I know I go on about consistent brand delivery across all customer touchpoints a lot, but below are some edited highlights from a 30 minute long online Live Chat between O2 and my sister (whose new phone doesn’t work and who would rather have called them but gave up after 2 ½ hrs on hold…) … Continue reading have O2 made a call that rubbish customer service pays?
I have a fairly big bee in my bonnet about Customer Service. It’s such a crucial part of the brand experience and so often overlooked or a last minute consideration. Which is why I was so impressed by the Games Makers at London 2012, who were spot on. My hairdresser shares my interest in the … Continue reading instilling customer service that’s a cut above the rest
I’ve been lucky enough to eat out quite a bit recently – and unlucky enough to experience some pretty appalling service in the process. Last week (*cough* Piccolinos) it took ten minutes to get served at the bar, half an hour to be sat at our table and another twenty minutes to order. A few … Continue reading Project Management might be really about Customer Service
I did warn you I wasn’t a big fan of Mary Portas, so I suppose it was inevitable that I would end up muttering darkly at the TV this evening when the first episode of her new series Mary Portas: Secret Shopper aired. pic taken from interview here Mary has a new bee in her … Continue reading FYI Mary Portas: great customer service costs money
I’ve had a bit of a bad run with technology recently. In the last couple of months, the following have gone wrong on me: two mobiles, PC, laptop, 3G dongle thingy, TomTom satnav, Bluetooth dongle, printer and broadband. Trying to get all these technology issues resolved has been a real eye-opener around customer service and … Continue reading customer service vs. customer acquisition
Ten hours (so far). That’s how much time it’s taken me to get my mobile upgraded and (almost, kind of) working. I’ve been bounced around call centres like pass the parcel, I’ve spoken to people in three different countries, I’ve mediated internal arguments between departments and I’ve nearly lost the will to live. It shouldn’t … Continue reading Vodafone perhaps need to rethink their customer service function…
I changed opticians a couple of years ago – after a very minor eye problem that my high street opticians backed away from in horror and swiftly packed me off to the local eye hospital, I decided that I needed eyecare that was a little less commoditised. So my Dad referred me (as his mate had previously … Continue reading CERM is the way forward when marketing service industries
I came across this post from agency Sell!Sell! today, which basically says that agencies create unreasonable clients by consistently capitulating to unreasonable client demands. Which is all very well, but as an agency you have to be in a pretty strong position to consistently say No to clients – you need a cash flow that … Continue reading unreasonable clients? – well, they *are* the customer
It’s no coincidence that Cheers was the place ‘where everybody knows your name’ I think I can safely say that there aren’t many restaurants in the world that will go out of their way for me or that even know my name. In fact the only one is probably local Cantonese Zen Rendezvous. In fairness, … Continue reading the indys have it – friendly service is all about feeling special
With the news that BHS is set to close it’s final store on 20th August, I’ve been wondering who will be the next BHS – a business that dies because everyone knows their name, but no-one actually buys anything from them anymore. yep, this London branch was trading with signage from two rebrands ago I get the feeling that Marks & Spencer … Continue reading who will be the next BHS?
