Tangibilizing Your Company's Offering

In being a service predominant company, especially in IT, there can be a limited amount of tangibility offered to customers. Why does this matter?

Tangible clues provide direct evidence as to how the service is going to be for a customer. Don’t believe me? Compare the last experience you had in a 4 star restaurant vs. an old Hardees. Aside from the service itself, there are many differences in the setting such as the quality of the silverware, the seating, and also the bathrooms. If you went into the bathroom and noticed it was well kept, higher expectations will ensue for the service, now if it is the opposite and your sifting through sewage water- well the expectations will likely drop.

So where am I going with this? Well if you want your customers to have high perceptions of your business, give them solid tangible clues.

Here are some brief examples of tangible objects to keep updated:

• Brochures- Don’t spare expense with objects such as brochures- Keep them updated for customers
• Your Website-Your Company is as good as its website, remember that.
• Handouts- Whether it is mouse pads, t-shirts, or mugs. Have some promo materials to hand out to clients.
• Documented Service- Provide customers with a clear diagram of where your time is spent in delivering their service
• Clean Bathrooms- You get the idea

 As obvious as these may seem, many business owners lose sight of the experience they put their customers through, and all the aspects which can affect their overall perceptions of the experience. So in this case, sweat the small stuff, improve them, and benefit with more satisfied customers.

All the Hoot with HootSuite

In dealing with managing a company's social presence, especially in dealing with a smaller company dealing with less staff, it can be difficult handling all the different social media outlets. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube  Google+,...well you get the point- there are a lot of sites to manage. Dealing with log in passwords can be a hassle enough, let alone actually adding content and maintaining users engagement as well.

So what happened, well another website was built to make this process easier-and so it did.

The site is called HootSuite, the quintessential platform to use in order to manage every social media site one see's fit. Click the link to check it out: HootSuite.

What is the benefit in using this product? Well, for one it makes it easier with simply accessing one's multiple social networking sites simultaneously. However, the true value is being able to view comments, access analytics, and develop a sense of the engagement that viewers have in accessing your sites.

And as usual, another cool benefit is the price-Free. You can start-up a 30 day online free trial, then opt in for either the Free service or Paid Subscription which adds additional analytic tools and methods to gain more insight.

Despite my excitement, there are a few consumers who would speak out against the service-mainly when it comes to price. This is in large part due to the expense of generating reports from the data. Although this is an important consideration, in starting up and being content with the free service-these issues will not pose any problems financially, but will in turn provide less insight on your customers who view you. Check out what Ian Gray had to say.

What We Can Learn From Terrible Customer Service

Prior to My Experience
I have always considered myself an understanding consumer. Especially when it comes to service providers, in cases of accidents or faults on their end I am willing to comply and work with the provider as long as I receive some sort of solution. This patience I thought I possessed went out the window the day I got cable.

The Terrors of Comcast
After a month of using Comcast  I have come across countless problems, zero customer support, experienced more time waiting on the phone for automated support than I'd like to admit, and have developed a strong enough grudge to join the I Hate Comcast Page, here is what I learned from my experience.

1. Voice Automated Services Only Anger Customers As soon as my devices were installed, multiple issues arose in regards to starting up the service. After 45 minutes of navigating through voice automated options taking me through the same steps and no resolution, one kicked couch and a stubbed toe later my grudge had begun.
2. Non Transparent Pricing Hurts Customer Relations Despite the seemingly straightforward prices provided, as soon as the first bill was sent problems resulted. The lost cash in being overcharged can be recovered, unlike the 20 minutes on the phone in order to do so.
3. Never Sell to an Customer with an Unresolved Issue After waiting on the phone for 45 minutes the first words said to me by an actual Comcast worker involved selling me additional packages, needless to say I turned them down, in addition to any respect for the Comcast I had left.
4. Asking for Customer Feedback before the Problem is Resolved is Bad In the midst of my impatient wait to be served I received an automated message asking for customer feedback. Putting a customer on hold, extending the wait, then requesting feedback is not a very good strategy for keeping them happy.
5. Invest in Employee Training on Problem Solving In the instances I wasn't interpreting the extended automated options and cursing my wait over the phone, I was dealing with workers who were given limited power to help me with my problem, forced to transfer me, or at times simply hung up.

So what does all of this tell you about customer service? Invest in real people who can help with problems. Mistakes and service errors happen, and customers will understand that if they are dealing with helpful workers, however this cannot be received via automated services and result in the creation of...well I Hate Comcast Facebook Pages.

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