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Doerman
| | Posted on Sunday, December 07, 2008 - 06:50 pm: | 
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In order to be effective in customer service you will have to be unafraid of the truth, polite yet assertive and knowledgeable. |
Ratbuell
| | Posted on Sunday, December 07, 2008 - 07:22 pm: |
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In order to be effective in customer service you will have to be unafraid of the truth, polite yet assertive and knowledgeable.
The catch is, you also have to convince the customer that the truth is the truth, not some sort of personal attack or "you're the company, I'm the little guy, you're lying to me because you're bigger than me" situation. THAT, my friend, is the difficult part. |
Buellistic
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2008 - 08:57 am: |
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Buellgrrrl:
Like reading your POSTS as you are not trying to cover up he "BUELLschitte" ...
When a woman can see through the "BUELLschitte", there is a real "PROBLEM" !!! |
Court
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2008 - 05:54 pm: |
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You guys are doing great and bringing up some GREAT points . . . I hope to rejoin this in the next day or two with some stuff I think is fairly fascinating.
In the meantime, please . . .if you have off handed "my Buell doesn't run right" comments and personal issues, don't grind you axe here. This thread is about CUSTOMER SERVICE, not individual specific cases, dealers or experiences. I'm looking at the global issues. If you have a problem with BUELL customer service pick up the phone and call them. Why some of this is applicable it's not the primary focus and I don't want this to become a thread filled with puffed chests, poor grammar, vulgarities and so forth. In an effort to keep within these guidelines I'm going to have comments, not germane here, deleted of moved to the quick board. . . save me the work and do it yourself.
You guys and gals are coming up with some great ideas and thoughts.
Court |
2008xb12scg
| | Posted on Monday, December 08, 2008 - 10:53 pm: |
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Great thread! I'll go back to my lurkin' and learnin' now.... |
Svh
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 09, 2008 - 01:09 am: |
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Keep the customer informed and be truthful and repectful with them. I had an experience this weekend with an airline that has soured my already low view of them. Did you know the time on your ticket is not how long you have to make it to the plane? I did not so when I showed up 3 min before time on ticket and was told plane had already been closed up and pulled away I was a bit miffed. I kept my cool even though it was not my fault I was late, too tight of a connection apparently with a delay but we were on the ground, and asked why it doesn't say on the ticket doors close at 9:56 and departs at 10:06? "Duh everyone knows that. Pssst" I wrote down this gentlemans name and left without saying anything in order to find another agent that could help. Found a very gracious lady that at least faked her concern for us to get home but I am sure it was real because she CAME to our gate to see if we made it on standby to get home. I too have her name and will be including both in a letter I am writing to them explaining my displeasure and this ladies above and beyond what was expected customer service. There are those out there that understand customer service and that the customer is who pays them and if treated correctly will continue to pay them.
I look forward to more of this discussion and ideas. Many good thoughts so far. Hopefully make the world a kinder place in a small way |
Swampy
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 30, 2008 - 01:33 pm: |
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I had a salient point for a moment, but my old age....
I was thinking about a bad experience I had once at a snowmobile dealership, I have told the story here before.
What stands out in my memory was the salesman was lackadaisical about making a sale, insulting me. I complained to a parts person I knew and he jumped to action and got the GMs attention who sprang from his perch and tried to make things right, calling around to find just the sled I was looking for and trying to arrange a test ride for me on such and such a day.
The important thing I think was that the GM made the attempt to make sure I went away with a good experience, so I might come back some day.
The salesman on the other hand, was so focused on "The Sale" that when he figured I was not going to give him what he wanted "The Sale", our relationship was over before it even had a chance to develop.
The sled I was looking for was in a sister dealership, the GM found that out, he asked me to wait while he called the other store. How can you not wait when someone asks you nicely if you can wait while he checks into something you were looking for. Then he offered to bring it up from the other store so I could test ride it. When I had asked the salesman moments earlier he just said "No we don't have that sled here" and "No we don't give test rides" even though the area around the store was full of tracks.
Develop the relationship, the sale will follow. |
Swampy
| | Posted on Monday, January 05, 2009 - 11:56 pm: |
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Apparently I either killed the thread or made Court busy again.... |
Svh
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 - 12:14 am: |
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Either you or I did....
Either way I was enjoying the conversation and thought sharing. Hope it continues soon winter can be boring up here in the salt and ice covered roads |
P_squared
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 - 03:39 pm: |
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In my daily work, it all revolves around personal accountability/ownership.
I don't normally interface with end customers on a daily basis. I'm more of a high level trouble shooter behind the scenes so the worker bees can keep the end customers happy.
My personal philosophy is that if a customer's problem gets to me, that is where it ends. It will get resolved, and I will keep my word to the customer. If I can't, I make sure I contact them personally & explain to them why I need more time to resolve their issue. In my time here, there's yet to be a problem I haven't been able to get fixed, all while keeping the customer informed, to include giving them my direct line at work & my cell #. Amazing how far a little personal attention & empathy can go in making a customer into a 'Net Promoter.'
The difference between myself & my co-workers? I know the customers I interact with will remain customers, and I know it is those same customers who ultimately pay my salary. My co-workers think it's the company that pays their salaries.
Different mindsets. |
Court
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 - 05:13 pm: |
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You did not kill it. I have lots of material written but I've kinda checked out for a bit after finals and the holidays.
I'll start introducing some new ideas here in the next week. You guys and gals were doing great. |
Alchemy
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 06, 2009 - 10:23 pm: |
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Here is a recent event at our household by Casablanca Fan company.
We had a 28 lbs fan fall about 15' to the floor in the middle of our family room. By the grace of God it happened when we were not home because it could easily have caused a fatality. The fan was 2 year out of warranty and by my examination it was not properly installed on the pipe from the ceiling.
We reported it to Casablanca (email) mostly as a courtesy (out of warranty and all). After a few months I got around to seeing if I could salvage any of it and contacted a web based fan dealer who encouraged me to call Casablanca directly and I did. They listened to what had happened by phone this time and requested information and pretty much confirmed that a critical set-screw had not been properly utilized. Not really their fault by my view as it was not their dealer that did the install.
They however decided to stand by their product even 2 years out of warranty and requested us to allow one of their dealers to come to our house and examine the damaged fan. Further they sent a new fan to the dealer and arranged and paid for him to come back and properly install it on our 18' ceiling. All done at no charge to us and without us ever once requesting a new fan let alone a free installation.
We were very pleased and I rate this as very high quality customer service. The really exceptional part is that they made sure it was properly installed to really guarantee no further problems going forward. I think many companies would have felt simply replacing the product would have been more than sufficient. |
Vampress
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2009 - 08:28 am: |
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Court, something interesting I thought you might like to read. Got me thinking.
Love (and annoying)Share
Sunday, January 18, 2009 at 10:34pm
The goal is to create a product that people love. If people love it, they'll forgive a lot. They'll talk about it. They'll promote it. They'll come back. They'll be less price sensitive. They'll bring their friends. They'll work with you to make it better.
If you can't do that, though, perhaps you can make your service or product less annoying.
I understand that "love" and "annoying" are rarely two ends of the spectrum, but in this case, I think they are.
I think smart marketers at Apple work to make products that people love. Smart marketers at American Airlines ought to work at making an airline that isn't annoying.
Firefox used to be a product that people loved. Compared to the alternatives, it was magical. You could go on a quest to promote it and improve it.
At that point, a few years ago, the Firefox movement had a choice. Either continue to make it ever more quirky and lovable (engaging a small audience, but with more passion), or work to make it less annoying (and allow it reach more people). Today, people like (not love) Firefox, they continue to use it, the idea spreads, but slowly. The goal has been chosen by the Firefox folks: to continue to make it less annoying. That's disappointing to the passionate, but it's a strategy.
Another example: I use iCal to keep track of my schedule. It defaults new appointments to 9 am, and if the appointment isn't at 9 am, I have to manually change it. Makes sense. Problem: If the appointment is at 4 pm, and I change the 9 to a 4, iCal sets the alarm to go off at 4 am. Hey, wait a minute. I have never, ever had an appointment at 4 am. Doesn't iCal know this? Why is it so annoying! No one is ever going to love iCal as it stands, or even with some simple improvements, so why don't the engineers spend time making it less annoying instead?
What could iCal do to make the product something you would love? Really love? Clearly, that would require an overhaul. What could they do to make it less annoying? 100 little things, easy to do.
Example: Momofuku was a New York restaurant beloved by many people. People loved it because (not in spite of) how annoying they could be. They were annoyingly inflexible. They didn't have particularly comfortable seating, or great waiters. And the flagship restaurant makes getting a reservation almost impossible. The quirkiness was part of the deal. Something to talk about when you brought a friend...
If all they did was think of ways to be less annoying, the restaurant wouldn't get better for the people who loved it, it would get worse. Unfortunately, they got really popular, forgot what made them lovable and crossed a line. The annoying parts got really annoying, and they forgot to dream up new ways to be beloved. I gave up. It flipped and I hate it now. It's unloved and annoying. Boy are customers like me fickle.
Think of the pretty ordinary things you do or places you go. Could they be less annoying? What if the marketers there spent time and money to eliminate annoying? No, it's not the sort of big time stuff that leads to love, but they're probably not going to get to love anyway. I'm not going to love my dry cleaner or the post office. But if they made them less annoying, I'd spend more money and go more often. Face it, you use Fedex because it's less annoying than the post office, not because you love them.
I think there's a chasm here. You don't go for love and end up with less annoying. You need to do one or the other. There are products and services I love that are annoying, but that's okay, because that's part of being in love. And there are products and services that are annoyance-free, but I don't love them. That's okay too. I like them just fine.
Put a sign on your office door, or send a memo to the team. It should say either, "Everything we do needs to make our product less annoying" or "Everything we do should be idiosyncratic and engage people and invite them to fall in love with us. That's not easy, which is why it's worth it." Can't have both. Must do one.
V |
Lightstick
| | Posted on Monday, January 26, 2009 - 12:45 pm: |
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That makes sense. The X1 Lightning addressed all the niggling complaints that the press had about the S1, and the result was a much less charismatic motorcycle.
I hope Buell never gets rid of the fan on the Ulysses. It helps give the bike more personality. |
Swampy
| | Posted on Monday, March 23, 2009 - 11:15 pm: |
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Bump
Girlfriend relayed a story to me today about a Sam's Club experience.
Sales peps standing around, one aisle open, the pharmacist opens a line, checks the girlfriend out who is work supplies, rings her up for 4 cases of waters instead of 3. She decides she would like to have 4 anyways, he runs to get one and comes back 5 minutes later with out one, he can't find it! Says they must be out of them, she says there was a whole pallet a minute ago, he says Oh! and runs back again. He comes back with the wrong water brand. 20 minutes later she gets checked out.
I guess it is professional incompetence. |
Swampy
| | Posted on Tuesday, April 08, 2014 - 08:42 pm: |
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I was watching the news tonight, the GM deal with the recall for the faulty ignition switches. GM is trying to make good by offering loaner cars while the defect is corrected and parts are being made available.
My BIG idea is for Ford to step up and offer loaner cars for owners of GM products affected by the recall, think of it... |
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