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The cheap-chic store, Target, has whacked the proverbial bees’ nest by disrespecting a blogger who complained about one of the chain store’s ads, and that has the rest of the blogosphere (present company excepted) in a tizzy. The NYT, a traditional media outlet, was able to get Target’s spokesperson to comment in this article, “Target Tells a Blogger to Go Away.”
Early this month, the blog’s founder, Amy Jussel, called Target, complaining about a new advertising campaign that depicted a woman splayed across a big target pattern — the retailer’s emblem — with the bull’s-eye at her crotch.
OK, I’ve read Marshall McLuhan so I understand the impact that subconscious messages in images can have, so call me insensitive if you must, but I think this is a good example of hyper-sensitivity to complain about this.
Wired Magazine piles on with a pithy little piece *cleverly* titled, “Why Things Suck: Customer Service.” Terribly original, isn’t it? Looks like they spent at least 5 minutes researching their facts on the Internet (probably relied on Wikipedia) and marshalling their robust logical arguments, too. Good thing they’re not entering a high school debate, or they might get their clocks cleaned.
Nonetheless, it’s another black eye from the media. It will get picked up and spread all around, until the dubious “facts” it cites are taken for granted. Sure feels good to be sucker-punched again, doesn’t it? call center management
eMarketer released a story today, “US Internet Users Are Glued to Video,” with statistics showing that more than 70% of “adult US Internet users surveyed had viewed online video content.”
It’s not just the kids, either. More than half of those 65 and older have watched videos online, too. Media is really changing, and fast.
An art prank by a Czech collective has highlighted an old Czech tradition of tomfoolery that is a particular matter of national cultural pride.
Quite an interesting story in the NYT: “That Mushroom Cloud? They’re Just Svejking Around.” It brings to mind my prankster days in high school, when I published (anonymously) a fake version of the school’s “Daily Bulletin” in which I lampooned the administration, teachers and fellow students who deserved it (IMHO). I had a small group of co-conspirators, and we snuck into the school very early, ran the fake bulletin off on the same mimeograph machine (remember the smell of mimeograph sheets? Ah, one of the pleasures today’s youth have missed!) used for the real one, and ran around sliding it under classroom doors before people arrived.
It looked just like the real one, so it caused some confusion, but all you had to do was read a few lines to realize it was a joke. No one ever caught me, and this is the first time I have admitted it publicly. So, Headmaster MacColl and the rest of the Moorestown Friends School faculty in the early 1980′s, if you’re reading this, now you know who your satirist was (if you had not already guessed, or even remember that). I still have copies of those fake bulletins in my files someplace.
Back to the point of the article about Czech pranksters — it fascinates me that an entire country would have a “tradition” of tolerating pranks. The article explains how that has come about, and how the case in point caused nary a concern among the public at large. Here’s what they did: Read the rest of this entry »
Fast Company is a fun magazine to read, and always thought-provoking. Their blog entries are worth checking out, too, as you might expect. Here’s an entry that’s pertinent to all of us in the customer service space: Customer, Serve Us
Even though one of the links in the blog goes back to an article from 2001, in many ways the content is timeless, and I recommend you read it (that one is long, I warn you, but worth the time).
There is a huge challenge ahead of us to overcome the negative perceptions of call centers that are rampant in the popular press. Unfortunately, this is not just a public relations issue. There are real problems that need to be addressed, and until the pickings get slimmer, call centers will continue to be ripe for bad press coverage, year after year. call center management
It’s hard to find good news in the press about call centers. But I did read a glowing report in the New York Times about a call center providing terrific service. It’s Crutchfield, catalog and online sellers of audio and video gear, and the coverage was in David Pogue’s newsletter/blog on technology.
Pogue’s account lines up perfectly with what we all should know by now: when you provide great customer service, people spread the word and more business flows to you. No less than 25 people wrote in to Pogue to suggest Crutchfield as the place to turn for a car stereo. And when he took their suggestion, he was blown away by the customer service experience they provided, too. Since he happens to be a NYT columnist, Crutchfield just reaped a wonderful public relations windfall.
Except it’s not really a “windfall,” because they earned their just rewards by providing consistently outstanding customer service year after year. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s a column in Business 2.0 titled, “A Penny Saved, A Customer Spurned” dated Feb. 24, 2006. It’s an opinion piece about the perils of call center outsourcing, and it makes the case that outsourcing frontline customer service is not a good idea. Agree or disagree, but the controversy isn’t going away.
The debate about outsourcing pros and cons has been covered widely (and not always accurately) by the media for a long time now. It’s good fodder, since it has emotion-laden elements, and it’s long-running because it’s complex, without a clear and simple conclusion to be drawn.
But underlying the outsourcing debate is the same perception that we face frequently in the popular press: that most customer service delivered by call centers is not what customers want it to be. Although that’s a “perception issue” and none of us can control “the media,” it really does came back to each of us, who in our own little ways have a say in this. Every little bit adds up. What each one of us does to drive positive and improved customer experiences with the call centers we work with counts. Customers out there are keeping score, and right now we’re losing, but there’s still time to mount a comeback, one caller at a time. call center management
Here’s some brighter news, for a change: this New York Times article describes positive changes taking place in customer service in the travel industry: “A New Emphasis on Customer Service” (12/18/2005). (You may be prompted to register on the NYT website to view the article, but registration is free.)
Here’s an excerpt:
Travelocity’s new program encompasses, perhaps, the most far-reaching changes. Like Expedia and Orbitz, it has spiffed up its technology and empowered agents to solve problems. But it also offers a human touch, with more than 1,000 customer service representatives available by phone and e-mail 24 hours a day. Before the initiative, call center employees were rewarded by how quickly they processed a call. Under the new program, they are graded by the number of problems that are successfully resolved. And there are no shortage of problems – whether it’s a room with a lousy view or a cruise ship cabin under a disco – that Travelocity pledges to help its customers with.
Positive stories in the mainstream press are rather rare for the call center industry, so I wanted to make sure to share this one. call center management
The cheap-chic store, Target, has whacked the proverbial bees’ nest by disrespecting a blogger who complained about one of the chain store’s ads, and that has the rest of the blogosphere (present company excepted) in a tizzy. The NYT, a traditional media outlet, was able to get Target’s spokesperson to comment in this article, “Target Tells a Blogger to Go Away.”
Wired Magazine piles on with a pithy little piece *cleverly* titled, “
call center management 
