Tecnical Support and the Consumer

This evening I heard Chris Pirillo’s mother-in-law talk to him about her experience with Dell’s Technical Support.  I will embed the video when it becomes available if you care to watch and listen.  It is long, but it raises allot of questions and concerns over how the end users are treated by not only Dell but ALL industries.

As a person that works on the “other side” in this issue (I am a technical support rep for at&t mobility, formerly Cingular), I have somewhat of a unique perspective I think.

Industries, as a whole, have devalued the end users, while saying that “The Customer is Our First Priority”, their actions say different.  We will stick with the issues I know as they relate to cell phones, but you could put any industry name in place of that and it would still ring true.

One of the main problems with customer service is the fact that large companies have a “script” that binds a representative to specific actions depending on the issue the customer is experiencing.  these work much like google, you plug in the issue and select the option that best matches what you are dealing with.  Then you go step by step, asking the customer specific questions that is supposed to eventually fix the issue.  Should these steps fail you then transfer the customer to the next level.  Sounds great, but it gets more complicated.  He is transferred to tech support let’s say.  Now that representative follows the same procedure, with the same steps.  The same ones that the customer has already been through, sometimes with a few extra steps for good measure.  If that doesn’t work, it gets even more complicated.  The Tech Rep now has to escelate even higher, but the group at that level doesn’t take calls from customers so we have to put in what is called a case, let the customer know that it could take 3 days to resolve and set a followup for a different rep to call them back, and hang up.  Move on to the next customer.

Where is the personalization? Where is the honest empathy? Where is the concern for the customer?  I’ll tell you.  It has been pushed aside by the numbers, by the metrics.  A representative not only has to go by a script, but has “X” amount of time to complete a call and go on to the next.  If the rep’s average time on a call exceeds this number, they are disciplined, and even fired.  As a result, the rep fears taking the time to really understand what the issue is and how to fix it.  This causes them to, at times, tell the customer something that might not be completely true….”Go get a new SIM card and it wil be fine”, or “It is a known problem, call back tomorrow if it is still happening.”  Anything to get the customer off the phone once the call reaches a certain length.

This leaves the customer without a resolution to their issue, and not only that, but when he does call back the next day, he has to explain the issue from the beginning.  Sure, there are notes on the account, but rarely do they explain the issue fully, usually they are no more than a sentence or two.  He may repeat this process numerous times, causing frustration, anger, and resentment.

So what’s the fix?  how do we, as a company, create a better experience?  We, and indeed ALL companies, must truly put the customer first. 

Forget the metrics, forget the numbers, forget how long it takes to fix a customer’s issue.  Allow ONE REP to follow the customer from first call to resolution.  Each day, assign customers to a specific rep and allow that rep to complete the call all the way to the end, until the issue is resolved.  As the issue gets resolved another customer is added, a list that continuously moves up, each customer moving up to number one.  If the issues get resolved quickly, great, add more customers to the rep’s list.  If one becomes a tough fix, then that rep is responsible to see it through to completion.  If they have to escalate it, then the people they escalate to are responsible to report back to the original rep when the problem is fixed.  Give the representative the power to do what it takes to fix the issue.  If the customer needs a new phone, SEND THEM ONE, don’t make them go through 10 people to get it authorized.  I believe this is the biggest and best way to make customer service truly put the customer first. 

Do this, allow ONE REP to follow the customer through, so the person working the issue knows what it is, what needs to be done to fix it, what has to be completed to fix it and report back to the customer with the fix, allow the rep the power to fix the issue, and the company will be the best customer service hands down, other companies will scramble to model their customer service on them to catch up.

As a side effect, the customer will recommend the company to others, brag about how well they were treated and soon the company will be flooded with new customers.  When something happens, they will tend to be more understanding, not yelling and screaming, because they will know that they will be taken care of on the first call, not the 10th.  They won’t dread calling in.