The Customer View

Levels of Service

We recently moved into new office space, which required us to get some new equipment and new services.  New phones, new phone service, new Internet connections, new wireless router.  We had to set things up fairly quickly, so we could be ready to work on Monday morning.

I was having some problems with the wireless router.  So I called Linksys technical support for help.  I spoke with one rep, a pleasant chap who diagnosed my problem to the point where he realized that he was not equipped to solve my problem.  He then gave me another number to call, where my situation would be escalated.  No waiting in a queue, this call went directly to a senior tech rep, a pleasant young lady who had a number of possible resolutions to my problem.  Unfortunately, none of them worked, either.  But she assigned me a case number, and gave me yet another phone number, where my case would be further escalated.  Again, no waiting in a queue - the call was answered immediatey by an uber tech rep.  This guy, while perhaps not as pleasant as the previous reps, walked me through a couple of options, had me keying stuff into places in my computer where I had never dared to roam, and then waited while I tested the the wireless connection, and lo and behold, my problem was solved!  And when I said, "My friend, you have solved my problem and made my day!" he actually laughed a bit.

The customer in me was served well.  The customer service specialist in me learned something about handling calls and passing situations up the ladder with a clear purpose in mind.

                --- Chuck Dennis

How’s the view?

This post marks the launch of our blog, The Customer View, focused on the experiences customers have when connecting with your company’s marketing, sales and customer service activities. 

What we’ve learned from dual careers in marketing/sales and customer service is that the majority of companies’ customers experience frequent disconnects between what a company says in its marketing, what a company promises during the sale, and what a customer discovers when talking to customer service.  It is the unusual company that makes conscious operational decisions that enable total coordination of all three customer touch-points. But when you consider the dollars spent to resolve these disconnects on a daily basis – it’s clear that there is enormous upside.

So how’s the view from your customer’s eyes?

The focus of this blog will be to share ideas, experiences and issues that illustrate the right Customer View.  The key is simple in concept but difficult to make happen.  Why is this so hard?  Because the true customer view is defined by the customer and not by your company.  How many disconnects does the average customer experience as a result of a company’s assumptions about what they need?

If you like the view from here, check out our web site at www.knowledgence.com.  We'd love to know what you think.

   --- Chuck and Lisa Dennis