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From ConnectITnews Perhaps you've noticed that customers are becoming increasingly hostile. Case in point was the highly publicized incident where a patron in a fast food restaurant became so enraged that he attacked the restaurant manager. The customer spilled his coffee on his breakfast and when the manager refused to replace the meal, the ensuing argument led to violence that ended with the customer being arrested. It seems in our fast-paced frenetic world customers are now more tired, rushed, stressed, and downright fed-up.

Sam Parker shows "a line of 4 people waiting for my bank to open (more were in their cars). I took the picture at 9:02 am – two minutes after they were supposed to open. "The fact is... this line happens frequently at this particular bank. It starts with people sitting in their cars about 10 minutes before the bank is supposed to open and then with about 5 minutes to go, it changes to a line of standing people. "Why wouldn't they just open the door and start helping people? Why wouldn't they Smile & Move or be 212 ? Why wouldn't the leader (with a title or not) encourage a little more effort and attention? "Here's my suggestion... "We open our doors (actual and metaphorical) a minimum of 10 minutes before our established opening time and close them a minimum of 10 minutes later than our established closing time. Then we remind ourselves and our colleagues to get over ourselves and let our customers in and not push our customers out.

From blogger LisaF So how do you select which com­pany to sup­port with your money? Usu­ally it’s the one with the lowest price at our house. But what hap­pens when all pricing is equal? What tips the scales and get the nod? More HERE .

Social Media Makes Lousy Customer Service a Very Costly Proposition

Marketing, sales and customer service don’t share information, according to Economist Intelligence Unit surveys . A series of surveys across six industries— financial services, technology, telecommunications, utilities, consumer goods and retail —reveals that most companies still fall short when trying to deliver value consistently in all the functions that interact with customers. In other words, cautionary tales.

There are only a few things that a company can do that will upset me. For example, I become agitated when a company is over-charging for products or services that I know should be priced more reasonably. That's annoying. But I have to say that there is nothing more annoying or troublesome than bad customer service. Earlier today I was working on a rather complex demographic question that included six variables, more variables than our resources at the Research Network could compare. I spoke to an industry publisher who redirected me to two companies that might be able to help. I called each company with the reasonable expectation that I would be able to determine if they could help or not. Company number one, which will remain nameless, had an automated system answer. After eight minutes of being on the phone (with a disconnect from their end at one point), I was unable to determine if the company offered what I was looking for. After eight minutes, I was never offered the option o

You may have come across articles celebrating this very old-school business as an example of extreme customer service success. Dabbawallas are tiffin-meal delivery men in India and have a remarkable success rate for accurate delivery of hot meals. Now, the business journals are looking at this human-driven, personalized service model with interest. The cult of the dabbawala The Economist Management trends Jul 10th 2008 From The Economist print edition Business-school gurus take lessons from an unexpected source The Dabbawalla's Secret Seth Godin's Blog Dabbawalla Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Today's New York Times features the article "At Netflix, Victory for Voices Over Keystrokes" . It discusses how the online movie rental business is trying a new tack (actually, they're returning to an old tack) vis a vis customer service: the telephone. The company has de-emphasized its email address on its website, and has heightened the presence of a toll-free number that is available 24/7. In addition, the call center is located just outside of Portland, OR, and not in India or Singapore. I find this interesting on a few levels. Netflix believes, in the face of increased competition from Blockbuster's new online service, that they should promote the actual voices of friendly customer service reps as a distinguishing characteristic not found at Blockbuster. This kind of emphasis is something that the business literature has recommended to small businesses in the face of big-box competition, but Netflix still is the market leader in this industry. So - does locat