Commentary
When Your Mobile Carrier Treats You Like A Real Human Being
- by dave.b , Max Kalehoff , July 23, 2010
I've been with the same mobile carrier for 10 years. I almost left two years ago over a billing issue, but a special customer-service SWAT team swooped in and took things over. Since then, my family has enjoyed the benefits of a dedicated customer-service rep. This is the real deal, …
8 comments about "When Your Mobile Carrier Treats You Like A Real Human Being ".
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The treatment you receive is way too expensive to extend across a large clientele. However, I can say, CS is a tremendous differentiator. I switched to ATT for the iPhone, despite the coverage issues, I am hesitant to ever switch back to the competition because ATT's CS has treated me much better on every inquiry and has been very accommodating. [Sorry, I had to name names].
Without question Customer Service is the critical factor for loyalty to a carrier. Today's technology is morphing the primary carriers into very similar voice and data networks. This, ultimately, will make cell coverage a commodity. The only true differentiators are the types of phones on the network and Customer Service. Going forward, CS will be primary attribute that helps a customer determine which carrier will be theirs.
Are you listening Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon? You should be...
Excellent stuff! This is simply what makes a difference--the customer experience--and why the Internet is so often falls short.
Thx for the simple and effective way you delivered this important message. I'm guessing that your carrier is Sprint. I have the same experience and personal CS rep.
FJR
There are two Verizon Mobile stores within walking distance of my office. I discovered one that isn't that busy and in minutes, the staff smooths any wrinkles.
While it may be too expensive to give every customer the personal service that Max gets, if a company has a culture of being pleasant and rewarding same...with occasional drop-ins and listening-ins by secret shopper types who commend staff at every level for being helpful and courteous, it would be a start.
There is nothing more frustrating than watching a company expand its customer base while ignoring the customers it has.
On the other hand, if a company doesn't provide the service you need, good customer service is useless--like a restaurant with horrible food and wonderful wait staff. Would you return?
I often wonder what goes on in those huge office towers everywhere that say Sprint, or AT&T, or Verizon. They seem to hold many people, yet none of them seem to talk to customers. A smartphone/family contract that is $2,000 or more per year is not too small to support good customer service. Nice story.
I've never had a good exchange with a carrier...maybe a couple that rose to the level of not being frustrating beyond belief. Carriers are leading culprits...others like MSOs/credit card companies often in a similar vein. It's always mystified me the enormous $ these marketers spend trying to acquire me as a customer, then the apparent complete indifference once they have me.
The problem is that nearly all vendors - for products or services - see:
- Customers as indistinguishable sheep to be sheared
- Employees as too-expensive interchangeable units.
Your dedicated customer care rep FEELS expensive to the company, but is more cost-effective. Your encounters are short and very productive. The alternative, imposed on regular customers, is to pay additional staff to spend endless hours on the phone frustrating customers as they try to establish context and then sell the wrong solution.
You've already mentioned the churn factor. That works both ways - you stay with the carrier because you're happy; the rep stays with the carrier because their job is satisfying - solve problems to sustain relationships with happy customers, not endure hours of invective from frustrated soon-to-be-former customers who were and will remain strangers.
There are humans at both ends of the wire, not just in the executive suite.
@fj rich: while we aren't a communications company, since 2007 we have been connecting proactively with Adorama Camera customers anywhere they make mention across the entire web and across the globe.
This wouldn't have been possible without the Internet!
A search for 'Helen Oster Adorama Camera' - will give you an idea of how we tackle customer service via social media; not merely as Added Value but as an integral part of our service to all Adorama customers.