Funny how attending a conference where customer relationships dominate the conversation tends to magnify the little interactions with companies we have every day.
On the other hand, perhaps I'm a little naïve when it comes to customer service and the ability or willingness of companies to improve.
I've always believed too little common sense is applied to servicing customers. Maybe that's overly simplified: What I heard at CRM Evolution in New York last week was that many companies lack a strategic process, don't strengthen it first from the inside, or frankly don't recognize the value in doing so if it doesn't directly impact their wallets.
For particulars from the conference, see my previous post or catch this excellent summary from @CRMAdvice. Meanwhile, back to real-world customer service issues:
- Early Tuesday a train derailed outside of Penn Station, considered the busiest train station in North America. Trains were cancelled or delayed, and those of us headed for Midtown from New Jersey spent hours getting there. The NJ Transit workers at the stations in New Jersey were friendly and helpful - albeit with limited information available to them. NJT management was less forthcoming in its social media communication - one commuter was widely quoted as complaining that the text message he received described what happened as a "signal problem" rather than a derailment.
- That same morning I called Verizon Wireless to add the mobile hot spot feature to my Android so I could access the Internet wherever I was. I was motivated by spotty wireless at my hotel; however the timing was excellent because it enabled me to work from my laptop while stuck on a train just a little later. Verizon's rep, reached after only a few minutes on hold, added the feature to my account and provided clear instructions in turning my phone into a wireless hotspot. However, she neglected to say I needed a security code to make it work. So it was back on the phone to Verizon, where again a rep provided clear direction. Then I had to work my way back through the screens on my phone to make the connection.
- The Wyndham Garden Hotel where I stayed outside the Newark, N.J., airport claims to provide airport shuttle service every 20 minutes. In reality, it's more like 30 minutes - an eternity while standing in hot sun watching other hotel shuttles come and go. At the hotel, the scheduled departure time is, to put it mildly, squishy.
My takeaway on these incidents:
- NJT actually texts riders (who sign up, presumably)? Good start. Maybe the next step is refining the process internally for more accurate information that will provide real value to help riders. It's just standard crisis communication, with a social media twist.
- I'm actually a Verizon fan and love my 'Droid. Still, a better internal process (script?) would have saved me 15 valuable minutes in setting up my mobile hotspot. When customers need help, nothing is more frustrating than having to make repeated calls.
- The Wyndham was a decent place to stay; the shuttle service over four days was disappointing. Does this mean it doesn't care about the inconvenience caused by its inconsistent service? Or maybe it's a statement that moderate room rates negate any possible backlash over the shuttle service?
These are the kind of relatively minor incidents we tend to shrug off fairly easily. Coming as they did during a conference whose theme clearly was SCRM, they seemed to stand out a little. Making a mountain out of a molehill? What do you think?