Jananas

I’ve written a fair bit about customer service, poor experiences at call centres, and my general frustration with dealing with large corporations. At one point this summer when ranting and bantering with friends the idea of outsourcing customer service calls came up. Except instead of telling corporations that they’ll save money by sending CSRs offshore (something that in my gut I don’t believe is true, but realize that the final numbers aren’t out there yet to back me up), I think that we as customers need to outsource our calls.

One of the most fundamental things my MBA as reinforced in me is how precious and limited my time is. Realistically, I don’t have enough time in my life to have to call into a call centre three, four, five times to get a problem sorted out (or to save $10 a month) or make sure that a billing error is cleared up. Its a waste of my time and the payoff very rarely covers the frustation that you suffer as a result.

Instead, why not create a business aimed at wealthy, busy individuals. Pay us $20 and we’ll call into the call centre on your behalf to get things sorted out. Troll online forums (Howard Forums comes to mind) to find the most knowledgeable people. Quantify knowledge as product knowledge, in-depth knowledge of call centre procedures, and the emotional intelligence to get CSRs to get things done. Have those people on staff to deal with call centres on your behalf. Hey, I’d pay to not have to deal with poor scripting and training and to save myself a large amount of frustration.

My friend Blair is a body modification and just general artist here in Toronto. He’s currently working on a line of really awesome belt buckles made from scraps of wood, with patterns cauterized in. I stopped by his studio space today to catch up and ended up grabbing two belt buckles for myself. Both have super fun tree motifs. Check out his stuff at ByBlair.com.

I had a couple of sweaters from when I was in highschool and undergrad that I’m very attached to and can’t bear to donate. But they just take up space in my drawers so I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with them. It finally dawned on me recently when I was trying to figure out what to do with a couple of extra pillows I have lieing around. The answer? Combine the two!

I sewed the sweaters over the pillows using some extra yarn I also happened to have on hand. I figure that if they need washing, I can just the yarn out and then resew them later. Now the warm cozy pillows are on my couch, perfect for winter naps.

I’ve noticed a trend in the service industry. Often times people like dentists or doctors or hairdressers will call the day before to remind you about your appointment. Sometime over the last year or year and a half that reminder message has changed from being “hey don’t forget about tomorrow” to being “hey don’t forget about tomorrow and if you don’t call back we’ll cancel your appointment”.

This bugs me. For one, I’m a conscientious person. If I make an appointment, I go home and write it down in my calendar. I check my calendar. I know where I’ll be and when. Personally the reminder call isn’t necessary, but I understand why receptionists make these calls. Not everyone bothers to remember to show up. But the new trend towards threatening to cancel my appointment if I don’t call back just bugs me. I made the appointment and you’ve called to remind me. Assuming that you haven’t had problems with me missing appointments in the past, why are you treating me like a bad customer?

Moreso, what does this really do and is it effective? Let’s say that my appointment is on Tuesday. So the receptionist calls me on Monday to remind me and asks me to call back. Assume that I’m at work and you call my house (so I don’t get the message until I get home from work, by which time your office is now closed) or I’m busy and can’t call back right away. So by the time I’ve called the office and left a message, you aren’t going to get it until the day of my appointment anyway. Which leaves you less than the 24 hours you require if I want to cancel my appointment without penalty. To me it seems like there’s a breakdown between what the office is trying to get to happen and how their customers are actually behaving.

Also, as a good customer I find it frustrating to be treated like poorly. I’ve made the appointment, written it down in my calendar, and am aware that I will be there. Why should I have to complete an extra step and call back to confirm what I already know? For that matter, if I’m using my cell why should I waste minutes to make this call?

There are certainly times and places where this sort of request makes sense. For example, customers who continually miss appointments. But be careful to distinguish between these two types of customers. You’re likely to annoy you’re good customers and make little actual difference in the behaviour of those who can’t be bothered to be thoughtful individuals.

I just got home from seeing the premiere of Repo! the Genetic Opera at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. I used to go see Rocky Horror at the Bloor as a teenager (hey, Toronto born and bred here), so it was nice to get to see something with the same cult potential in a cult theatre. I think it beats Dr. Horrible for musical of the year. Sorry NPH.

I was blown away for the entire thing and can’t wait until Lionsgate actually begins distributing it. So Lionsgate, please, please release this film. My friends need to see it! For that matter, I need to see it! Most importantly though, you need to go see it…