March 27, 2008
Three customer service snippets
Bill Price, the former vice-president of global customer services at Amazon, has co-authored a book that sounds like it could be useful, judging from the review in today’s FT. The argument of The Best Service Is No Service is that customers mainly call when something goes wrong or to find out basic ”where can I get?” or ”how do I?” information. It suggests that resources can be freed up for the handling of profitable sales enquiries if operational errors are avoided and the flow of information improved. You can read the first 28 pages here.
It was also interesting to hear Luke Johnson declare earlier this week that he used to read all complaint letters in the days when he chaired PizzaExpress, the British restaurant chain; he says employing people who enjoy their work is crucial to ensuring good service, more so than providing them with the best training. (The introduction of thinner, crispier bases at PizzaExpress has ensured that there will be no complaint letters to the current boss from me).
Finally, the airline sector in Japan looks to be a customer service case study in the making. This analysis piece in today’s FT details the friction between the low-cost airline model and the lavish customer service that is normal in Japan.
