 OUR TAKE -
Do You Employ Professional Apologizers
 |
| |
| |
|  | Lasting Impressions:
Never let the fear of failure be an excuse for not trying. Society tells us that to fail is the most terrible thing in the world, but I know it isn't. Failure is part of what makes us human.
-
Amber Deckers
|
|
For the record let me state that I'm not sure what to make of the story I share with you today. The Chicago Tribune article features a job title I had not heard before - chief apology officer. To be fair this is not the official job title. Let's just call them professional apologizers for now. Maybe you prefer the "complaint department."
The article features the impressive efforts of Southwest Airlines. And if the consumer complaint rate as measured by the U.S. Department of Transportation is a measure of results, then we should all take notice. The number of complaints for Southwest is 0.21 per 100,000 passengers and the next best airline registers 0.85. While I'm a bit suspect on the low number, I am willing to accept the rank order.
So here is my question for you. Is the idea of a chief apology officer surrounded by professional apologizers a good idea or a bad idea? On one hand, this is a last line of defense to make sure a failed customer experience does not have a lasting bad impact. On the other hand, the existence of the department may unintentionally lower standards of excellence.
Does the existence of the safety net mean fewer serious "injuries" or does it encourage more falls from the high wire? What's your take?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
|
|
|
Action Center
 Free Subscription
Submit Content
Industry Events
Webcasts
Archive
Cool CRM
|
 NEW IN CRM
News: J.D. Power and Associates Reports Loyalty Continues to Decline
Overall customer satisfaction with credit cards has rebounded from a three-year low in 2009, but professed loyalty continues to slip as skepticism that card issuers are focused on customers’ best interests remains, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2010 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction StudySM released today. Overall credit card satisfaction in 2010 averages 714 on a 1,000-point scale, up 9 points from 705 in 2009. However, customers who say they “definitely will not switch” primary cards in the next 12 months continues to decline, averaging 22 percent in 2010, down from 25 percent in 2009 and 30 percent in 2008. While customers perceive card issuers as “financially stable” and even “reliable,” they are significantly less likely to view them as “customer driven.”(J.D. Power and Associates
)
Article: Swedbank Strengthens Position with SME Customers
Multichannel banking is no longer an expected service only among consumers. Business customers now expect it, too. Unfortunately, however, while many retail banks have made the transition to a multichannel banking environment, business banking has fallen behind. Financial services firms need to create a business banking environment that mirrors its consumer services, particularly for its small business clients. That this is easier said than done. According to the Customer Experience Benchmark: Retail Banking 2010 report, conducted by Peppers & Rogers Group and the European Financial Management and Marketing Association, delivering seamless and consistent service across channels is still a key challenge for banks. (1to1
)
News: Granicus Builds 20 Custom Applications in 20 Weeks on Force.com
Granicus, a cloud computing provider for government and citizen participation, has built 20 custom apps in 20 weeks on Force.com. Having experienced three years of growth, Granicus needed to streamline processes across the company including the sales, marketing, finance, human resources, project management, technical support and deployment departments. With Force.com, Granicus was able to manage its growth efficiently by building and deploying multiple applications. Granicus was able to decrease the time it takes to build a sales proposal from 2 hours to 10 minutes, streamline product deployments through a web-based tracking tool, and change the underlying product logic without retraining employees.(Salesforce
)
Article: The Constraints on Collaboration
How's that knowledge-sharing initiative coming along? The one where you spent beaucoup bucks on software and who-know-how-much on training? If you've hit a wall, you're not alone. Resistance is inevitable. Most pushback has a common theme. People hate changing the way they work. Collaboration resistance; takes lots of forms, but you typically hear three comments over and over: "It makes sense for them, but we don't need it." "I'll learn the software as soon as I finish [fill in the blank]." "I don't really have anything to contribute." Loosely translated, this all boils down to "I won't do anything until I know what's in it for me."(DestinationCRM
)
Didn't read the last edition of CRMAdvocate? Click
here to see what you missed.
| | |
| | |
