This week has been an education in good customer service and has demonstrated how often it's the smaller businesses who do it best.
Today I have spent over an hour and a half on the phone to Orange, EE, or whatever they call themselves now trying to upgrade my phone. I am given two ways to do this; online or over the phone. As is now usual the deal is better online and I understand that this is because it is cheaper for them. However when this does not work, and I quote; "How do you know it hasn't worked?" "I haven't received a confirmation email or text ...or a new phone," it might have been cheaper for them to fix it over the phone on Monday rather than leave me, still phoneless, awaiting my fifth phone call of the week having tried three times myself online. I could get started on how their website logged me out three times whilst I was trying to navigate it* but I won't.
In between speaking to the polite but hopelessly unhelpful people in various Orange customer service teams I have also been waiting for some banners to be delivered. The firm, onestoppromotions.co.uk have produced them for me in superquick time and been very nice about my failure to meet their 'safe' copy deadlines. This morning I called to check the banners had been dispatched and they were able to confirm, without me knowing my order number, that they had. Then they gave me my tracking number and the number of the courier, www.apc-overnight.com and said I could contact them directly for more information.
APC overnight's number was answered without me being placed in a queue and each time I called the person I spoke to could retrieve my request with the tracking number, know exactly what I was requesting and where the driver was and each tried to get hold of the driver to get an update for me. Everyone I spoke to was friendly and each offered me a new 'Plan B' option when I explained that I really needed the parcel by Monday morning.
And its not just today. A couple of weeks ago I got the most amazing customer service from an airport transfer company, www.british-airport-transfers.co.uk, on behalf of one of the charity's clients. Again whoever you spoke to was able to promptly bring up my details, was helpful, proactive and reassuring and took even the most specialist requests (Tamil speaking driver) in their stride. And I only have the highest of praise for the poor taxi driver who put up with constant calls asking 'Are they there yet?'
In contrast BA customer service were unable to even tell me what the 'Special Assistance' they offer might include when I was booking it for one of our more vulnerable clients.
I understand that with flights and contracts more security is required and the staff I'm talking to are probably less empowered to make decisions or use their initiative but does that need to be the case?
We're looking at a new contact centre and CRM system at Bolton at Home and we need to make sure that this improves the services we can offer to customers rather than overcomplicate the situation. As a customer I don't understand why the person I speak to on the phone isn't able to see my online self service activity and if I'm honest I don't care. If I contact an organisation through whatever channel I think it's their job to be able to join up the dots and I hope that we're going to be able to offer this for our customers.
*Also picked up some lessons in how not to design a website. If your staff can't find the page, your customer can't find the page and the search function can't find the page perhaps you need to look at your navigation. Thankyou to whoever invented internet history.
Showing posts with label complaining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label complaining. Show all posts
Friday, 6 September 2013
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Who defines 'good' customer service?
Our charity clients are some of the strongest people I've met. How they manage to persevere through the bureaucratic nightmare that is seeking asylum, deal with what has happened to them in their home country and then battle through applications through family reunion visas is beyond me.
In theory our part in the process is the easy one. Once all the hard fought for documents are in place we simply book the flights and they travel to be reunited as a family.
We don't provide emotional support (we are neither trained or experienced in this area) but from our communication with clients we understand how the flight is the pinnacle of what, for some, amounts to years of separation.
Imagine then that you have come to the airport. You are scared of authority in a country where you do not feel safe. You have been through years of trauma. You have a small child with you and are leaving behind another who, having turned 18, does not meet the criteria to travel to the UK.*
It is late at night. The check in staff refuse to accept the travel visa you have spent so long jumping through hoops to acquire. They tell you to go back to the issuing embassy and sort it out but you cannot travel tonight.
If this was you or me we'd make a fuss. We'd be confident in our documents and in our rights as their customer. We'd be asking to see a manager, for them to phone head office, making something happen. How many times will this be all that's needed to resolve the situation?
But if you're scared and worn down and unable to properly communicate you can't do this. Should the airline staff recognise this and make sure they've tried all the channels that they would have done if the customer had made a fuss?
For example look at this story in Inside Housing about asylum seekers who are scared to complain about sub standard housing in case they are deported.
Is it our responsibility as a customer to make sure we get the level of service we expect? In some cases, such as our clients, expectations will be that the situation will go against them as it has done so many times before. For us, and especially those who care about delivering high levels of customer service, we will expect and demand much more.
Having previously worked with wealthy customers who felt entitled to the world I have been used to meeting and aiming to exceed these demands and expectations. It is a concern that when customers are less confident and empowered might be settling for second best as companies lower their standards to meet expectations.
It is important that when we're considering how we provide customer service we not only meet our customers expectations but look at what we'd expect in their position.
* All case studies referenced from any clients, of Bolton at Home or the Refugee Welcome Trust are amended to be representative of the situation but not true to any one case or client. Details are either general descriptions or an amalgamation of different client's stories.
In theory our part in the process is the easy one. Once all the hard fought for documents are in place we simply book the flights and they travel to be reunited as a family.
We don't provide emotional support (we are neither trained or experienced in this area) but from our communication with clients we understand how the flight is the pinnacle of what, for some, amounts to years of separation.
Imagine then that you have come to the airport. You are scared of authority in a country where you do not feel safe. You have been through years of trauma. You have a small child with you and are leaving behind another who, having turned 18, does not meet the criteria to travel to the UK.*
It is late at night. The check in staff refuse to accept the travel visa you have spent so long jumping through hoops to acquire. They tell you to go back to the issuing embassy and sort it out but you cannot travel tonight.
If this was you or me we'd make a fuss. We'd be confident in our documents and in our rights as their customer. We'd be asking to see a manager, for them to phone head office, making something happen. How many times will this be all that's needed to resolve the situation?
But if you're scared and worn down and unable to properly communicate you can't do this. Should the airline staff recognise this and make sure they've tried all the channels that they would have done if the customer had made a fuss?
For example look at this story in Inside Housing about asylum seekers who are scared to complain about sub standard housing in case they are deported.
Is it our responsibility as a customer to make sure we get the level of service we expect? In some cases, such as our clients, expectations will be that the situation will go against them as it has done so many times before. For us, and especially those who care about delivering high levels of customer service, we will expect and demand much more.
Having previously worked with wealthy customers who felt entitled to the world I have been used to meeting and aiming to exceed these demands and expectations. It is a concern that when customers are less confident and empowered might be settling for second best as companies lower their standards to meet expectations.
It is important that when we're considering how we provide customer service we not only meet our customers expectations but look at what we'd expect in their position.
* All case studies referenced from any clients, of Bolton at Home or the Refugee Welcome Trust are amended to be representative of the situation but not true to any one case or client. Details are either general descriptions or an amalgamation of different client's stories.
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