Results for articles with tag 'customerservice' (3 total)
02/09/2008 03:19:04 PM 
It's a brand that's been around for close to 10 years and has been building leadership in the somewhat unlikely area of online shoe sales.
The secret of its success appears to be due to the attention the company places on doing the simple things well, through a corporate culture dedicated to customer service excellence.
This is explained in a presentation from the company's CEO.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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11/09/2007 07:01:17 AM
In his latest book, Punching In-The Unauthorized Adventures of a Front-Line Employee, Alex examines the world of America’s front-line employees based on his own personal experience. He's spent the last two years working in frontline positions with the likes of Apple, Gap, Starbucks, Enterprise, etc.
Punching In is published by Harper Business and hits the shelves on November 20th.
In typical Influx Interview style, I sent Alex a few questions via email and here is his response.
1. What was the inspiration for your new book?
When I was about 17 I met a guy who had worked as a UPS driver and he told me all about his job. He told me specifically about how much he had been analyzed and examined by a team of scientists sent from corporate headquarters: They had measured things like how long it took him to walk an average package to someone’s front door from his truck. The level to which they cared about such things intrigued me and from then on I knew I had to work for UPS some day, to experience being the critical front line worker.
Until you “live the brand,” as I did, you are really taking other people’s word for how they feel. You cannot apprehend what it feels like to work acertain job unless you are wearing the uniform and living by the rules of a given employer. The subtle, or not so subtle, changes you feel when you put on a uniform and undergo training are extremely informative. For example, the feelings I had when I first changed into a brown UPS uniform and gazed at my reflection in the locker-room mirror were the kind of feelings you could not replicate by simply interviewing UPS workers about their jobs. (I tried doing so.) Subtle shifts are simply not apparent unless you are trying to be extremely observant, as I was.
2. It sounds like you did a bit of a Morgan Spurlock for this, explain how you approached researching the project?
Morgan Spurlock did a great job of being the ultimate customer of McDonald's. My goal was similar, but different: I wanted to be an employee at five or six companies in the retail space where I could be the face of those companies. I first worked at UPS and then applied at a dozen other companies that I chose based on my personal relationship to them, their popularity in business circles, and their prevalence in the commercial landscape. I applied for and was hired for five jobs in the retail sector and went on to work undercover over the course of two years.
3. Were the companies aware of your plans?
No, definitely not. My project hinged on my working at the various jobs in a completely unfettered and unadulterated manner. I wanted to live the life of an average employee and feel what it was like to wear the particular uniform of a company, train in the way an employee is trained, and then work directly with customers. I knew that if anyone knew of my plans, that the pure qualities of my experience would be compromised. And certainly I did not feel that any company would trust me enough to allow me to proceed with my project if I had asked for permission at the outset.
4. Do you feel brands are missing an opportunity at the front-lines of service and what can they do about it?
Yes, definitely many companies leave a lot to be desired when it comes to the experience on the front lines of service. When you think about it, this interaction--between customer and employee--is everything. This interaction carries the most weight in the minds of customers, but still most companies botch it by hiring the wrong people, training them poorly, and/or not giving their people the tools they need to do their jobs. Companies need to think creatively about these very areas: How can they better attract and hire the best people? How can they create places that employees want to work? These types of considerations do wonders for that critical customer/employee interaction.
5. Do you think Americans have given up on service?
Yes, many Americans have given up on service by finding ways around even needing service. Gas stations are self-run retail engagements. Every time you shop online you are avoiding going to a store and confronting what is often a poor service experience. At the same time, people tend to flock to those few stores or companies where service is strong (The Apple Store, JetBlue, etc.). Unfortunately, though, in many cases we are prisoners to poor service by having no better options.
6. Can you imagine a time when everything is self-service- from the grocery store to the Apple store and won't that just be better for everyone?
Yes and no. There are many consumer experiences that can be improved through automation. When things like self-checkout at Home Depot tend to work, they are great for customers and companies. But now, more than ever, people are increasingly a strong strategic weapon companies use to attract customers, people are often more important than the service or product a company is selling. In recent years many companies have realized how critical their people are in terms of presenting a cohesive experience for customers.
7. A few months ago, there was a trend of people posting videos on YouTube that showed shoddy looking stores and rats at fast food chains- do you think the thought that everyone potentially has a camera, is keeping retail brands on their toes?
What I found is that the top-notch retailers--places I worked such as Starbucks and The Apple Store--have fairly sophisticated feedback loops firmly in place so that these types of rats-in-the-kitchen surprises just don't happen very often. Starbucks has a team of roving quality control technicians that come into the stores unannounced and order drinks. They measure things like the weight and temperature of a latte and time their buying experience. Not a whole lot is left up to chance by the companies that value quality control.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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06/19/2007 05:35:10 PM
Here's an interview I did with the founder, Clement Wang.
1. Briefly describe the genesis of the company?
Nophonetrees.com was born out of frustration -- we were setting up some travel arrangements for a trip, and had to make some last minute changes to our flight itinerary. As it turned out, I had to make several calls to several airlines to get everything sorted out. Each call I made to the airlines, I had to sit through layers upon layers of phone tree menus and options before being put through to an operator. By the end of the process I had spent 45 minutes, only 5 minutes of which were spent talking to someone about sorting out my problem. At the time, we were in the process of developing our web to phone technology, we built nophonetrees.com to help sort through the mess (starting with airlines, of course).
2. What, in your opinion, is changing in the relationship between consumers and corporations?
I think consumers are starting to demand much more in terms of service from corporations they do business with. You have a huge number of users who have gotten used to the instant gratification -- getting things they want instantaneously, with a click of a mouse. Compared to this, wading trough a phone tree for several minutes before being placed on hold to talk to someone seems like an eternity. People want things done quickly and easily -- and they know when they need to talk to someone vs. doing it themselves. Companies who aren't able to deliver a quality customer experience will frustrate their customers and cause them to switch.
3. What is the lesson learned from the outsourcing experiments from the past 4/5 years?
I don't have much to say about outsourcing, as it's not something that I've been following closely. What I can say is that it's seen as a cost-cutting measure, but you do see some backlash as many consumers view it as a degradation in service, which I would say is similar to some of the reaction we hear from our users in response to poorly implemented phone trees.
4. What's gone wrong with the phone tree- it was supposed to be our saviour?
Many companies use the phone tree more as a way of deflecting calls rather than as a way to provide better service for their customers. The user experience is often very poorly implemented, and there is no standard way to jump out of the process if you get lost or if your problem doesn't fit in with the choices presented. Another big issue is just the complexity of the organization makes it very hard for a user to find what they're seeking. Having to listen to 7-9 menu items before deciding what to do is just a slow and tedious process.
5. Haven't systems improved with the advent of voice recognition technology?
I think the jury is still out on voice recognition technology. We've received feedback from our users thanking us for helping them navigate phone trees that they simply couldn't navigate themselves because they can't get the system to recognize what they are saying -- this seems to be a pretty common complaint from people who have accents or speech impediments.
6. Is this problem limited to the US, or do you also find it in Europe?
No, definitely not. We've gotten press coverage and lots of correspondence from all over Europe, Latin America, and Asia asking us when we are going to launch overseas. We definitely seem to have touched a nerve with people, and this issue is clearly not limited to just the US.
7. Won't companies hate you because you are adding to their cost structure?
We haven't had too much of a problem with that as of yet. We've actually had several companies contact us asking us to put their number on their list, and others asking us to help provide more options so that we send users to the correct department. So, surprisingly, the feedback from companies hasn't been negative at all.
8. Shouldn't consumers just get the information they need from the internet?
Personally, I try to get as much done on my own as I can before I pick up the phone. I'll scour the company's website trying to find a solution before I'll call up customer service. However, while a lot of customer solutions have moved online, there are always situations where you need to talk to someone to sort things out -- hopefully nophonetrees will come in handy for those stuck in these types of situations.
Posted by Ed Cotton
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Articles for tag customerservice (3 total).