Trade-off: No Frills, No Thrills

On my recent vacation I had cause to use Ryanair for the first time ever. Here was an opportunity to be impressed. Now one may think that you pay for what you get with a low cost airline such as Ryanair, but really...has it come to this? I did not expect the frills and the pomp and ceremony, but I did not expect what I got either. The check-in process was terrifyingly bad, long and torturous, and then of course, how can we forget on the in-flight antics. For the entire 2 hour flight, Ryanair hawked Ryanair related products and specials and while I recognise they have to make a buck somewhere, should it really be to the detriment of passengers? It was unbearable. It was non-stop promotion and if you were on the brink of a meltdown, this would have sent you over the edge.

I think the opportunity is there to stand out not just for less expensive fares, but also for great service and great value for money. I also think that while Ryanair's profits may be soaring and they are doing well financially, the total lack of frills experience may not be able to sustain them forever. Customers loyalty is not born out of financial competitiveness, but it also comes from a deeper emotional place, where the individual can articulate his or her experience with a brand into loyalty and ultimately consumerism. I would probably use Ryanair again, for the cost benefits, in a peak period. But I don't foresee myself becoming a Ryanair groupie. How then will the Ryanair brand grow without that deep emotional, experiential connection between itself and its customers? My experiential connection is certainly not a good one.

And let's face facts, if and when the economic environment improves, would customers be willing to put up with no-frills service to save a couple dollars, if there were other options available? Would you? And would airlines such as Ryanair be in a position, where they have cemented their brand in the no-frills niche, to up the ante in terms of their customer service without a substantial economic impact on the company or on customers' pockets, which have grown accustomed to lower than normal fares?

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A PR girl's morning rant about Subway

Haven't we discussed the importance of customer service to a brand? Have we not said that it can be the unique selling point in the sea of marketing and PR "propoganda"?

Sigh.

Subway.

I could not cook lunch last night and the rains usually come down in a gush just around lunchtime everyday, so I knew that getting lunch would be an ordeal. This being said, I went to the nearest Subway to get a salad. Let me just say right now, I hate Subway. Their service is atrocious. The sub is clearly for substandard and if anywhere else was open at 6.30, without me having to get back into my car and lose my parking spot. I would have been there.Their winning points are that they open early and they sell lunch items during the breakfast session, so I could get my salad, put it in the fridge and save myself from starvation at noon, when it is sure to be pouring and flooding. But oh, Subway...how you annoy me. It's my own fault but I can still rant about it.

1. It never ceases to amaze me that the Subway lines are not only long, but slow moving. Busy people buy breakfast and I have never seen an empty Subway. So one would think that between 6.30 - 9.00, which is a heavy traffic time, one would load up on the staff behind the counter. One would think!

2. If your sandwich artist only started today, is it wise to put her on the assembly line during rush hour? I don't want her learning the ropes when I am trying to get back to my desk before 8am. Put her on the cash register or on the toaster. Girlfriend was clueless and painfully slow.

3. And this is where it directly affects me. If you're selling salads, shouldn't you have salad dressings? And worse yet, if you know you DON'T have salad dressing, shouldn't you tell the customers ordering the salads that you don't have any BEFORE they order, so they can then decide whether they will take the salad anyway?

I...do not eat salad without some kinda salad dressing!!! I am not a huge fan of salads but give me a little bit of dressing and I will eat it willingly. So imagine my vexation, after 20 mins of standing waiting for the salad, having her put the wrong stuff on it, and then when I ask for my dressing, she rolls her eyes at me and tells me there is none. I don't think I needed to be asking for my dressing. You should have been asking me or advising me that there was none. She looked at me. I looked at her.

(crickets)

I was not a pleased customer. But it was too early in the morning for me to do the "disgruntled customer thing", so I then asked the cashier whether they were getting any dressings later in the day. She tells me "Hopefully". So, trying to help them out now, because I am annoyed beyond, but really trying to hold it in, and I tell her, if the weather holds, I would just take the short walk back to get my dressing. I thought I was being generous!

This was the answer:

"Well...hmmm....ummmm...yeah.... you could try that, but that is if anyone remembers you"

(crickets)

The response should have been

"Miss, I am so so so sorry for the inconvenience and if you wish to collect a pack of dressing later, I will put it aside for you. Let me put a note on your receipt so even if I am not at the counter, someone would be able to assist you. Again, so sorry for the inconvenience. Is there any dressing you prefer?"

Oh no...I have to HOPE someone remembers me. Thanks Subway. Thanks. And you want me to come back right? The sad thing is, I honestly don't think they care if I come back or not. They don't look at it as a lost customer, a bad reputation. It's just another miserable customer they got rid of. Super job, Subway!


I will be back tomorrow with regular posting.

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Real Case: Perils of Small Business BEING Online

Now we all understand the importance of customer service and the importance of customer service training for staff. Customer service is usually one of the tenets of a strong brand and it has the power to set the brand apart from its competitors. I have had my fair share of excellent customer service and horrendous customer service here in Trinidad and Tobago. One bad example was when a waitress used the F-bomb to vent her frustration when SHE messed up my friend's order and she felt she needed to tell me I was F-ing confused. I did not bother to order anything after that. I did go to the manager and tell him about the encounter and his response, or lack thereof was alarming to say the least. In fact I think he was drunk.

Now yesterday I shared my opinion on why small businesses should be online. But while we do create a website or a Page or a Twitter channel, we cannot forget that how we interact with our online communities also constitues as customer service. Social media channels such as company Twitter pages and Facebook Pages allow brands to not only promote their brand, but they also use it as a conduit to deliver assistance to their customers.

In larger organisations, the communications and promotion either lies with a marketing or communications team or individual as the case may be, who usually have the skills to properly manage feedback and concerns. In the small business scenario, this is not always the case and it may be the owner or an employee. Here is an example of a social media admin gone wrong.

While service browsing recently, I came upon a Facebook Page for one fitness provider, where the customers were miffed about an unexpected and immediate price increase for membership. This was the first response from "management". I am posting it as I found it.

well we didnt even no until the day it was raised, but come on its only by $50.00 come on. its still a good rate and plus all d classes r for free, where else u gettin dat?...please, ok. where u gettin dat? yes we shld of let eveyone know in advance...but it has been done already

Shock does not begin to explain it. Of course subsequent customer responses were not conciliatory. The second response, from the second admin was:

I understand your dismay with the sudden change of membership rates. I apologise for this.  We take note of your suggestion for more notification and will bear this in mind for future operational/organizational changes that will affect our members. The rates for the first quarter were an introductory rate as is customary for all new goods and services in a developed and competitive market. However, you will notice that with the increase in rates, we have also increased the number and availabilty of classes, the increase in the floor space as well as the continuing increase of equipment and machinery. So while you may not benefit from class participation, there is and will be more and a wider variety of equiment available for your use. Again I do apologise for any issues that may have arose due the change of rates, but we do hope you continue to support (company name)

1. Customer service goes beyond frontline staff. It applies to everyone, in every department, across all functions and via all media, be it in a physical setting or virtually. Clearly the second response was a more measured and professional response, balancing the apology for the price increase with the benefits which the increase brought with it. I can appreciate that response more than the combative, not to mention, linguistically challenged reply up top. The danger they faced was that customers could have taken this poor customer service to the masses with the click of a mouse.

2. I am becoming more and more convinced that some organisations still view social media as "something else we can do" and not as a real, and powerful marketing tool. I swear, between this and some of the other local social media sites I have observed, it's almost as if they just asked the office boy if he had a Facebook acocunt and told him run with it. Social media just cannot be taken for granted and if you're going to be using it for your small business, then don't short change yourself.

• Learn about the tools.
• Invest in training your staff to use them effetcively and in a way that builds, not destroys your brand
• Value the tools and what they can do for your business.

It is vital to hire, train, and monitor customer service employees. Each must understand what the brand is about, why their interactions with consumers are important, and what is expected of them - Augie Ray

And if your brand is now on the social media path, the same applies and is more important than ever!

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Unmasking the Faceless Consumer: The Importance of Relationship Marketing

I take my car to be serviced at the same place every 10,000km, not because they're cheap, because they are not. I go there because of the relationship and the after sales service. Last year, when my radiator did embarassing things on the highway, not only could I call my service company after hours, but they saved me the expense of double towing and sent a guy to my house after work the next day to replace my radiator. To say this was excellent and convenient would be an understatement. And as a woman, who is on the road a lot, the safety and reliability of my vehicle are doubly important, so this type of personal service is a bonus to me.

Sadly, not a lot of organisations understand that there is a person behind the dollar bills which come with a sale. They take your money, and send you on your way with a sense of longing and undone-ness. It's little things like follow up calls, after sales service, seasonal greeting cards which can make or break the relationship your customer chooses to have with your brand. I was pleasantly surprised to go to my bank one year on my birthday and have the teller wish me a happy birthday and give me a cute, albeit generic branded card. But it was the thought and the consideration that set her apart from her sour-faced counterpart in another bank and kept me loyal.

Now you also have  social media, which in its essence is about getting to know people, how brands use it to manage relationships is an issue which can also set one brand apart from the next.

A lot of brands are using social media to drive sales and let's face it, this is the world we live in. We are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to raise our brand's profile and increase consumer behaviour, and social media has been a catalyst in many instances for doing so.

Yesterday I discussed the social media contest and how it has been used by one brand to build its following. The following which it has now been able to create is now a great pool from which to draw out the eager consumer and this is great for the brand. How they now manage these thousands and thousands of people and engage them will be the second part of their social media story.  I don't want to just be one of the thousands, and yes, it may be a challenge to engage everyone, but this is why you embarked on a social media strategy isn't it? And you should now have the resources to properly manage these relationships, if in fact you are eager to form them.

Yes, we constantly hear ROI ROI ROI,  and we translate this in numerical terms - sales, number of customers, etc, but what about MY investment of my trust and my purchasing power in your brand? Where does my Return on Investment manifest itself? Just in your product? I am more likely to stay true to one brand because of the interactions I have had, or the service which they provide. It's the reason I choose one airline over another, or one telecoms provider, or one restaurant. We all want to feel appreciated and special in some small way and not just as a walking wallet. And be it via a follow up call to see if I am pleased with your product, or a DM or email to help me manage my customer issue, how we treat with the faces behind the cash register is important in building the brand and customer loyalty.

It seems almost trite typing it here but in my experience, especially here, it is like rocket science to some people.

How are you building relationships online and offline?

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Pedalling CSR to the masses

I heard about a great initiative this morning. The Crowne Plaza in Denmark is giving guests the chance to cycle their way to a free meal. The hotel has installed "two exercise bicycles hooked up to generators, so that when people start pedaling, they can produce some electrcity."

"Anyone producing 10 watt hours of electricity or more for the hotel will be given a locally produced complimentary meal encouraging guests to not only get fit but also reduce their carbon footprint and save electricity and money"

This is one of the most interesting initiatives I have heard about in a long time and I think it's great. Great innovation in corporate social responsibility. Not only can guests be encouraged to get fit, but it also directly links them and their actions to green issues and actively involves them in environmentally responsible activities. Though there are quite a few hotels which have green initiatives, how many of their guests actually support these? For example, show of hands, now:  Do you read the cards behind your bathroom door about the hotel's recycle/re-use policy when it comes to towels? How many of you actually know that a towel on the rack means you plan to use it again, and a towel on the floor or in the tub means that you would like fresh towels?

But, on the flip side,  how many of you actually take the time to hang your towel, and then the housekeeper changes it anyway? I cannot tell you how many times I have hung my towel up, with plans to use it again, and come back to my room and there are fresh towels waiting for me. I mean, sure we love fresh towels, but I don't change my towels at home after one use, and clearly there is no understanding or buy-in of the policy from staff.

And some people take vacation to the max. It's almost as though they go on vacation and their "green-ness", if they had any in the first place, goes on vacation too. Guests go out and leave the hotel room like a virtual disco ball, with all the lights on, the tv or radio on.

I like the innovation of this new green initiative. In the interview, the spokesperson for the hotel mentioned that the actual energy generated from the cycling does not really cover the cost of the meal, so the hotel in effect is not saving any money. But the impact it leaves is invaluable. I mean, it's fantastic for the hotel's CSR brand and shows they are willing to go the extra mile to do their part in reducing their carbon footprint. It also gives them something unique and creative to market, and for green-minded guests, it's a great selling proposition. It serves as an opportunity to sensitise guests to environmental issues. Guests can understand how much human energy it takes to power up a light bulb, or how their indifference can affect not only operations costs, but the environment. And the initiative gives these guests the chance to make a tangible contribution to conservation, totally independent of hotel staff who may not support or who may have no clue as to policies and initiatives (shame on you, housekeeping!)

I would probably be one of those who would take a go on the "power" bikes (once I am properly padded cause biking is not fun on the bum), because I usually try to work out on vacation anyway, and I know someone is going to take my towel against my wishes. The free meal is really to me, a bonus. So good job, Crowne Plaza!

What's the best green initiative you have come across on your business or pleasure hotel stays?

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Friday Peeves: When a Drop Box Trumps Technology

I received a letter from a government authority last week. They were updating their records and wanted me to review my info and make any updates where necessary.

Here is where I had some issues. My "account" so to speak was created online, using their online platform. I updated it at the end of January 2010. Shouldn't your system show that I updated my info? Why are you sending me this letter?

Okay, so clearly I had no changes to the document they sent me. But they did not indicate whether I still had to send the form back. The letter states if you have changes, then send back updates, but what if you didn't? What happens then?

And more annoying than anything else is the fact that in this day and age, they want me to walk to their office and drop the form in a box in person. Now while I enjoy a good stroll,

1. I am very busy
2. Have you all been experiencing the same heat I have been experiencing? If I do decide I want to make this infernal walk, it would be at noon, on my lunchbreak, when the sun is dancing high in the sky! Are you serious?
3. The walk is not some leisurely stroll either. It's a good long trod!
4. And saving the best for last - what's wrong with email????

Okay, forgetting the fact that the records are all on their system somewhere because some people applied online, why can't we update the form, scan it and email it to a designated email account?

Or if we really try to be accomodating, why can't we FAX it to a designated number??? Why in 2010, must I walk all the way there, to not even be given face to face customer service, but to drop the form IN A BOX!???

Seriously???

Wow. It's sadder that this came from a Communications Department. If it came from a department that maybe does not know better I would not be so gobsmacked but c'mon, man. How is this good customer service?

And as we talk about technology and the lack of adapting to same, I think when a certain newspaper launched its new design earlier this week, a lot of people were unhappy with it. I had no real opinion on the design itself but I would have thought that with a new look, there would have been new additions. In its previous manifestation, the articles had an Email this Article link, and a Print This Article link. But no Share This Article link. So if I wanted to share a really great article with my Facebook friends for example, I would have to copy and paste the link myself. How is this progressive, and for a media house?? C'mon. So with the new design, I was baffled to see that there was still no social bookmarking links in an age of social media and mass sharing, mass retweeting etc. And to add insult to injury, the email and print options were casualties of the new design as well.

So this morning I go to see if anyone has been monitoring the socialmediasphere and gauging customer feedback, thus making some changes to the look and feel. Not only were there zero changes, but there was also this. I mean as if the grief was not enough. You do see what I am talking about though?

Have a great day, friends.

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Podcasting Adventures

This is a test, and not an earnest podcast. It has been a day.

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PR people have peeves too

Leaving an empty roll on the TP rolly thing is a peeve as well.

So it's Friday, or as we would say today here in Port of Spain, "the day after Beyonce". Now the world does not revolve around Miss B. In fact, the world has been revolving around my desk but sitting at your desk all day is unhealthy. My peeves today then are:

• Isn't it something that individuals - customers, clients, what have you,  can lash you, prattle about their grouses, but when you go to their assistance and their issues are resolved, there is silence, almost as if you were WRONG to help them. How odd. I mean, the aim is not to get public kudos but to hear some of the rants and then the sudden case of tongue-tied-itis is amazing. Some of them are negative, it seems, just to be negative and to fuel a fan base of negativity suckers. As a customer of many places myself, I understand customer grouses and appreciate when a customer has an issue, but sometimes I sense that some people just enjoy being difficult. I could be wrong, but hey. Counting to 10 is an essential skill in people relations. One run the risks of being snarky if you don't take a moment. People tend to forget we are all human and not autobots.

• I also don't appreciate when organisations place "Contact Us" links with an e-form where you can leave a question and then guess what? Noone gets back to you. Then what's the point of the e-form? My boss went through 24 e-form questions on Monday and responded to every single one of them. I go through FB and Twitter every day and respond to people's concerns, so it's not impossible. I used a contact form 3 weeks ago and have yet to receive a response or even an acknowledgement. So clearly the form is window dressing! I called today, since clearly, noone is interested in my e-form question. Then noone answers for 38 minutes, and it reminds me why I used the form in the first place.

• I hate spam. I especially hate FB spam. I am part of a few groups on FB, some professional groups, and God help me, they are spam artists! How many times does one need to send a message about an event in one week? While I am happy for the reminders and updates, there must be a better way to engage me without being annoying. As the admin on both personally and professionally created groups, I am always mindful of being THAT girl...who spams others. Note to marketers - amateur or otherwise - spam is not sexy and what you may think is super important or interesting, may not be to your audience. Please be cognisant of what you send and how often you send it, because if it is not urgent, then it becomes a bit of a nuisance. If you send me an email that starts with "Last Chance to..." over 5 times in a 3 day period, then clearly, it is not my last chance.

So, what are your peeves?

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Red Carpet Customer Service and PR

Yes, it is Carnival Tuesday and yes, I am at home, in my jammies, blogging. I did not anticipate I would be on the blog, but minus that I would not have had this day any other way.

So though I have been offline from the world of news and important stuff, I had some time off from vegging last night to catch up on news and came upon the Southwest Airlines/Kevin Smith situation. Talk about drama. I was not on the plane and cannot say whether the situation was handled badly or not, nor determine whether the airline was really in the wrong. But someone asked me whether the LUV airline  would have responded so quickly to Kevin Jones, from Nowhere, USA or Nowhere, Trinidad.

I think the fact that they are even using social media should signal that they are actively trying to monitor customer experiences, for better or worse, and proactively address them. The fact that Kevin Smith is a celebrity, with over a million followers on Twitter and the fact that his rants were relentless (he tweeted from beginning to end, and after, and also did an entire podcast on the event...I mean really!)  just made the situation a PR nightmare for Southwest. One look at their Twitter page and these guys are busy keeping on top of the tweets in which they are mentioned.

Customers also need to remember that often there is only so much a PR person can do in the blink of an eye. When an incident unfolds, in an area far removed physically from the team, or out of their sphere of expertise, ultimately any good PR person would need to first get the facts, find out exactly what has transpired from the relevant sources within the company and otherwise, all before giving the disgruntled, often impatient customer some feedback. In my own role as professional tweeter, I often do not have all the answers and have to either forward a request to the relevant persons or do some research in order to ensure accuracy of information being given to a customer. Depending on the nature of the request, I cannot always guarantee an answer within 30 mins, or an hour, but I let the customer know that I am working on it and he/she usually gets a response.

BUT the key is to always let the customer know that you're listening and that each and every piece of feedback, for better or worse, is important to you. Communications is not just about talking and getting defensive, but allowing the channel to be interactive and giving the customer not only a voice but more importantly the opportunity to be heard. I have called customers, or dropped them an email, while I wait for an answer to their issue to let them know their feedback is truly important and is being actioned so they do not think it's pointless sending a DM, a tweet, or leaving a comment. It does not matter whether the customer is a housewife watching soaps or a CEO. It has to be equal opportunity day, everyday, with customer service, customer feedback and followup.

The fact that Kevin Smith's tirade would surely have been a catalyst for swift(er) action from the Luv folks. I don't look at it as responding to him any faster because he is a celebrity, but responding to him to manage a very volatile situation - one that quickly had the attention of millions and millions of people, many of them Luv customers. You want to minimise the damage done to your brand as much as possible and the truth is noone knows about Kevin Jones. Does it mean he is not being attended to? No. It means you're probably just not hearing about it. Maybe his 103 followers know about it, including the spammers, but that may be as far as it goes. His audience and his sphere of influence may just not be wide enough to make the news or "make the web" in this case. It's natural for the louder voice to get a bit more attention, and ultimately because he is louder, he would also be more visible and inevitably a greater risk to your brand.

Just wanted to say though, Luv's "Not so Silent Bob" post - the title alone makes me cringe cause it immediately, in my mind, makes the "victim", the bad guy. I did not feel the title, Luv, and this was before I even read the post. It really does not suggest any empathy with the passenger and almost mocks him. I would have taken it the wrong way if I were Mr Smith. The other entry is much more conciliatory and even-keeled and clearly underlines the point that though we are humans and get snarky, we should really take a moment, count to 10, have a cookie or a glass of Pinot, and not act in the heat of the moment. The Not So Silent Bob reference was snarky, to say the least. Bad idea.

Anyway...

I am not a Luv customer but I have used social media to raise concerns about the airlines I do use and always have gotten a response. Same goes for the other companies I follow using social media. They are out there trying to keep the communications channels open and if they're not, you better believe they find out the hard way. Would Kevin Jones have gotten a phone call from a Southwest VP? I am not sure. I do not know enough about the company's culture to say yay or nay, but I have no doubt Kevin Jones, in an age where negative comments can circulate with a single (re)tweet, blog post, or status update, would have gotten some type of response. If not, then that company would need to immediately review its social media "strategy", if you dare call it that.

Back to vegging.

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When your brand ambassadors don't know...

I have been sick with a bad cold for the past few days and yesterday was the worst, with my head feeling like a hot air balloon just about ready to over-inflate and burst. And after the suggestions of a few colleagues, recognising that my self medication tricks were not working, I went to a pharmacy to get the much recommended Theraflu. Now though I have never used the product, somewhere in the ether I knew they had hot drinks as part of the product line. Noone had told me exactly what to buy, but I knew I wanted one of those hot drinks. So I approach the counter - walking germbot that I was - and asked the girl (I dunno if she was a pharmacist or not) whether they had Theraflu. She said they did and picked up a box of Theraflu caplets. So I told her I wanted the hot drink instead. Ay caramba!

- Hot drink?
- You know, the hot teas with all the yummy healing stuff.
-No. They don't make that. (pushes the caplets towards me)
-You sure? (eyeing the caplets annoyingly)
-Yes. They only make the caplets. You want it?

I think my nasal congestion had by this time gotten the best of me, so I decided to not argue, since I was not 100% sure anyway, but to just take the caplets, go home, medicate and knock myself out.

But you know I could not just go home and take the caplets, but I immediately went online to the Theraflu site and there was a very useful and snazzy "Theraflu Treatment Selector" where the sick and dying like myself could go find the right product for their symptoms. Guess what I found?

I mean, I am sorry but I don't care if you're running a corner shop or a multinational organisation, you really should have a fair idea of what you're peddling. And this is just a small example. I have gone into large organisations, with huge marketing budgets, which promote products and services to customers, often successfully. Then you go in, meet someone on the frontline who cannot give you a clear understanding of what the product is, how it differs from what is on the market.

Now, in the case of the pharmacy girl, she is not selling HER product per se. She is a third party provider for Theraflu, so I will give her a small bligh. Maybe not. She is representing her pharmacy and representing its brand as my dependable, knowledgeable neighbourhood drug store. I simply cannot forgive a customer service representative who does not know enough about his/her company's product to make me, the customer, want to buy it or support the brand.

Investing, up front in employees, so they understand the company, its products and services, its history and culture and how all these and more tie in to the brand, is probably one of the most important parts of employee management. An uninformed employee can cost a company sales and reputation. How am I to believe what you are selling, if you clearly don't know and thus don't believe in it? The efforts of the marketing and comms team in getting persons to talk about what you're offering and seek you out for more information can all be for nothing if basic understanding and participation are absent not only on the frontline, but throughout the organisation. Every employee becomes a product advocate and brand ambassador from the time they sign that dotted line. Leaving that responsibility to chance is suicidal for any organisation.
So what can you do?

• Fresh meat preparation: New employee orientation sessions should include product and sales training
   
• Ever heard of the Lunch 'n' Learn? Oh gosh, how many of these have I been to? Some people come just for the lunch, but if your presentation is engaging, interactive and informative, they leave with much more, and you end up with much more - an informed and excited ambassador. Not recommended for training on a new product or new employees, but it can be a good "tune up" session and a refreshing change from sitting in stuffy conference room with a dull PowerPoint presentation
   
• Specific interval training - Be it for frontline staff, supervisors, managers, continuous training on your company and its product are essential, especially since any good product undergoes periodic reviews and revisions to meet the ever changing needs of the customer
   
• Regular communcations on company and product development - And though intranets and newsletters are fun, when it comes to customer service and product knowledge, managers should be the first contact for information, Q&A, etc. Face to face discussion can help clear up misconceptions which you do not wish to communicate to a customer, reinforce knowledge, gain an understanding of what customers are asking/customer FAQs.
• Role playing. Great for testing out what the employee knows and how he/she reacts to any given situation with any type of customer - from the very savvy, to the very green, from the calm and patient, to the irate. Can be a great team building session as well.

And when you're informed, your communications skills are stronger cause you can speak confidently and with conviction and meet customers' objections and questions head-on. Ummms and maybe's don't quite work in persuading cynical customers to support your product. And not only should employees know about what you're selling but also what your competitors are selling. You better believe when I go to buy anything, I know what the other guy is offering and I ask a lot of questions and if you cannot convince me that yours is better because you simply don't know about what else is out there - bye bye.

I am not sure my corner pharmacy has a training plan set out for its staff, cause I only saw 2 people in there, but a little product knowledge is recommended for the future, cause had I been 100% sure the hot teas existed in that brand, and was dead set on getting it, I would have left and nursed my cold elsewhere and lost confidence in that pharmacy as well. I mean, if you do not know about a simple hot tea for a cold, what else don't you know about more serious drugs??? I have a serious problem with this!

And special thanks to Theraflu - I feel human again!

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Friday Kudos

It's not every day we can talk about positive customer service experiences especially in the public sector, but I thought I should do so today.

So last night I was sitting watching the news and saw the Water and Sewerage Authority peeps making the rounds in neighbourhoods to enforce their water conservation programme in light of an apparent water shortage in the country. I thought to myself, wow...there is a job I would not like to have- walking around villages and towns to tell people to turn their hoses off and give them a $100 ticket, risking abuse and worse. But in any event, in typical Trini fashion, they have started off "hot and sweaty" with the thing.

As I was leaving my house this morning, I found the flow of water in the drain to be heavier than usual and as I drove up the street, there it was - a burst water main. I, being a good citizen (yes, I am) decided I would call the Authority and make a complaint, since you cannot be pushing water conservation on citizens, and telling me to shower in 3 minutes, while you have water leaking out of your mains across the country.

I got to their website and looked up the Hotline info and saw that the hotline was available from 6am - 10pm. Grumble grumble, cause I had very little confidence that anyone was actually going to be there to take my call at 6am. This is a public service authority and sadly, having worked in the public service, I know that customer service is not always the best, nor do employees respect time. Dial. 6.04am.

*ring ring* Generic message with American voice (please address this, WASA) comes on and tells me service attendants are all busy and asked me to be patient

Me: I wonder if this is a mamaguy to make people think they have all these calls, when in truth, the call centre is empty and will be empty until 8am.

But I am a positive thinker and I waited. Besides, it was toll free.

Two minutes later, at 6.06am, to my complete astonishment, a pleasant young lady took my call. I must say, I was surprised. I gave her the relevant information and she took mine. Very pleasant, very thorough. And at 6.06am - as communicated via their website. No mamaguy. Talk backed up by action. I loved it. With that tiny assurance, they have built my confidence in them just a little, and I can appreciate the effort made to ensure that they are doing what they are saying they will do. At least with the hotline.

Fifty percent down. The real test will come when I call home later this morning to see if anyone came to fix the burst main. But still, kudos WASA for getting the first part right.

EDIT: Just to be clear, this was the SOUTH office hotline. The North office rang and rang. You cannot win them all!

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