Customer Service Frustrations

A little background, I suppose, before I delve into my online frustrations. I graduated from high school in 1997, after which I planned to take a year off and then travel to Three River's Michigan to join a monastery. About eight months into my year off, I was struck rather suddenly by a feeling that if Michigan would be in my future, I needed to postpone and I started looking for a job. It didn't take long before I was contacted and eventually hired by USWest Communications. I spent five and a half years working for them, through their merger with QWest, before I opted to leave to go manage a movie theater. Since then, with the exception of almost a few months after I moved to Missoula, all of my adult employment has been in customer service. Sure, I have had my giggles at the First World Problems my customers have experienced, but in every transaction I have I genuinely want to help them get what they want within whatever confines I might have. And I expect the same when I get customer service at other location.

An important aspect of customer service for me is the words we choose to use. There are definitely times in face-to-face or over-the-phone customer service where I have stuck my foot in my mouth, but these don't happen terribly often. In written correspondences, I expect the person to take the time to consider the words they are using and at least consider how they sound. Read them out loud if needed, and try different tones, since writing lacks that part. Does it sound snarky or condescending (in a non-productive manner)? Additionally, does it sound friendly and professional?

I am currently in a business deal with an online printer. It wasn't the one I originally wanted to work with, but my husband assured me that this one was better-- he had previously worked as a graphic artist for this company and highly recommended them. He assured me they had quick turn around times for projects and were quite easy to work with. He took care of the logistics and placing the order. They quoted a 5 day turn around, printing it on my work order. He submitted the order and the image file on February 29th. They promptly sent me a confirmation email with the work order attached and links to their website to view the status of the work order at any time. On March 1st, they sent me a link to proof my job and did so a couple of hours after they sent it.

Generally when I work with businesses, I assume that any time frames given should be considered business days. Both my husband and I figured their quote of 5 day turn around meant that it would be here by today (a week after submitting it). I click the "check status" link from my first email and find the status as "Proof Approved" and had been in this status since March 1st. I email them to check to see what the potential hold up might be. The email I sent sounded concerned and asked the sales rep assigned to my order to check to see why it appeared to be stuck at one spot and what was preventing it from getting delivered within their promised turn around time. Her email read as follows:

     "Hello William,

     Our online system does not continually update the location. We did receive your approval on 3/1 and your order is in progress and will ship on Wednesday.

     Thank you"

Having worked in customer service and with plenty of different companies online, I don't necessary need it to continually update. However, it is expected that if the company provides a "Click here to check the status of your order" that the company has some way to keeping the status updated, usually as they move from one stage to another. Additionally, there was no indication of why I was quoted a 5 day turn around when there is no way that a ship date of Wednesday works within that time frame. When I sent a followup email to get more information about the 5 day turn around, I was sent a response that simply said that the sales rep was incorrect and they expect delivery of product on Wednesday. Does this mean that the project will be finished and sent today? No indication.

This series of transactions is frustrating to me as it doesn't really seem like the sales rep is familiar with how to provide digital customer service. This is something I could expect if the bulk of their work was done as face-to-face transaction. However, this particular company is primarily an online print center, similar to VistaPrint but run here in Montana. This means that her primary means of contact with her customers is going to be online, which makes her emails the primary point of customer service and satisfaction.

Especially as we move towards a more global and digital market place, the power of text is that much more important. You can't tell what the customer service representative's tone sounds like or see their body language. This is critical, as we have cognitive systems that have been culturally adapted to combine tone and body language with words to provide the full context of meaning. In fact, a good chunk of our communication is tied to these two modes and digital communication eliminates them completely.

The question then becomes, "Can we map tone into our digital communications?" My answer would be an emphatic "Yes!" And we can do it in some of the same ways that we do it through phone. Now, I will admit that as a customer, I strongly dislike overly friendly vocal tones. They simply do not sound realistic, which makes me aggravated. Additionally, if your apology sounds scripted it doesn't come across as genuine and also leads me to distrust most of what happens during the transaction. My approach over the phone is to sound as much like myself as possible. I talk with people nearly every day and I am aware that I my tone can sound gruff at times. Especially now that customers are able to give direct feedback on their experiences, I have found that if I sound "overly peppy" they respond negatively, just like I do. But, when I use my regular voice, even if at times it sounds snarky or crass, customers react more positively than if I am bubbly and happy.

How does all of this relate to emails? It means that you want to stick with an every day tone through the words you choose. You want to avoid pre-scripted emails that are copy and paste as well. And you want to match your customer a bit. If I took the time to send an email with a few different questions, make sure to spend an equal amount of time on your response. It makes it feel less like my email was a waste of your time. So, an example response to my initial email could be:

     "Hello William,

      Thank you for contacting me this morning. It seems like this print order is a top priority for you and I want to make sure you get the business cards in a timely manner too. I apologize that your order status hasn't updated since 3/1. I checked in with our graphics team and it looks like everything is on time for them to be boxed and shipped today and we expect them to arrive at your shipping location on Wednesday. Feel free to reply if you have any additional questions about this order or if you have any further printing needs we can help with.

    (Representative's Name)"

This type of reply sends the message that this work order matters to you and also recognizes that this might be the one and only communication we have. It addresses the overall tone of my email, which was clearly broadcasting that the turn around time is really important to me. Instead of making me feel foolish for thinking that as the order progresses from stage to stage the status would update, there is an apology. This recognizes that most other companies that have an online status update it frequently so that customer's do not need to contact the company to find out what the status is. It shows an action that the sales rep took. Even if "I check with our graphics team" means "I looked up your order in our work order system and it shows X, Y, or Z" it demonstrates that you invested time in my concern, which validates me. Additionally, this email provides the followup actions that will take place today, reassures that the work order is on time, and provides an estimated arrival time for me. By closing out with an invitation for additional communication this way, the email is also soliciting future business. This is key, as it plants the seed in my mind that I may want to do future print jobs with this company. One other pet peeve of mine for email transactions are email signatures. They are a great way to provide name, address, phone number, etc. However, if you use them, make sure that they are in the same font that you use for the rest of the email.

While the email may have taken a few more minutes to write than the one I originally received, it prevented the sales person from having to read a second email from me, "sounded" more friendly and engaging, while anticipating that I may want to turn to this company for future work orders as well. There are going to be those who may say that people should not read too much into an email and that nearly any text communication can be read in a negative way. This may well be true, but people should be aware that each email is an advertisement for yourself, your business, and your brand. Cultivate it in your transactions with your customers and you are likely to build a reputation that will ensure your success.