than 500 people who work at Shutterfly are truly humbled that our loyal customers have made us the #1 online photo service. We are proud to provide innovative high quality products and services, an easy-to-use website, stylish designs, and customer-friendly policies.

Thank you again for choosing to create, share and preserve your memories with Shutterfly.

With warmest regards,

Jeffrey Housenbold
President & CEO

P.S. We always appreciate hearing from our customers. If you have suggestions for how we can make Shutterfly even better, please let us know at feedback@shutterfly.com.

Folks this is how it’s done. The message was timely (lots of folks will be taking Easter Photos), proactive, and it reinforces why Shutterfly is a better choice for the consumer.

I’ve been a long time Shutterfly customer and can tell you that they have always over delivered on customer service. This email is just another shining example of why I’ve made them my preferred choice for online photo storage, sharing, and development.

Tags: Customer Service, Kodak, Shutterfly

Northwest Airlines – It’s Not An Emotional Thing

Written on March 21, 2009 by Adam Kmiec in Marketing & Advertising, Misc., Shopping

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It’s not an emotional thing.

If you’ve ever flown on an airplane you know how emotional of an experience it can be. From booking the ticket to landing at the destination the whole experience is one giant emotional roller coaster. To use a simple word, it’s stresfull. Here are some of the questions that go through my mind:

Did I get the best fare?
Did I pack enough/too much clothes?
Will they charge me to check a bag?
How long will the security line be?
Will my belt buckle set off the metal detector?
Will the flight take off on time?
Who’s going to sit next to me?
Will the flight land safe?

There’s dozens more, but those are some of the major ones. I think you can see what I mean when I say: stressful.

Well, as many of you know this has been a stressful week for me. Getting carbon monoxide poisoning and ending up in a hyperbaric chamber kinda does that to you.

I was due to fly out of Pittsburgh, PA on Northwest Airlines flight 1921 on Saturday March 21, 2009 and return to Pittsburgh on Northwest flight 3272 on March 22, 2009.

But, after the insanity of this week, all I wanted to do was get home as soon as possible. I was in Chicago on business Tuesday through Friday morning. Rather than fly back to Pittsburgh on Friday and then fly back across the country to Minneapolis on Saturday, I simply booked a Southwest Airlines ticket from Chicago to Minneapolis on Friday. That put me back together with the family 1 day earlier. And I tell you, after nearly dying, there ain’t nothing like family to make you feel alive.

Tonight, I tried to check in for my flight online at NWA.com. I received an error message and it wouldn’t let me check in. I called the Northwest Airlines customer service number, made my way through 5 minutes of automated prompts, and finally ended up with a human being. I explained my problem and he quickly diagnosed.

Northwest Airlines canceled my ticket for Sunday because I didn’t take the Saturday flight out to Pittsburgh. This was news to me. I’ve changed flights dozens of times; especially when on business and I’ve never run into this problem. I asked what that meant and he responded that they could reinstate my ticket for a penalty fee of $150.00 and the price difference between the old ticket and new ticket. By new ticket, I mean literally the SAME ticket I already had, but they canceled.

I sought a higher power and asked to speak with someone else. Surely, this must be a mistake, right? I was transfered to, Michael, a supervisor. From the get go he was cold. I re-explained my situation and he said amongst other things

it’s not an emotional thing.

He pointed out that had I read the full terms and conditions before booking the flight I would have known that this would happen. Gee, thanks for making me feel even dumber. As he put it, “we’re in the business of selling tickets.” That was in response to my questioning why they canceled my flight. See, Northwest assumed that since I didn’t take the first leg of my trip I wouldn’t be taking the 2nd leg. They wanted to sell my ticket at a much higher cost. In doing so they’ve sold the seat twice.

I was amazed…stupefied really. Michael explained to me that the rules are the rules, I should have known better, and it wasn’t his fault I took a different flight out. Wow. He even prodded me to go into details about why I changed my ticket. I explained to him the carbon monoxide situation and he that’s when he said, well “it’s not an emotional thing.” The conversation went back and forth for about 20 minutes. During that time I even flat out asked him do you think this is right? He fell back on the old rules are rules bit. He was condescending, argumentative, and cold as ice.

Before hanging up the phone I asked him 3 things:

Since I didn’t agree to any terms on the call about recording the conversation was he ok with me posting the call to my blog? This freaked him out and he explained I had no legal right to do so. I have no idea if he’s right. Until I find out, I won’t be posting it.
Are you sure there is nothing in your power or someone else’s to fix this problem without forcing me (I believe I indicated they had a gun to my head and I had no choice) to pay? His response, was “I didn’t say that, you are putting words in my mouth.” Wow.
Can you please mail or email a copy of the terms and conditions? He declined and said I should look on Expedia.com (where I booked the tickets) for that information.

As you can imagine, I was a little more than hot under the collar. I couldn’t get over the rudeness, lack of civility, and coldness exhibited by Northwest and their “customer service” staff. I looked on twitter to see if Northwest had a presence. I was hoping to correspond with someone else before writing this post, but as you’d imagine I didn’t find anything.

To be clear, yes the rules are the rules. Yes, I should have printed them, read them, and I guess followed them explicitly. But, I also believe there is a difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.

When you compare this experience to my experiences with Southwest it’s no wonder Southwest continues to thrive will Northwest struggles to maintain it’s existence. Now that Southwest is flying to Minneapolis, you can be sure all my future flights from Pittsburgh to Minneapolis will be on Southwest…even though I’d have to connect in Chicago. Yes, that’s right. I’m giving up direct flights for connecting ones. The difference in customer service is just staggering.

Southwest thanks for coming to the Twin Cities; it’s nice to have an alternative.

Tags: Customer Service, Northwest, NWA, Southwest, SWA, Twitter

Frank Being Frank

Written on February 18, 2009 by Adam Kmiec in Marketing & Advertising, Misc.

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Yes, I know that the title for this post is a little lame. That’s ok, I plan on making up for it with the content contained within. Roughly 2.5 weeks ago I contacted Frank Eliason, the man behind Comcastcares, to see he’d be interested in doing an interview with me. There was one catch. I wanted to conduct the entire interview through twitter direct messages. I was surprised at how quickly Frank responded with a yes.

Why surprised? Well, I’ve often found that companies as large as Comcast have a number of bureaucratic layers to cut through and practice an “ask for permission, not forgiveness” model. I quickly moved from surprised to ecstatic and began crafting questions to direct message.

For those of you who don’t know who Frank is, this article from Business Week will give you some fantastic detail. If you don’t have time to read the article, here’s the high level story:

He’s the Director of Digital Care for Comcast
Considered a pioneer in customer service
One of the first people to use twitter for connecting customers with the “company”
A hell of a nice guy

I’ve been following Frank for some time on twitter and I’ve been overly impressed with how responsive and clearly dedicated he is to his craft. The guy has over 25,000 tweets, with the majority being replies to other people. When you consider that twitter is just one channel he participates in, it’s amazing how engaged he is.

Over a period of 3 days Frank and I exchanged several messages. The questions and the answers have not been edited in any way.

@comcastcares Q1: Why twitter? Why didn’t you simply visit every blog, site, etc. that had something negative to say and engage there?
9:50 PM Feb 16th

@adamkmiec Actually we started & still visit blogs through out the internet. Twitter is one of many spaces we participate in. Twitter is cool because it is the right now
9:54 PM Feb 16th

@adamkmiec The blogosphere is great because it is the Customer story in their own words
9:55 PM Feb 16th

@comcastcares Q2: You have a personal blog. How do you manage your work “hat” and your personal “hat.” Do you let the two intersect on your blog?
9:54 PM Feb 16th

@adamkmiec I have a post on that called the lines are blurry. Work and personal drift together sometimes in social spaces http://www.eliasonfamily.info/blog/?p=215
9:58 PM Feb 16th

@comcastcares Q3: How does Comcast measure your impact? If you will, how do you know they are seeing value in your contributions?
9:58 PM Feb 16th

@adamkmiec I think there is a variety of impact from social meeting. First is the value of listening and implementing feedback. We have done well
9:59 PM Feb 16th

@comcastcares Follow up – Are there specific measures you/comcast uses? EG X number of people helped?
10:05 PM Feb 16th

@adamkmiec You can use that, but to me that is likely measure a call center agent on handle time. It is not very effective at ensuring the Customer is cared for. I concentrate on one Customer at a time and way we can improve the organization with the feedback
10:08 PM Feb 16th

@comcastcares Q4: Are there specific tools/software packages (eg Radian 6) you use to monitor the chatter and help figure out who/where to help?
10:06 PM Feb 16th

@adamkmiec We do use Radian 6. We also are looking at PeopleBrowsr for Twitter. But we many times also use simple tools like Twitter Search and Google Blogsearch. There are many options, including free ones, for businesses to do it right
10:09 PM Feb 16th

@comcastcares Q5: On some level you’ve become a “welebrity.” Eg you’re in demand for panels. Has the new notoriety changed you? Has it been well received?
8:32 AM Feb 17th

@adamkmiec I am still the same person I have always been. My main concern is the Customer not must else. The panels are a fun way to get my message to other businesses
10:34 AM Feb 17th

@comcastcares Q6: How would you compare the connections you’ve made with customers in need of help virtually as opposed to the ones who called in?
8:36 AM Feb 17th

@adamkmiec No difference. To me social media is just another way a Customer chooses to communicate.
10:35 AM Feb 17th

@comcastcares Q7: Marketers have always craved 1 to 1 relationships with customers. Is there a philosophic approach you try to bring to each interaction?
8:44 AM Feb 17th

@adamkmiec I just try to be myself
14 minutes ago

@comcastcares Q7 <—[typo]: To use a taboo word, you’re very transparent in what you say and to whom. There’s no hidden agenda. Has this approach ever backfired?
8:46 AM Feb 17th

@adamkmiec No. It has never backfired. I think if you just be yourself people will connect
10:36 AM Feb 17th

@comcastcares Q8: You always seem to be connected & plugged in. I don’t imagine you being in front of a computer at the office all day. How do you do it?
8:49 AM Feb 17th

@adamkmiec As you seen there were delays in these responses. Some times I am in meetings that may not be as easy to respond. But I do have a Blackberry and an iPhone so I am very mobile and if someone needs help, and I can assist, I will.
10:38 AM Feb 17th

@comcastcares Q9: There’s now a few more comcast team members on twitter. What advice did you offer them?
about 10 hours ago

@adamkmiec Be yourself
about 10 hours ago

@comcastcares Q10: Many people consider you to be a great example of how a company should engage. What advice do you have for other companies?
about 10 hours ago

@adamkmiec Be cautious of concentrating on sales or message and instead concentrate on learning from your Customers and helping them when you can. Be natural.
about 10 hours ago

@comcastcares Q11: What have you learned about customers/consumers since you started getting involved in twitter?
about 10 hours ago

@adamkmiec We have learned so much from our Customers. They like to tell us what we are doing right and where we are failing. We have made many improvements and implements systems due to feedback in the blogosphere. Every interaction is a learning experience.
about 10 hours ago

@comcastcares Q12: New “things” pop up all the time making it challenging to stay on top of the “next.” How do you view the future of customer service?
about 10 hours ago

@adamkmiec Future of Customer service will be like today (phone, email, chat) with a variety of new options such as social media, video chat, instant messages, and text messages
about 10 hours ago

@comcastcares Q13: I appreciate your time & candor. I’ve asked a lot of questions. It’s only fair I give you the chance to ask questions of me. Have any?
about 9 hours ago

Frank didn’t have any questions for me and that’s ok. It’s more fun to be the one asking the questions than the one having to answer them I enjoyed trading direct messages with Frank. Look at the time stamps; WOW! I was amazed at how quickly he responded to the questions.

I learned a few things during this interview:

I had no idea how involved Frank and the team were. Clearly I knew about his interaction on twitter, but I didn’t realize all the other channels they covered.
The autonomy he has is impressive. He’s literally being empowered to make a difference.
Frank and Comcast really value listening and learning. It’s not just about answering people. Answering and being responsive is just one part of the equation.

Comcast is so far ahead of the curve and the competition (direct and indirect). While there are hundreds of brands on twitter (eg Starbucks, Jet Blue, Virgin, Ford), none are taking advantage of the platform as well as Frank’s team.

But, it’s not about comparing company A to company B. To simply view them as a measuring stick would be short sited. Instead of focusing on how your company stacks up to Comcast, focus on learning what they are doing well and how you can apply that knowledge to your situation.

Tags: Best Of, Comcast, Customer Service, Frank, Interview, Twitter

Customer Service vs. Price

Written on July 23, 2008 by Adam Kmiec in Marketing & Advertising

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Love this new article from Marketing Sherpa. If you’ve been following along recently about my strife with Apple and State Farm, you’ll really understand why this article hit home. The real gem is this chart that clearly shows the perceptions – reality gap between the company and the consumer when it comes to reasons customers leave.

Tags: Apple, Customer Service, Data, Marketing Sherpa, State Farm, Stats