BrainFuel

Let’s discuss this phrase: “If you can’t do something well, don’t do it at all.” What say you? How does this apply to business? To life?

I’ve received emails from two people recently sending in their personal web sites. They’re both quite similar so without further ado here they are:

Mark Okon

Steffen Jahn

Here’s a new site from Plantronics that I liked. It is surprising how many companies these days are rushing to have space prizes. I wonder how the insurance companies deal with this. The only thing I don’t like about this site are all of the zig zag lines in the background and the interlaced horizontal lines. It’s distracting.

An empty road 15 minutes from central Scottsdale on the Indian Reservation.

What do you think of the Skype web site?

I personally really like it. It’s fun, bright colors, good navigation system (which is easy to read, easy to use), and overall they’re not afraid to do something different. You could call it personality. What do you think?

Arizona Sunset near Cave Creek, AZ (looking East).

What is it about some people that always think it’s going to be a problem and so they make it a problem?

Let me repeat that last part. There are certain people that make it a problem.

On support phone calls, or calls to customer service they demean the other person and act like they are stupid. They do it by the tone of their voice, by personal attacks on customer support people they don’t even know. Saying things like “you have a terrible business” or “can I talk to someone who knows what they are doing?”

And it always happens that they ask for the supervisor. How do I know all of this? Because I’ve had to listen to someone who does this all of the time with phone calls. I cannot stand it.

For some reason these people think it’s a clever way to get what they want faster. It’s not. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been able to call and get the answer I need quickly by simply being nice. Love your neighbor as yourself goes a long way.

I think most people who act like this don’t really think about it. They are this way for whatever reason.

Let me offer my simple tips for getting results when speaking with customer support people:

• Remember they’re people, too (so speak to them as such) and their job is to fix your problem. So they’re actually on your side. Sounds simple but a lot of people don’t act like they understand this.
• State clearly the solution you are asking for, and not the problem. For example, don’t say “You didn’t change my account information over correctly and I’m not paying these bills.” Instead, try this: “I need to get my account changed from A to B and here’s why.”
• Do whatever you can to keep the customer support person your friend. The moment you put them on the defensive you’ve lost.
• Don’t bring up past failure. What I mean is that if the last person you talked to didn’t get it done, don’t tell the next person that they failed. Simply state that you’re still trying to get whatever it is fixed and wanted to know the status.
• Realize no company is perfect and it never will be. Learn to navigate their customer support system and be patient.
• Use email. If you can’t keep your cool, try writing out the problem and resolution required and sending it first.

I know a lot of people will roll their eyes when they read this list. You go right ahead and do that. Maybe you’re the type that should ask a friend or family member to take care of support requests for you.

Thus ends probably the only post in recent times that didn’t have any humor.

What tips do you have for getting good customer service?

This site for AIGA is just awesome! I want to build sites like this. They’re so much fun to browse and the control over everything including video – excellent.