Telstra – a prime example of what NOT to do in Customer Service

Telstra – a prime example of what NOT to do in Customer Service:

I pay my bills on time. All the time. I paid my last Telstra bill on time too. I owed about 140 bucks. I paid and got a receipt.

A week later I got a message telling me my account is overdue. Weird but I confirmed online and it said it was paid but also outstanding but the total was at zero. Double weird.

Got a new notice in the mail telling me my account will be suspended. Suspended? Wow…never been suspended before. Certainly doesn’t sound good at all. I better call Telstra.

I call Telstra and ask them what’s wrong. The customer service agent tells me nothing is overdue but my next bill is coming and I need to pay it. I ask why my account is still telling me it’s overdue and she says it is not. Clearly she is not listening to me. For you who don’t know me I’m pretty calm and I speak clearly. Anyway I ask again why my account tells me it is overdue because clearly it’s an error and I would like to have this fixed. She tells me it’s not overdue. Again… she is not listening to what I am saying.

I ask again and this time I explain it in detail so even a monkey would understand; but she replies it’s not overdue. But after 5 seconds of silence and I can hear her thinking and she says; “We are currently having technical issues online”.

Ok, fair enough but I have had this issue for about 2 weeks. To this she replies: “Oh yes! We have had this particular issue for exactly 2 weeks.”

I thank her and wish her a good day and hang up. Wow... I told the story to my team mate and he shook his head and laughed.

How to improve the customer experience to blow people's minds!

Is this the best Telstra can offer in terms of customer service? Not only do I have to wait for 17min on the phone and I’m already upset to wait and get to speak with such a smart person that truly understood me?

It’s too bad. I like Telstras mobile service but I dread every time I have a problem. Read this post about how to effectively improve customer service and make it fun and easy for people to call in about their problems. It’s so easy to fix so there is no excuse really.

Until Next Time – Stay hot. Stay Tuned.
Chris Bjorklund

Are you frustrating your customers or making them feel special?

I was on the phone the other day to my insurance company and I got really frustrated about their service. While I was "on hold" I scribbled down these notes to blog about.

This is actually something I have been thinking about for quite some time so this was the drop in the bucket so to skeak. Time to blog about it! :)

If you can save your customer’s time when doing business with you it can be gold worth. In fact, the easier and the more time you save for your customers, the happier they will be. They will go out of their way to do business with you again and again and again. Plus they'll tell their friends how fantastic you are. Your best customers are your best advertisers right?

Question is; are you frustrating your customers or making them feel special?

1) Remember their order
Instead of asking the same question over and over again, save their preferences so that you remember what they wanted last time. Not only does it save time it allows you to be personal and friendly with your customers. Last it gives them an incentive to order from you again.

2) Don't put them on hold
I hate being put on hold. Imagine if you call your insurance company and you are placed on hold for 20 minutes. How does that make you feel? I bet most people say “very frustrated”. So why frustrate your customers when they are already upset if they are calling about a problem? Show respect and offer to call them back when their place in the queue is next. It also gives the customers a chance to cool down before you speak with them.

3) Save their preferences
Make your customers feel special. Go beyond remembering what color, size and quantity they ordered. Remember the small details that makes a person feel special. For example, how they like their coffee? For a hotel you should remember if the guest wanted 1 or 4 pillows. Soft or Extra soft. Keep a spreadsheet or if you can afford, have a CRM tool that allows everyone to know the little details about customers that makes them feel special.

Summary...
By making customers feel fantastic about your service all at the same you make the shopping experience faster and easier will make people want to do business with you. They want to tell their friends about how fantastic you are. This process might take a while to perfect so I recommend you start by making small steps every week and ensuring your staff knows what you are trying to do.

Until Next Time – Stay Hot – Stay Cool – Stay Smart!

Christoffer Bjorklund
Really Hot Marketing Ideas that Actually Work!