Comments
Ariella
1/28/2017 6:27:07 PM
User Rank Author
Re: Experience
@faryl Certainly that feeds into it. but there's also the culture of the company itself. I know that AT&T trains its employees more carefully than that other telecom I've dealt with. Sometimes it sounds like they're just reading a script, but that's still better than having them arbitrarily decide to cancel your service when they feel like it because you are planning to end one contract after its expiration and begin another at the same company.
Michelle
1/28/2017 7:27:57 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
@faryl It's funny you mention that. I'm pretty sure this was AOL's retention strategy! They weren't a pay-tv provider, but cancelling was a lot of trouble (nearly impossible for some folks).
Ariella
1/29/2017 11:14:17 AM
User Rank Author
Re: Experience
@Michelle sounds like the way some gym memberships work. You commit to a year but then find out that they still require 30 days' notice or they would automatically renew and likely at a higher rate than you originally signed on for. If you need to terminate while in the middle of the year, there is absolutely no way out other than getting someone else to take over your memebership.
srufolo1
1/29/2017 6:05:01 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
@faryl I don't see what the point of a "contract" is anyway. The consumer very rarely knows when they begin and end, and neither does the provider inform them of sucn. I've never really thought about cancelling my cellphone services, even when calls kept dropping, etc ... because personally I didn't feel like dealing with another lame service.
elizabethv
1/30/2017 6:55:12 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
@faryl - "Too tough to cancel" is definitely a mindset. Which I am sure is at least a few companies purpose for making it so. Though I think a lot of places that were once difficult are getting easier, because of the bad "press" they've receiveid for being so. Which makes sense, why get into business with a company if you've heard getting away from them can be nothing shy of a massive hassle. It makes you at least hesitate in putting forth the commitment. Kind of like marriage, it isn't something you really should enter, without realizing that getting out of it is quite the ordeal. And then most people tend to do so with the idea that they won't ever be getting out of it.
elizabethv
1/30/2017 6:57:53 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
@dcawrey - as someone who has worked in that kind of environment (though at the time they would have flatly denied it) it can be tough. And I didn't have a matrix I had to keep up with to keep my job. I'm sure the turnover is pretty similar to that of Food Service, no one wants to be yelled at continually. Or forced to try to convince people to do something they don't want to do (not cancel when that was the purpose of the call) over and over and over. I know it starts to wear on you. But then a lot of jobs do.
elizabethv
1/30/2017 7:02:16 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
@Ariella - company culture is definitely key. I would imagine that's why Comcast has the problem they do. Never having worked there I can't swear to it, but I know the complaints of their customer service are loud and miles long. While I've never personally had a horrible experience with them, I've never actually had anything resembling great service either. I lost a lot of faith with Cox after I had my service accidently disconnected (it was supposed to have been the person next door, or so I was told) Then they tried to charge me for the days I was without service, on their error. So that caused a problem. And even my eventual leaving of the company. But you know company culture plays a huge role, because there are other, similar companies that don't have any where near the same issues. I know Zappo's had a great culture, and it was so great that other companies started asking the CEO what he was doing differently.
faryl
1/30/2017 7:39:31 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
I don't even like talking to my friends on the phone!
I think I'd get too distracted by the other representatives' conversations too.
JohnBarnes
1/30/2017 9:20:27 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
Joe,
I'd say more even than that; the paradigm of entertainment is of being able to switch off everything except the entertainment stream you are consuming. (We tend to forget that that's really only an idea that has developed in the last couple of centuries, as people became "entitled" to get the advertised entertainment (and only that) for the price of their ticket. (Past ages saw things differently; until almost 1800 it was common and not necessarily regarded as ill-mannered for people to converse at (unamplified, remember) concerts, heckle actors at plays, etc.).
So "customer experience" now includes "not experiencing anything else while you're experiencing the entertainment," and customer service means one way or another being as invisible as a perfect ninja waiter.
elizabethv
1/31/2017 3:36:06 PM
User Rank Platinum
Re: Experience
@faryl - I'm not a big phone fan either. Lol. And there were a few times where I was definitely distracted by other conversations. Particularly one of my very animated co-workers who tended to lose his cool a lot, and say things he probably shouldn't have. What amazes me is that he's actually still in the job, probably coming up on ten years now. And there's no telling how many customers he's offended.
|
|
Italy's 5G auction could exceed a government target of raising €2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) after attracting interest from companies outside the mobile market.
The emerging-markets operator is focusing on the humdrum business of connectivity and keeping quiet about some of its ill-fated 'digitalization' efforts.
Three UK has picked Huawei over existing radio access network suppliers Nokia and Samsung to build its 5G network.
Vendor says that it's its biggest 5G deal to date.
Verizon skates where the puck is going by waiting for standards-based 5G devices to launch its mobile service in 2019.
Orange has been one of the leading proponents of SDN and NFV. In this Telco Transformation radio show, Orange's John Isch provides some perspective on his company's NFV/SDN journey.
10/16/2017
Huawei Network Transformation Seminar
The adoption of virtualization technology and cloud architectures by telecom network operators is now well underway but there is still a long way to go before the transition to an era of Network Functions Cloudification (NFC) is complete.
The Small Cell Forum's CEO Sue Monahan says that small cells will be crucial for indoor 5G coverage, but challenges around business models, siting ...
People, strategy, a strong technology roadmap and new business processes are the key underpinnings of Telstra's digital transformation, COO Robyn ...
Eric Bozich, vice president of products and marketing at CenturyLink, talks about the challenges and opportunities of integrating Level 3 into ...
Epsilon's Mark Daley, director of digital strategy and business development, talks about digital transformation from a wholesale service provider ...
Bill Walker, CenturyLink's director of network architecture, shares his insights on why training isn't enough for IT employees and traditional ...
All Videos
|
On-the-Air Thursdays Digital Audio
Special Huawei Video
Tweet This