Yesterday while surfing the web I noticed it was very slow. So I did a little research and discovered the problem was with my service provider, Comcast.
So, the first thing I did was try to let Comcast know using their online services. I hate making phone calls to customer service of big companies because they usually take more time than doing it online.
I was amazed (but in a bad way) at how difficult it was to let Comcast know I was having service problems. I had to create a login for their website. Then I had to find the support area so I could leave a message. Then I had to find a form or some way to tell them about the problems.
Eventually I found a form and I entered the information they needed. I got no response, not even an email saying they received my plea for help. So I sat there wondering if my efforts had been for nothing.
Then an idea popped into my brain: Use Twitter.
I had heard about people who get customer service help through Twitter. And as a new Twitter user (now that I understand Twitter) it made sense.
And I had heard that Comcast routinely monitors Twitter for customer feedback. So I posted a note on Twitter. Or, to use the proper social media jargon, I “Tweeted” about it.
A quick search on Twitter also told me others were having Internet problems with Comcast. (That made me feel a little better.)
This morning when I fired up Twitter I was thrilled to see a note from Frank Eliason, of Comcast. He was following up on my Tweet from earlier.
However, it’s now mid-day and I have still not heard a peep from Comcast through their usual customer service channel.
As a company, nothing is more important than connecting with your customers. Do that well and they’ll reward you with loyalty. Foul it up and you’ll have a revolving door of customers.
Comcast gets part of this right. Their Twitter channel is awesome. It’s fast, easy and convenient – if you happen to be on Twitter regularly. But if you’re not, then good luck. Because their other customer service channels are not, in my experience as responsive. And this will hurt Comcast if they don’t fix it.
You want loyal customers? Then make sure you offer them easy, convenient and fast ways to connect with you.
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Kevin,
I wrote about this earlier this week in my blog as well. The problem is not as much that they do a bad job online (or a good job in twitter, or either way in any channel), the problem is the lack of consistency. This leads to a fairly big gap in customer appreciation for their efforts, and thus lower scores for satisfaction. Worse part is that the company (and this applies to all companies, not comcast per se) will then merge the scores to show a growth in customer satisfaction, loyalty or whatever single-metric they track for their bonuses and congratulate themselves – when in reality nothing has changed, they just found a loophole in the system.
Best way is to do what I tell my customers, forever now, which is to use all channels equally or not use them at all. If you are doing a sub-par job in any channel, fix it before you add another one. You will actually get better benefits that way.
Anyways, that is my 2 dinars.
Esteban