Did you know there are about 43 billion customer service calls per year? That corresponds to over 143 calls per person per year. How many are really handled well depends on the agent training and attitudes as well as the sophistication of the CRM software.This became clear to me when I was listening to a Podcast: "Your Call Is Not That Important to Us" posted in [email protected] Carey, January 26, 2010. The Podcast and transcript can be found at http://knowledge.wpcarey.asu.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1855.
The author of "Your Call (Is Not) That Important To Us, Customer Service and What It Reveals About Our World and Our Lives" (Free Press, 2009) Emily Yellin was the featured speaker at the 20th Annual Compete Through Service Symposium, hosted by the Center for Leadership at the W. P. Carey school of Business. The stimulus for the book was her unsatisfactory experience with her home warranty company.
The book is a history of the roughly 30-year life of the call center and CRM. She points out that everyone will at one time or another have to contact a call/CRM center, even CEOs. The book was the result of 3 years of effort, meeting and talking with customers, customer service agents, call center managers, consultants and CEOs at companies such as Comcast, FedEx, JetBlue, Sprint, Zappos, Amtrak, Credit Suisse, and others.
She found housewives and college students that staff the phones at these centers. The centers can be anywhere in the world, but usually where the costs are lower than large metropolitan areas. She shows the lengths some companies will go to, to place technology between themselves and their customers. Many companies view the call center as a cost not a value. Some companies actually try to shield themselves from the customer. This results in the customer vs. the business, both taking on adversarial roles.
One comment by Yellin is directed at the companies that are getting the message. These pay real attention to the design of the call center service. Once they have a well designed center, then the business should follow through and ensure that their actions match their words. The customer should be able to understand and trust what is said during the call. If the words and actions don't match, the business has an irate customer that also may not be loyal for future business.
A second comment is to measure the right things. For example, shorter calls do not necessarily mean rapid problem resolution. Longer calls may resolve the issues to the customer's satisfaction, thereby avoiding customer call backs. How many times the same customer calls with the same issue is a better measure of customer satisfaction. The right software can help to provide more meaningful measurements, so always keep looking at technological developments. Do not assume the yesterday's best software is best for today.
Yellin mentioned one company that has had a poor customer service reputation, Comcast. The head of customer service admitted that Comcast could ignore their customer service problems because they are a monopoly. With the monopoly status, Comcast can still generate revenue and profit; so can utility companies and government agencies. Eventually the **** hits the fan, so this attitude can not be sustained.
One company that has really embraced customer service is Zappos. Even though the call center manager, Tony Shay, admits that the center operation is not efficient, Zappos is very successful. They wanted to move to a less expensive location from San Francisco. They decided to move the whole company to Las Vegas. This was aimed at keeping the CEO and management staff near the call center that generates their revenue.
Zappos chose not to outsource the call center. Outsourcing may be a valid decision for some businesses, but the design of the call center and the combination of words and actions are still paramount. Outsourcing may be cheaper, but poor customer responses will eventually cost the business.
FedEx was also mentioned. The customer's ability to track the shipment goes a long way to satisfying the customers need for information. Give this some thought. Information is what the call/CRM center is all about, information to deal with a customer issue.
Yellin also had a number of tips for the customer:
1. Write down pertinent information such as when the call occurred, the agent's name, what you said, what did the agent do in response and how the call was resolved or not.
2. Don't try to be friends with the agent. This is a business call. Try to avoid getting angry with the agent. Your problem is with the business, not the agent.
3. The more helpful you are to the agent, the more likely there can be a resolution. Call again to change from unfriendly agents.
4. Mention the amount of business you have with the business. Remember you paid the business to become their customer.
5. Expect that some businesses are not really trying to serve the customer.
6. When frustrated, ask to speak to a supervisor or manager. Possibly contact executives of the business. You can find most executive names on the business's website.
Yellin had an interesting observation. The bottom line is how the business treats its own employees and agents. The better the treatment, the better the agent treats the customer.
I had an experience with a call center agent who would not get off the script and I was in a hurry. I kept saying that I might be interested in what was being offered but the script was in concrete. The agent finally told me I was too rude and hung on me. I wish this would happen more often.
