We’ve got to sell our ideas. There’s no way around it. And, we have to advocate for what we are selling. If we can’t, we’re doomed because nobody will believe in us. The catalyst for this, I believe, is a deep desire to make a difference: Our ideas should change lives so profoundly, that people can’t imagine going back to the old way.
But how do we put ourselves in this mindset?…
Arie Goldshlager pointed me to a question on Quora: Why can’t customers think of one best company for customer service? In the question he points to a study where people where asked: “What is the best company for customer service?”
Answer: Can’t think of one.
I’ve been hitting on this topic for the last two weeks here and here. And, I think a trend is beginning to emerge from both sides of the ball. On the service provider side, employees attacking customers because they are unmotivated and frustrated with their own jobs.
On the customer side, we are seeing customers take physical action because they are frustrated.
Bottom line, we all complain.
Check out what I noticed recently from people I follow on Twitter and Facebook:…
Dear friends of Great Customer Service!
Not a day goes by when we are reading horror stories about the state of customer service. Especially, these negative experiences attract a large audience. This has been going on for many years now, but it has catapulted since social media enabled people to speak the minds and reach anybody around the world.
We, professionals who are passionate about great customer service, cannot tolerate this any longer. We want to take a stand for great service, and show companies the huge benefits of providing awesome service.
Therefore, we want to co-create a manifesto, which will highlight the need and the approach for great customer service.…
A year and a half ago I had a huge customer service issue with Dell. This issue was ultimately fixed for me, but the experience left a stingy feeling. Not to mention a burning desire to change it.
Fast forward to an article on the New York Time’s about a guy who is living through a three month customer service odyssey with HP. It is a very similar situation to mine, and it brought back those terrible memories of not being able to do anything and feeling like you are being ignored.
The article got me, and a few other people, thinking about the gap between what matters to customers and what matters to organizations:…
Spotted this question at Disney Institute’s Facebook Fan page:
Here’s more in-depth look at how Guestology works:
The power or the Disney Magic comes from knowing customers and looking beyond the words being used to figure out how to exceed guest expectations. Something that happens on-site may not be our fault, but it is our problem. And that means that it must be fixed to exceed expectations.
Disney even has a Guestology compass: Needs – basic, Wants – preferences associated with needs, Emotions – the positives, and Stereotypes – maximize positive stereotypes/minimize negative ones.
I’m a big Disney fan and had no idea about Guestology. Very exciting!
I’m currently in Mexico meeting with executives from a few large companies, including the nations largest telecommunications company, to talk about social media technologies and what this means for them. Let me say this, it’s incredible how separated from the current reality these companies are.
While some companies in the U.S. are already taking advantage of social media for both external and internal activities (think social business), in the Mexico it isn’t so. For example. I asked a female executive from this telecommunications company if she knew if her company had a Twitter account. She said no.
They do.
But what I really wanted to know is if she knew that her Twitter account gets dissed the most by customers. In other words: there is a lot of hate towards your company on Twitter.
I told her she should check it out because it would be eye-opening. She did and immediately directed me to another female executive who had more ‘decision power’. I asked her the same thing. Same response. I told her to open up her browser, go to www.trendsmap.com, put in her company name in the search box and click search to see the magic.
Bang!…
