Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience: Phoning It In

Our thanks this month to guest blogger, Kathy Blumenstock. Kathy currently writes Animal Planet’s “The Mole” blog http://blogs.discovery.com/the_mole.  A career journalist, she has been a reporter and writer for The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, USA Today,  NBC News and Entertainment Tonight.  Kathy also contributes feature stories to Knitchmagazine.com and Knit ‘N Style magazine.

Reach out and touch someone: remember that ad campaign for what was once known universally as The Phone Company? Now if we want to reach out, we IM, we Tweet, we text, we leave a voicemail.  And at times all of those communiqués seem annoying, even intrusive, to the recipient. Is it any wonder we no longer anticipate a phone call with, well, anticipation? And how many times do you get Good News from a phone call anyway? But some savvy companies realize the power of the personal call—not one of those robotic taped ones from a politician or fundraiser. The Phone Call as a service device may be returning.

My car was the subject of a massive recall. Some part could possibly burst into flames, or fall off on a highway. The car maker would of course replace the defective part at no cost. All I had to do was take it to any dealership. Except every dealership I spoke to in a 40 mile radius refused to deal with me because I hadn’t bought the car there.  I wrote a heated email, backed up with an actual snail-mailed letter, to the manufacturer. I stopped short of saying “If my car bursts into flames, you’ll be sorry.”  Expecting a formula email or a postcard, I was stunned to receive two phone calls. One from the vice president of something, apologizing  for how the dealers had treated me. The other from customer service, offering to book an appointment at the most convenient dealership. They did—and after the car was fixed, they called again.  Just reaching out to stay in touch.

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