Archive for the ‘Work’ Category
What is “Legendary Customer Service,” anyway?
It's what I do
In part, it’s the ability for a team or a member to turn a stressful interaction with a pissed off customer into something positive, by exceeding expectations and responding appropriately. It’s also “having your ears on” and being tuned into social media; then acknowledging your customers’ feedback no matter what it may be.
Jared recently asked us for some first-hand accounts and examples of Legendary Customer Service. Here’s mine…
Although I’d rather have a root canal than call into AT&T Tech Support when I’m having connectivity problems, I’ve got to give credit where it’s due. My most recent interaction with them restored my faith in their level of commitment to Customer Satisfaction. Here’s the story… and of course, the tweets I posted while it was in progress 
One of my “Tweeps” had posted a link to his blog on August 11th, and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t get his site to load. Some other sites loaded just fine, while others, including Facebook, only loaded half the content (Facebook ads, unsurprisingly, remained unaffected). I did all the usual things any geek worth their salt would do to fix the issue: Hard boot the computer, power down the modem/router, and even wander into the dark and scary land of CMD to release and renew the IP address, flush the DNS cache, and try to determine if there’s a pipe or switch down somewhere. Nothing worked.
I got home from work the next day, and still had serious issues. With dread, I dialed Tech Support – and started tweeting… if for no other reason than to track the length of the torment I anticipated having to endure…
OK I’ve HAD IT with this half-assed connectivity. Time to make a phone call to Customer Service to say #ATTSUCKS! 7:03 PM Aug 12th via TweetDeck
I sat on hold for 20 minutes before I got a human being on the line. I was quite frustrated and rather impatient, but I did my best to explain the “symptoms” to the TSR and hurried things along by confirming that I’d done all the things he’d normally walk a customer through on a Level 1 Support call. Then I walked HIM through a few things to show him why I thought he ought to just escalate me along to Level 2.
I just taught the #att #techsupport rep how to use Tracert – hahaha 7:34 PM Aug 12th via TweetDeck
After nearly an hour, he finally transferred me… but he failed to mention that in order to get on the phone with a Level 2 TSR, I’d have to enter a credit card number. No way!
53 mins w/Level 1 #ATT Support, transferred to L2, a PAY service. Called L1 again, ask 4 supv, give me L2 for FREE. #wtf #overit 8:13 PM Aug 12th via TweetDeck
Once I got back on the phone with them, I calmly but firmly informed them that I didn’t need their pay-service Tech Support (basically, their remotely accessing my computer), that the problem wasn’t with MY computer, but THEIR network somewhere and I just needed someone to escalate my call to the proper people to address it. Apparently I was sufficiently persuasive, because I got one of those pay-for-play ConnecTECH guys on the phone without having to give anyone my credit card information. Finally, he saw with his own eyes that indeed this was a problem beyond the scope of Level 1 and transferred me up the chain.
Oh #vindication! ConnecTECH finally sees the problem (He can’t get to @Daniel_Florien‘s site either!), escalating to L2 Network Tech 8:58 PM Aug 12th via TweetDeck
After another 15 minutes on hold, Finally… Level 2! I admit, I’m a tough customer to deal with, but each of the people I dealt with during this process did their best to empathize with me. More importantly, they responded to my need to know exactly what they saw, where, and how it might be relevant to my particular issues. They kept me informed, which is the single most important thing to me when I’m asking for Customer Service.
Nice Southern Belle, Rebecca L2 Tech is checking problem connecting to unreasonablefaith.com Wonder what she thinks, haha #atheist 9:15 PM Aug 12th via TweetDeck
After investigating, pinging and doing several other tasks to see the issues for herself, the Level 2 TSR found and resolved the issue on their end, and walked me through the few steps necessary on my side to get everything up & running again. I was so happy I nearly cried.
Rebecca rebuilt the network. Finally, connectivity to all sites & content, but feeling anxiety like a mofo… ack! 9:46 PM Aug 12th via TweetDeck
Three hours is a LONG time to be on the “wrong end” of a Customer Service call, but in the end I was satisfied that AT&T’s Techs did everything I asked them to do while assuring me that my concerns mattered to them and they’d see it through to the end for me.
The following day I got a Direct Message on Twitter from one of AT&T’s reps, asking if there was any way she could help (the power of the #___SUCKS hashtag!). I DM’d her back that all was well, and I made a point to publicly laud them for what turned out to be Legendary Customer Service.
Big thanks to Rebecca for fixing my connectivity issues & to @ATTJulie for following up here on Twitter. Excellent #customerservice! Friday, August 13, 2010 4:43:28 PM via TweetDeck
If there’s one thing I think makes humans in general happy… it’s being acknowledged. AT&T’s TSRs recognized my particular issues as well as my level of emotional investment (frustration, impatience, distrust) in that call, and their service. It made all the difference in the world – and as a fellow human being, I recognize that a small acknowledgment of their taking such good care of their customers helps those TSRs be better at their jobs simply because it’s a nice boost to one’s morale to be recognized for a job well done.
Flyin’ High at Break Time
I work with a bunch of guys… most of whom are 15 or more years younger than I am. They like sports, music, women and TOYS!
mobileStorm is headquartered in a large, open space with high ceilings (think soundstage proportions). Since it’s a great place to fly remote control helicopters and hovercraft, we have a few around, and every now and then someone will pick up the controls and start flying one around. Consummate voyeur that I am, I carry my crappy little digital camera around everywhere and can capture some of the fun that goes on!
All legendary customer service and no play makes Rox a dull broad. So on a regular basis a light saber duel, the boss getting silly-stringed or a well-photoshopped prank posted to the Yammer wall provides a welcome belly-laugh and another memory that binds us as an organization. We’re StormTroopers, and this is how we roll… or fly… or somethin’ like that! 
Bloodied but not unblogged
So I’ve settled on a design I can live with for the moment, and am adding plugins & widgets as I go. The top right part of the header bores me, so I’m looking for a cool twitter widget, or maybe a random quote generator for up there.
I’ve still got the rather daunting task before me of sorting through the old blog’s export, getting rid of anything with broken links or that is otherwise irrelevant, making it digestible to WordPress and then (hopefully) integrating it all in one smooth pass. Heh. A girl can dream, right?
The video I took yesterday at Ronnie James Dio’s memorial is all captured & cut into the first round of clips, but after a few late nights and long days in the sun I’ve run out of steam to get them edited, encoded and uploaded today. I’m easily annoyed with this computer’s lack of power. It’s fine for browsing and whatnot, but working with video makes me want to cry. I miss my laptop… waaaah!
It would also help immensely if I’d stop getting sidetracked by all the good stuff that shows up in my Facebook and Twitter feeds, too! Maybe I need to stop having so many friends with interesting things to say (or argue about)…
Yep! I Took the Boss’ Challenge & Got a Logo Tattoo
mobileStorm CEO Offers Up Bonus to Brand Employees, Has First Taker
The unique offer stems from a trip Reitzin made over six years ago to Dublin, where he had the blue tornado portion of the company’s logo tattooed on his ankle in a show of pure dedication to the company he founded and built from the ground up, as well as to have a “permanent testament on my leg to (that) perseverance, persistence, and determination.” Though the employee bonus offer has been on the table for a while, there so far hadn’t been any takers, until now.
Yeah… that’d be ME I really do love my job at mobileStorm, and all the people I work with – both clients and colleagues – and “touching down” there has made it a fairly easy landing after the last few chaotic years. 2010 seems to be the year to start a whole new life!
Shout out to Dana at Studio City Tattoo for the fantastic work! Jared says it’s nicer than his (of course it is!), heh.