The Current TechnoRevolt: What’s OFF The Menu?

I’ve just spoken at a prestigious gathering of help desk professionals. These are the folks who you call within your own corporation when there’s some technical issue you can’t figure out, like how to uninstall the Space Invaders game your teen snuck onto your company laptop.

One of my fellow presenters took the stage and made this bold pronouncement: “Customers don’t like menus!”
Resounding applause broke out among the 2000 analysts and support center managers.

But, aren’t these the tech-geek folks who love “highly efficient” technology applications? Why were they applauding?

Because they’re also consumers, that’s why. Although engineers may design innovative applications for routing their customers’ calls, they detest encountering menu trees and voice recognition systems when they’re the ones who are doing the calling.

Here’s the point: Your best testing lab for what business practices will be popular with your customers is probably… yourself. If you hate navigating through a long list of menu options when you call for help, and then resent having to speak or key in your account number, only to have a human rep (eventually) answer and start off by asking for your account number, well, your customers probably won’t like it, either.

This reminds me of a speech I gave for another gathering of call center professionals. I called it “Let’s Quit Seducing Ourselves and Terrorizing Our Customers.” It wasn’t well-received. Addressing an audience of technical experts who dreamed up and designed the multi-tiered menus we all hate, I essentially said, “You’ve been seduced by your technical capabilities, and what you’re doing is terrorizing callers.”

There was no outbreak of unrestrained applause. Maybe because I presented the talk in 2001. It was too soon. It was still sort of fascinating and novel that you could punch in a series of answers and have your call handled automatically. (“If you’re calling with a question about your account, press 3. For questions about a charge on your most recent bill, press 7,” and so on.)

Are you still fascinated with this technology? Are you noticing the trend in advertising lately: “Our company is better than the other guys because we have people who answer the phone and actually talk to you.”

You’ve surely heard about the “cheat sheet” on the internet (http://gethuman.com/us/) that gives you the secret codes to bypass companies’ sophisticated phone systems. It’s wildly popular because consumers are absolutely fed up with call automation.

This whole state of affairs was completely avoidable. At some executive conference table a few years back where the amazing efficiencies of automated call routing were being touted, one person with clout just had to stand up and say, “Our customers aren’t going to like this. I know because I don’t like this. Sure, we CAN implement this technology, but we shouldn’t.”

I’m not blogging to rant about automatic call routing systems that are so poorly implemented that they spawn a backlash anti-tech ad campaigns and fuel widespread frustration, if not anger. I’m writing to urge you to use common sense when you decide what technologies to implement in your own company. Stand up for common sense.

My company is named “Speaking From Experience” for just this reason. What I do is pay attention to how I react as a customer. When some organization comes up with a great idea, I spread it around. I met a really smart dentist endowed with marketing brilliance and common sense who just installed WiFi in his dental offices. Patients can now arrive early for their appointments, bring their laptops, and get online while they wait. Great idea. Cost: fifty bucks. Every dentist should to it.

And when some company gets seduced by its own technologically-possible but stupid idea, I speak up.

You can, too. Please do.

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To download the original “Terror and Seduction” article I published in 2001, follow this link:
http://www.georgewalther.com/articles/a_terror.pdf

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How to RIG your service RESULTS

On your next visit to Office Depot, notice if the clerk draws a circle on your receipt. There’s an invitation to participate in an online customer survey at the bottom of the tape. I'm always handed one and notice that the clerks often say, "If you received good service today, we'd like you to participate in a brief online survey."

But what if I received BAD service today? I no longer have much faith in customer surveys because business people have learned how to "rig the system."

My Lexus dealer's service department actually hands me a sheet instructing me in how to fill out the survey that I will receive from the Lexus corporate office. They tell me that I should check off "very satisfied" boxes in a very dramatic way: The printed piece they hand me includes big red checkmarks next to each of those boxes, indicating that that's how I'm supposed to fill out the form.

In your business, if customer feedback is important, it's crucial that you hear the bad news. In fact, disgruntled customers who are either slightly dissatisfied or majorly annoyed with the way you do business are far more valuable assets than those who will simply tell you you've done a good job.

Be absolutely certain that your customer feedback system can't be rigged by personnel out in the field. Also, be sure that it encourages customers to report their negative experiences and suggest ways you may improve.

How the body shop used a phone to repair my car.

I recently had a very positive experience with an auto repair shop that had very little to do with their actual repair. It was the simple (though rare) way they used their phone that made my car shine.

My vehicle was recently damaged by a flooring contractor who backed into the driver's door. It was crunched in, and the window was jammed. I groaned as I anticipated the unpleasant task of getting repair estimates, dealing with the contractor’s insurance company, and so on.

I ended up with a very positive assessment of the body shop’s repair job. But it had very little to do with the repair itself.

Here's what happened: I took my vehicle to Precision Autocraft in Newcastle, Washington for the repair. I had planned to be in Canada for the week during which the repair was scheduled and just left it with them.

Part way through that week, I got a phone call from the shop. Jennifer phoned to let me know that the part they needed to repair my door had arrived and that they were in the process of working on it. She also promised to give me a call with an update when I returned in a few days.

She did exactly that and again called to let me know that it was now in the paint shop.

A couple of days later, she called again. This time, she told me that the repair was complete and that they wanted to be sure my car was freshly washed and ready to go when I came to pick it up and asked when I would like to come by.

Later that week, she called again to ask if there was anything that wasn’t absolutely perfect and reminded me that their work is always guaranteed.

I have a very high opinion of Precision Autocraft. But it's not just because they did a wonderful job of repairing my car, which they did. My opinion was based on how they communicated with me. The fact that they had taken the trouble to update me on their progress and keep me advised every step of the way led me to have a very positive view of how they handle customers.

Suppose I’d had two cars being repaired by two shops right next door to each other (and I’m glad I didn’t). One made the series of calls I’ve just described. The other shop did an equally good job with the repair itself, in the same amount of time, but didn’t make the calls. Which shop would I recommend (and write about)?

Think about it. Do you know anything about dentistry? Probably not. Your opinion of your dentist is based not on the doctor's clinical expertise, but on how you are treated when you call for an appointment, how you are welcomed in the reception area, etc. It all comes down to communications.

I don't know a darn thing about auto body repairs. The door looks fine and the vehicle drives as if nothing had ever happened. My very positive opinion of Precision Autocraft is primarily the result of their simple series of phone calls to update me on the progress of their repairs.

Would your customers respond positively if you gave them periodic updates? Suppose you contacted customers to let them know the status of their order fulfillment. What if you called to confirm appointment details? Suppose you made a follow up call to ensure everything was fine and that they were delighted with your work.

Your phone can build your customers’ delight, and it’s simple to do. But, you do have to do it.

Make those calls.

Quit Asking Useless Questions

Useless Questions Beget Useless Answers:

Your store checkout clerk asks, "Did you find everything OK?" Do you ever find yourself saying, "No, actually I wanted to buy several more items. Would you please close your register and help me find them?”

Of course you don't. By the time you reach the register, it's too late. For that matter, it's not a good question at any point in your shopping process.

I just gave a presentation for a very large and famous company whose brand name you would immediately recognize. Before every presentation, I phone audience members to get a feel for their daily reality. A store manager at this famous company’s poorly performing retail location said, "The only problem I have is that customers never tell you what they need. Whenever I ask, ‘Can I help you find something,’ they say no."

The problem here is not the customers. It's the unproductive question. As a general rule, you're always better off to improve a "yes/no" question by converting it into one of the “open-ended” variety.

Instead of, "Can I help you find something?" ask, "What may I help you find today?”

Instead of, "Were you happy with your meal tonight?” ask, “How could we have improved your meal tonight?"

Don't ask, "Do you feel like I'm a good partner in our marriage?” Instead, ask, "How can I be a better partner in our marriage?”

If you want answers you can really put to use, improve your questions.