1to1 Magazine Demo

feedback Any Good Banks Out There? The article “Consumer Rankings of Financial Services Firms Hit Five-Year Low” (1to1 Weekly, 7/28/08) touched a nerve with readers—many of whom sent in their bank horror stories—along with one positive experience: I’ve spent my entire career in financial services: seven years in a small community bank, 13 years with Mellon, four with PNC Bank, and seven with Federated Investors. I’ve never seen such a mess. The culmination of inflated CEO salaries, incapable boards, greedy shareholders, and unbridled mergers and acquisitions activity has destroyed what was once a respected, stable industry. And you’re correct, the firms still standing are missing their chance at some great marketing. buzz from the blog Contact Centers Get Lousy Marks Readers responded to Liz Glagowski, managing editor, interactive, blogging about a study that found declining service in call centers: Debi Christopher | Without a Doubt Marketing I think that too many companies (including all the telcos and cable companies I am familiar with and have tried) have adapted a “make them wait” approach to [customer service] once the sale is made. While they seem to be able to answer their sales line, it seems that once signed up, they remove people from the equation, add answering machines, and take the position that “if we make them wait over 10 to 15 minutes, they will give up and go away with their problems.” It is very annoying, and if I could find one that didn’t [do this], they would have my undying loyalty. I have won awards for my customer service skills, and as a former call center representative (and former call center supervisor) I feel that call center customer service has declined tremendously. It is disturbing that common courtesy and customer satisfaction have declined. It seems that proper training of customer service reps has become too costly, and unfortunately, the customers are the ones who suffer. Annette Franke | Colorado Springs Service Center Roger Griffin | Chilliwack, BC My “bank” is a local credit union (First Source Credit Union, based in New Hartford, NY) that I love. Can you believe the manager and a few of the loan officers actually recognize me when I go into my local branch (which really isn’t all that often in this day and age)? Let me tell you my previous bank history. I had a savings account with another local bank starting in grade school. Years went by and I became increasingly annoyed with the new policies at the bank. When I went to open my new checking account, the bank I had been doing business with for close to 40 years refused to offer me the overdraft protection, saying it doesn’t offer that to anyone anymore. After several other annoyances, I finally got fed up and switched to First Source. Now fast forward. I was looking at my account online and to my surprise I had calculated my transfer wrong by about $4. My savings account I use for daily expenses was out of money, therefore the bank paid the check that had cleared and charged my account $25 for this service. I dialed First Source and had the gentleman that answered the phone pull up my account. I barely got the explanation out of my mouth, when he said, “Oh, I see what happened. I will take that $25 fee off. You will see that credited in about 30 seconds.” As a little background, I am by no means well off. I have a few savings accounts, a checking account, and a home equity loan with this bank, but they have treated me like a millionaire since the very first day I walked in the door. I will say it again: I love this bank. The decline is twofold: time spent on hold waiting for a customer service representative, and quality of service once contact has been made. The first area usually has to do with staffing—not enough to manage the volume. The second is hiring and training. It seems that the representatives are not versed in the slightest of common manners, and are trained only to the point that they can barely follow procedures. Hang-ups and insults are now the norm rather than an exception. The majority of these companies need assistance in this area. Yolanda | Washington Want to hear an even funnier (shockingly incompetent) element about call centers? We recently did a research study of the top 500 Alexa page-ranked sites by sending in a request via the Web, ostensibly to their call centers, for help. Guess how many companies didn’t even bother to call back (as in zero response to any requests)? Nearly half of all of the companies (48 percent) didn’t even bother. No call. No email. Zilch. Of the other 52 percent, only 6 percent bothered with an actual phone call. I agree with your assessment that call centers are a source of pain for many customers, but based on our study, it’s almost always the result of a bad management team and poor strategy. The company itself has zero concept of the added value a competent call center adds to their company. Steven R. Watts Log on to 1to1media.com/weblog to join the conversation. Tell us your opinion. Email us at magazine@1to1.com Mary Jones | AAA | New York 8 1to1 magazine www.1to1media.com http://1to1media.com/weblog http://www.1to1media.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of 1to1 Magazine Demo

1to1 Magazine Demo Contents 1to1media.com Editor's Note Feedback Putting Care in Patients' Hands Loyalty at Work Redefining the Contact Center Agent Introducing Enterprise 2.0 Cigna Dental Drills for Loyal Customers On the Beat 19 Ways to Succeed Miami Heat Schools Its Staff on Sales and Service Marketing Lends a Helping Hand More Than Meets the Eye Customer Service by Committiee Textron's Business Soars by Tracking Customer Loyalty Resources Contact Center Agent as Trusted Advisor Mastering Global CRM Face to Face with Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D.

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