I recently got of the phone with AT&T “customer care”. It was an unusually frustrating experience, even by the standard of dealing with a multi-billion dollar corporation which has roots as a regulated utility. I had been transferred among 6 different departments over the period of a couple of days. As I write this, I’ve […]
The Return of Customer Service?
Bad Customer Service is one of my hot buttons and what I feel is an undervalued area for many consumer and B2B tech company CEOs. As a result it’s not considered a “core” area of the business and receives far too little attention from senior management. I’ve said in the past that not only is […]
A Case Study in Bad Customer Service
In my opinion, the quality of a company’s customer service is BY FAR the most important ingredient of the numerous factors that go into a company brand reputation. Unfortunately, there are too many companies–even of the large, successful variety–that just don’t get it. I wrote previously about “The End of Customer Service“. Driven by cost […]
Trade Shows for Software & Technology Firms – Do They Still Make Sense?
Let’s talk about what for a lot of folks is a marketing method from a bygone era: The Trade show, or Trade Fair as they’re referred to in most places outside of the US. At one point in time, Trade Shows were a staple in most every tech company’s marketing budget–shows like Comdex, PC Expo, […]
The End of Customer Service
No one answers the telephone anymore. What does this signal about the importance of customer service? At least, technology companies in the US surely don’t answer the phone. With big companies, you are either presented with an endless phone tree–“press 1 for a company directory”–or the newest innovation in communications technology: the cheerful “automated voice […]
