Customer service is a term that many companies use.  “Please call our customer service line at xxx.” The problem that I see is that a customer service department doesn’t always equate to customer service.  

A few days ago, I was on hold with a company for fourty minutes on their 877 phone line.  The conversation lasted about 45 seconds to tell me that the servers that I needed were unavailable and that they didn’t have an ETA in order to fix the problem. 

Here’s some ways that they could have improved on service:

• Change the IVR to reflect known problems — this is a really simply solution.  It increases abandon rates, but also increases customer satisfaction. The customer doesn’t wait 45 minutes to find out “Oh, our servers are down in that area”.
• Hire an additional agent — Unless the company usually has under a 15 minute hold time, hiring an additional agent may easily make fiscal sense.  I was thinking about this more last night.  Assume that an agent costs a company $20 per hour after full markup (salary, benefits, time off, administrative, etc).  Assume that the 800 number costs $0.20 per minute.  Assume that an agent can handle 30 calls per hour (1 call / 2 minutes).   One customer that waits on hold for an hour would cost your organization $12.  Two costs you $24. Three costs you $36.  For $36, one additional agent can easily help drop this wait time!    Take 30 calls per hour out of your system and you’ll be bound to save more than the $20 per hour that you’re paying the agent.
• Posted on their website — The main login section of the website was still up and running.  Going to the server resulted in a “We are having technical issues, please call our tech support line” message. Of course, the technical support line’s phone number wasn’t listed.  An ETA wasn’t listed.

The one thing that they did right, albeit the fact that the conversation with the agent only lasted a minute, was not place me on hold and transfer me to someone else.  This was not the case with the writer of the Big Picture Spectatular.  From his latest escapade with customer service:

At StubHub I dealt with Nick, Arthur, Christopher,  John Whelan (Vice President, Customer Service) and  a friendly female voice who put me on hold 3 times while she checked with her manager and the ticket seller about various things.

At CIBC Visa Aventura I dealt with Kulbir.

Simply having one contact do the work, regardless of how long it takes, helps significantly.  I’ve recently seen a paper (I can’t find it or remember which it was, sorry) that showed anything over two touches quickly causes a lowered level of customer satisfaction.

So.. things to think about — customer service is meant to be customer service. Keep it simple.