Study: Americans want Federal customer service to be a priority

Businesswire.com reports that the results of the “Uncle Sam at Your Service: 2010 Federal Customer Experience Study,” which examined American citizens’ expectations and perceptions of U.S. Federal agencies’ customer service. Whether through Federal student aid, tax processing, disaster relief, or even airport security – U.S. Federal agencies offer services to 307 million Americans every day.

Here are a few highlights from the report:

According to the study, Americans currently grade private sector customer service experiences higher than service received from Federal agencies. The study reveals that Americans want the Federal government to improve customer service, and many are willing to pay for the upgrade:

* 83% of Americans say that customer service is something that Federal agencies can improve
* 42% of Americans say they would pay an additional $10 in taxes each year for better government service – $552.3 million more in taxes annually

Also,

Americans want problems solved quickly, clearly, and with courtesy. Currently, private companies outrank Federal agencies in these categories; however, some agencies are taking great strides to improve service. Despite some improvements, agencies must focus on expanding Web presence and moving more services online:

* 85% of Americans want Federal agencies to provide more information and make more services available online
* 63% of Americans who interact with agencies over the Web are satisfied with their experiences

For more information, visit the original article here.

Just Announced: VP of In-Flight Customer Experience at JetBlue Speaking at NACCM 2010

Vicky Stennes
Vice President, In-Flight Customer Experience,
JetBlue Airways

How did the friendly skies get so unfriendly?

We all heard about the recent stories involving the JetBlue flight attendant and the outpouring of empathy toward his actions. As usual, JetBlue was very quick to address the situation- which is what customers have come to expect from the company, which was ranked 'Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among Low-Cost Carriers in North America' by J.D. Power and Associates just two months ago.

In light of this incident, we are pleased to announce the newest speaker addition to the NACCM 2010 agenda, Vicky Stennes, Vice President, In-Flight Customer Experience, JetBlue Airways.

JetBlue obviously invests in their customers- Now is the time to invest in yours. It all starts at NACCM.

Need some extra ammunition for getting approval? We're here for you. There are reasons people come back to NACCM each year for all their customer focused needs...

Access to the 2009 Executive Summary
Gain access to the 2009 Executive Summaries from NACCM, Customer UNinterrupted and Linkage Strategies. Opt-in here with your contact information and we'll provide you with the key learnings from 2009 that you can present to management.

Validating the Value
Consider these AVERAGE costs (and consider these departmental budgets an alternative place to fund your conference investment). NACCM is actually a great cost saver. See the average costs below and then you do the math. NACCM provides incredible business value for a fraction of the spend.

• Acquiring a new client costs between $500 and $5000, depending on business type and product
Click here for more information on the special Loyalty & Social CRM Summit, dedicated entirely to helping you KEEP your exiting customers (with a special focus on the new ways they want to be communicated with online).

• Average Research Project: $10,000
NACCM unveils the latest research and showcases it through case studies on how to apply these findings for business REULTS.

• Visiting Three Clients: $4,500
NACCM has become the recognized meeting place for the key players in specific segments to come together year after year.

• Executive Master's of Business Administration Programs can range from $45,000 to $100,000
NACCM provides PRACTICAL executive education by focusing on real stories from true business leaders who have tackled issues head-on. Featuring over 70 sessions in just 3 days. PLUS - don't miss a special training from the Disney Institute. View the full agenda here.

• Benchmark Report: $3,500. Cross-Company Benchmark Project: $60,000 - $100,000
NACCM is renowned for bringing together diversity...benchmark yourself across various criteria alongside competitors and industry leaders. View the cross-industry speaking roster.

• Product Failure: $100,000
NACCM is the leading platform for sharing what works and what doesn't. Learn from the failures and successes of others and save yourself, your team and your company resources, time and tears. Click here for more on keynote Joey Fitts' presentation on "Drive Business Performance: How Leaders Enable a Culture of Intelligent Execution".

We hope to see you in Orlando this October.









NACCM 2010 - October 25-27, 2020 - Orlando, FL

Target Expands Electronics Support

Mediapost.com reports that Minneapolis-based retailer, Target is set to expand it's customer service electronics support. Consumers can call 1-877-myTGTtech, a free product support hotline for all Target electronics purchases, staffed with customer service reps who can help with troubleshooting, tech support, warranties, and compatibility questions. Target has also expanded its plans for its Target Mobile centers, a partnership it recently announced with Radio Shack that will put kiosks stocked with cell phones and accessories in 850 stores by year's end.

What do you think of Target's increase in the electronics support space? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

Learn more: Target Beefs Up Electronics Support

Complimentary Webinar: CCOs Reveal Their Secret Killer Customer Strategies for Long-Term Profitability

Companies often sacrifice customers on the altar of short-term revenue and profit. Yet in competitive situations where your company’s advantages in product and price are not clearly evident, customer satisfaction and loyalty become the ultimate differentiators that give you the winning edge.

So how do you ensure customers remain the most valuable asset, carefully nurtured and developed for long-term profits? A growing number of companies are appointing a Chief Customer Officer (CCO) as a catalyst in becoming truly customer-centric to significantly improve revenue, profit, and competitive advantage.

Date: September 16, 2010
Time: 2-3PM EST

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/593492816

The speaker, Curtis N. Bingham, is the leading authority on CCOs, having worked with more than 70 CCOs over the last decade. Curtis shares some of the most profound strategies and tactics that these elite CCOs have used to attract, retain and grow profitable, long-term customer relationships also create a powerful competitive advantage for their organizations.

Lessons shared include:

• Winning executive support for loyalty initiatives
• Creating an unstoppable customer culture—so you aren’t the only customer advocate
• Letting data tell you which customers to keep happy, and which ones to let go
• Giving more to customers counter intuitively generates MORE revenue

Learn directly from experienced CCOs how you can drive both near- and long-term revenue -- without sacrificing customer loyalty. This is hands-on customer-centric insight you cannot gain anywhere else. Each of these lessons is of profound value and is responsible for millions of dollars in profits at some of the world’s leading companies.

About the speaker:
Curtis N. Bingham is widely recognized as the authority on Chief Customer Officers, and was the first to promote the CCO role as catalyst for customer centricity. Curtis is the Founder & Executive Director of the Chief Customer Officer Council™, the first peer-led advisory group for CCOs.

During the last decade Curtis has worked with more than 60 CCOs, and with the help of CCO Council members, he has created the “CCO Roadmap,” a groundbreaking work containing more than 100 prioritized, critical strategies essential for the success of customer-centric initiatives.

Curtis is a sought-after speaker and the author of the forthcoming book, “The Authoritative Guide to Customer Strategy: Lessons Learned from Renowned Chief Customer Officers,” which describes how the CCO can create a consistent and unified customer strategy to grow revenue, profit, and loyalty.

Could Community Managers be the key to excellent customer service?

A Community Manager is one that motivates, educates and connects with your audience online. These individuals must possess stellar communication skills and they must be properly educated on your company's service or product. So how does the community manager differ from a customer relationship manager or a marketing manager? Many companies are asking the same question. Customerthink.com writes,that if you want to ensure that your customer experience extends beyond the store to the conversation online, then hiring a community manager (or team) to manage your online customer experience should be a priority for any organization.

How does your organization use community managers in your customer outreach?

Learn more: Fire Your Marketing Manager & Hire A Community Manager

Let us know on Twitter @customerworld

Need to improve customer service? Stop talking and start Tweeting

Virgin Media Business customers who need to contact customer service now enjoy, on average, a 61 second response time. According to Martin Hofschroer, Virgin Media Business discovered that customer service levels differed greatly between banks as the quickest bank answered one call in just seven seconds while the slowest took five minutes and 33 seconds to reply to a call.

Research by the Institute of Customer Service revealed that almost a tenth of British people expect a business to have a presence on Twitter.

Do you see Twitter to be of value to you and your customer service team?

Learn more: Tweeting Rather than Talking Can Improve Customer Service

Five ways social media is impacting customer service

We ran across a blog post over at CallCentrehelper.com that outlines five innovative ways that social media is impacting the customer service world. Guy Tweedale is Senior Vice President, European Operations of Jacada writes:

1. It levels the playing field
2. Makes consumers more informed
3. Far less frustrated consumers
4. Authenticity in customer experience
5. Customer service is (finally) a higher priority in the boardroom

We've seen in case studies how one customer who "tweets" their complaint can impact the entire image of an organization. How is your company using social media to not only connect with customers but ensure that customer experience is stellar both off and online?

Verizon Asks Less of Their Customers and More from Their Technology

Join Judith K. Ferrell, Group Manager, Verizon Online Support & Customer Service, for her presentation, "The Art of Personalization in Online Support: Verizon Asks Less of Their Customers and More from Their Technology" at Customer UNinterrupted at 2:20pm on Monday, October 25th.

Learn how to improve your customer’s self-service experience through personalization. Take the work away from your customers and make technology do the work for you! Know who your customer is and provide support that is specific to their products and services. We know a lot about our customers - let’s use this
knowledge to simplify their self-service experience and raise customer satisfaction.

• Learn the steps to achieve personalization in support
• Learn the tools used for personalized self-service
• Learn how to create a seamless customer experience
• Learn how to measure your success

We hope to see you in Orlando!

Save $300! Register for Customer UNinterrputed by Friday, August 13!

Register by this Friday to Save $300 on Linkage Strategies 2010

This Friday is your last chance to reserve your place and save $300 off Linkage Strategies 2010.

What's new for 2010? A 3-part, structured agenda to help you understand what matters most to your customers AND to your bottom line:

* Holistic VoC Integration: Capture and Integrate Data Across Disparate Sources
* Linkage Strategies: Connect Customer Data to Business Process Data
* Action Planning: Implement Actions that Improve Customer Experience and Business Results

For 2010 we are pleased to bring you 3 of the leading minds in linkage strategies and analytics.

For the full agenda and details on how to save $300 off the standard registration rates, please visit: www.iirusa.com/linkage.

Drive Business Performance: How Leaders Enable a Culture of Intelligent Execution

- Joey Fitts, Author, DRIVE BUSINESS PERFORMANCE: ENABLING A CULTURE OF INTELLIGENT EXECUTION

Learn about the competitive advantage experienced by organizations that create and manage a "Culture of Performance". Click here for more...


Earning Customer Loyalty and Bottom-Line Results through an Enterprise-Wide, Integrated Customer Relationship Strategy

- Tom Collinger, MEDILL SCHOOL AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

Today, earning loyalty takes an enterprise-wide, integrated strategy. Is your organization set up to earn it? Click here for more...


Lego Creates a Holistic Platform to Capture Cross-Channel Data and Deliver Improved Customer Insights at Granular and Global Levels

- Margaret Conley, LEGO GROUP AND LEGO SYSTEM A/S

Discover the value of real-time data in saving at-risk consumers and increasing NPS. Click here for more...


Great News!

Linkage is now part of Customer World. The co-location of 3 unique customer-centric events. Customize your experience and attend 1, 2 or all 3... it's YOUR World!

Customer UNinterrupted * NACCM * Linkage Strategies 2010

We hope to see you in Orlando this October.

Need customer service? Head to the laundry room.

In a move that would make Rosie, the Jetson's robot maid proud, your washer and dryer will be able to speak directly to customer service. ApplianceMagazine.com writes that to send information, the customer holds the phone mouthpiece over the appliance power button and press a button on the appliance to send the diagnostic data. Each tone corresponds with a specific potential maintenance need and can be identified by trained service technicians over the phone, allowing them to evaluate the information and provide feedback based on the data that was received.

Will we see an increase in appliances that speak to customer service?

PetSmart Turns Customer Feedback into Actionable Results

Join Michelle Wildman, Director, Customer Engagement & Operational Excellence, PetSmart for her presentation, "When We Listen to Customers, We All Win: PetSmart Turns Customer Feedback into Actionable Insights" on October 26th at 11:40am. This presentation is part of Track 3: "The Customer is Always Right" at NACCM 2010.

About the presentation:

In order to truly drive your business and compete on more than just price and convenience, it's critical to understand what your customer expects (and is not getting), how your company can differentiate itself and what that means through every touch point with your brand. If you master this, your customer will reward you. Learn how PetSmart gathers customer data and turns that information into actionable insights that lead business decisions. From the branding you see on television to the in-store experience and the tailored offers and communication customers receive through our loyalty program, the most important person we consider is the customer. If she's happy and her pet is happy, then we're really happy.

Learn more about the presentations at NACCM 2010.

Should all companies that have customer support issues be on Twitter?

ConversationAgent.com researched larger companies that are using Twitter for customer service and relationship management. Blogger Valeria Maltoni writes that during the vetting process she looked at three distinct factors:

1. answering customer questions in real time -- in other words, they have the support of the organization to be problem solvers, and not just to point to policies and disclaimers
2. thinking about customers first -- which means, navigating the line between company rules and customer needs with skill. It will come as a shocker to many of you, putting a "customers first" tagline is a tiny step if you don't walk the talk
3. orienting customers on what the account is about -- often you can tell the level of thoughtfulness from the bio alone

The top companies using Twitter include: JetBlue, SouthWestAir, Comcastcares with nine more making the cut. We encourage you to read the post for more information.

But interestingly, Maltoni asks if its even important for customer support to be on Twitter? Can traditional customer support survive with the influx of social media? Maltoni asks if the data and understanding of the customers on Twitter actually help the organizations understand the customers that aren't on Twitter. Do you think that data would stand?

Spirit Airlines wants to charge for customer service

Todd Wright of NBC Miami reports that the same airline that has announced a $45 charge to bring luggage on a flight is at it again. The airline, in an effort to give customers the " absolute lowest possible base fare" has announced that it will begin charging customers for customer service. Unlike a few banks that charge for live customer support via phone, this charge would occur if a customer asks for help from a customer service representative at the airport. According to a Spirit representative, "This is all part of Spirit’s business model to offer customers the absolute lowest possible base fare and then give customers the purchasing power to choose what they do and don’t want to add on," Spirit released in a statement. "Although we won’t be charging to use the bathroom, because this is a necessity to getting from point A to point B, we are always reviewing a variety of possibilities that would allow us to lower fares by unbundling options from the base fare that are not necessary."

Should customers be charged for customer service simply to get a lower price? We'd like to hear your thoughts.

NACCM 2010 Speaker Spotlight: Joshua Karpf, PepsiCo

Joshua Karpf is Head of Digital and Social Media at PepsiCo, a $40 billion global beverage and snacks company with a portfolio of iconic brands including Pepsi, Frito-Lay, Gatorade and Quaker Oats. In his role, he helps develops programs that leverage digital media to communicate with online and offline constituencies, build connections and deliver on company objectives. He also leads educational efforts in this area around the company. Prior to joining PepsiCo Josh spent six years at the General Electric Company in social media, marketing communications, employee communications and public relations.

Join Joshua for his presentation, "Building Meaningful Relationships: PepsiCo Connects Online and Offline Using Social Media" at 3:00pm, on Wednesday, October 27th at NACCM 2010. Learn how PepsiCo is using digital and social media channels to build their reputation and connect with loyal customers as well as potential new influencers. By leveraging digital storytelling and conversational marketing to drive news creations, PepsiCo has gone from impressions to connections. In this session we will discuss tools for the trade, how to operated a digital communications team and best practices on execution. Download the brochure and register today!

T-Mobile returns to top for customer care

CNET.com reports that the mobile phone provider, T-Mobile had taken the top customer care spot for J.D. Power & Associates among the US mobile carriers. According to the report, T-Mobile garnered a score of 777 points out of a possible 1,000. AT&T came in second place with 757 points, Verizon Wireless was third with 749 points, and Sprint Nextel brought up the rear with 734 pints. J.D Power did not survey U.S. Cellular or any of the regional carriers. Released twice a year, the wireless customer care study is based on feedback from subscribers who have contacted their carriers during the last six months. For the latest results, J.D. Power surveyed 9,690 customers.

What has attributed to T-Mobile's success at the top for customer satisfaction? As customer service professionals know, it goes beyond just a friendly voice at the other end of the call. So what's T-Mobile's secret? We'd like to hear your thoughts.