Here’s a perfect example of why companies should hire smart people who care.

Recently an AT&T customer was talking with their customer service service department. He started having symptoms of a heart attack and eventually passed out during the call. Rather than hang up (because the customer became non-responsive) the AT&T employee (Kelly Hart) knew something was wrong so she called 911.

The Mayor of San Francisco, Gavin Newsom, was looking for creative ways to provide customer service to his citizens without costing the city a lot of money. In a press conference, that was replayed on Youtube, he announced a new and innovative way for his citizens to communicate with the city’s government agencies through Twitter.

Recently we reported on the president of Brazil’s decree that companies operating in his country will meet certain standards in how they deal with customers. While I’m not a fan of increasing government regulation I like the idea of making customer service standards a big deal.

That’s what Tata Indicom has done. Even better, they’re telling their customers about it.

They have made five specific promises to their customers in these areas of service:

Okay, perhaps the better question is “Can you afford not to?”

Recently, J.D. Power and Associates reported that exceptional service satisfaction enhances automotive dealer and manufacturer profitability by improving customer retention even as sales decline.

I have one comment on their finding. “Duh!”

OK, seriously, they are absolutely correct. NO business can afford to NOT provide exceptional service 100 % of the time.

When talking with business owners and managers, the topic of cash incentives arises every now and then.  Some managers feel they’re the best way to get employees to deliver better customer service. Others disagree. But the question remains.

A recent article in Entrepreneur.com suggests money is not always the best way to motivate employees to better performance.

“…research shows it only works in the short term and other things keep employees happy and productive over the long run.”

Three Florida legislators have proposed a bill that would require restaurants to list calorie counts on their menus. While I know there are heated arguments on both sides of this issue, I like the idea.

In the last 24 hours, the ‘net has been abuzz with Google’s admission that their SEO is not as good as it could be.  Some see this as a sign that Google “ain’t all that”. Others see it as a reason to question the value of SEO. Regardless of what you make of Google’s SEO revelation, I see some lessons here for all of us.

1. Openness and honesty are cool. (And they make a difference.)

Signs of economic recovery are all around us. But we still hear employment is weak and lagging.  So, in the midst of mixed messages, what do we believe?

I’m no economist so I try to keep things simple. One thing I see is the growth in customer service related jobs seems to be increasing.

Recently, BusinessWeek rolled out their list of top companies ranked by customer service. There were a few yawns and one or two surprises. L.L.Bean, USAA and Apple claimed the podium with 1st, 2nd and 3rd places on the list. L.L.Bean impressed me by improving their score more than 10% over 2009. In what is generally considered to be a tough year for customer service, this is worth noting.

With the exception of web self-service, all business sectors dropped in multi-channel customer service, according to a new study released by eGain today. But even web self-service didn’t fare too well:

“All areas except web self-service declined in performance, with web self-service posting a slight increase for the overall market from 1.7 in 2009 to 1.9 in 2010, still “below average.”

Parature announced their 2010 webinar series on customer service:

The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence (PAST)
Date: January 20, 2010 – 2:00pm EST
Presenter: Robert Spector – Bestselling Author of The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence

Getting Your Worst Customers to Love You: True Tales from the Front Lines of Customer Support
Date: February 24, 2010 – 2:00pm EST
Presenter: Rich Gallagher – Bestselling Author and Communications Skills Expert

A lot of people think Toyota has a quality problem these days. But I would say their biggest problem is a customer service one.

Let’s look at the basics. Customer service is all about giving customers the right experience. Do this and they’ll remain loyal. Fail at this and they’ll leave you faster than you can say “cancel my order”.