February 23, 2010

It takes so little to make a positive impression in customer service, yet some companies not only forget that, they go out of their way to antagonize their customers. I have still another story from the credit card industry. They are a never-ending supply of what not to do, but there is a twist to this story: customer satisfaction. No, really. Every so often, it happens. The company in question here is Citi Bank, with their AT&T Universal Card. I’ve had my problems with them in the past, so it makes this all the more surprising.

I had a conversation with a call-center rep the day my credit card payment was due, and I was wondering why a payment I thought I had mailed in was missing. We couldn’t resolve that, so I decided to make a payment online until I could figure out what happened. One problem: my payment would be one hour late because of time zone differences. I asked if due to what were discussing, plus the fact I was a long-time customer with an excellent payment history, would they waive the expected late fee this one time. I was assured that was no problem, we closed the call and I went on with my day.

Imagine my surprise when I received a letter one week later from a person in customer service telling me, and I quote, “We regret we are unable to waive a late fee if charged to your account.” And it went on to admonish me to clean up my act and pay on time! “Any late fees are valid,” the letter intoned.

Well, multiple thoughts crossed my mind at this point. First of all, that first statement is simply untrue. Of course they can waive a fee! It’s their company and their policy! Who or what is preventing them? It’s frankly a lie, and a laughable one at that. Secondly, nowhere in this letter was any word of appreciation for being a long-time customer with an excellent payment history. A cold, unfriendly slap-down.

Is it any wonder people are mad at credit card companies and Congress passes new laws regulating their industry? I called again and asked for a manager and explained my concern and my utter amazement at its content and tone. Why, I asked, does your company (and all the others) work so hard to attract new customers and then do so little to make them happy? They seem intent on driving us away with the attitude so evident in the letter I received. What other industry does this? Well, the airlines do, come to think of it, but that’s another story. I asked further if they realize that now I cannot trust the word of their customer service reps if their word is so easily broken by management. Talk about lack of empowerment!

But here’s the shocker. The manager I spoke with was empathetic, listened to my story without criticizing, and assured me the late fee would indeed be removed. She even agreed that the letter I received was as cold and unfriendly as I described and that my input would be communicated up the line. Now I don’t know if it will be, but that was the right thing to say. She thanked me for my business and we ended the conversation on a very pleasant note. I could not have been more surprised. This was one of the only times I have ever had such an exchange with any credit card customer service manager over the many years I have used my various cards.

The point is that this experience should not have been unusual, but should be the norm. When an industry has a bullseye on its back and a long-standing reputation for arrogance, what does it take for them to change? Unfortunately they have no incentive to improve their service. We have allowed ourselves to be under their thumbs through our profligate spending habits and until that changes, until we the public change, customer satisfaction from the credit card industry will continue to be the rare exception.

February 11, 2010

Managing the cultural environment should be an ongoing goal in every organization. Leaders should keep a constant lookout for ways to change and improve the entire working environment. The needs of individuals and the entire organization change over time for a variety of reasons, and leaders need to recognize and  respond appropriately. Sometimes there are external forces that cause internal discomfort or fear, such as the economy has done over the last few years. Some companies then and now put their heads down and blindly move on, hoping to tough out the pain. That’s almost never the right response, and I saw a story, seemingly unrelated, that contains a lesson for us here.

I was intrigued to read of a new treatment for burn patients that has shown dramatic results in reducing the pain of their treatments. Victims need grafts, debriding and other procedures that cause excruciating pain that drugs can never fully alleviate. Now they can use a virtual reality game called SnowWorld in which the patient dons a VR helmet and with the help of a mouse can navigate through a snowy world of icy canyons and mountains. They can throw snowballs at the various creatures they encounter, from mammoths to penguins, and become so immersed in their new virtual world that the pain of their wounds and their treatments are minimized to an astounding degree. Physically they feel better overall, and the worse they felt initially, the better they got.

I became excited at all the ideas I began to have as I read this. Most of all, it’s that if you can change the environment, the culture, you can improve individual attitudes. Attitude influences a person’s belief at work, which in turn influences their behavior. And of course, it’s behavior that determines results. The VR helmets changed patients’ perspective and consequently they felt better in spite of their wounds and they began to heal. In the workplace, employees may feel virtually wounded and hurting due to a variety of reasons. The entire work environment may be wounded! We can alleviate those issues by changing not the virtual, but the actual reality of the workplace. Improve the culture, improve the performance.