Re: Learning From Frustration
I recently read Seth Godin’s account of dealing with Verizon Wireless customer service. He speaks about dealing with two, three, four plus people on the phone to get his problem solved. Perhaps, I have been extremely lucky, perhaps I have been well informed about what I need done, or perhaps the company is dying and is trying to reverse their theory about customer service so they don’t get their asses handed to them.
I, personally have had very few problems with Sprint. I can’t speak for others I know, my friends went through six different people and several hours of her time to try and get a problem solved. The very same problem that I called about for her, received timely help, and had fixed in no more than 15 minutes.
By all means, gasp away, because in most cases if I need to contact customer service, I am in and out, problem resolved in less than half an hour. How you may say? All you have to do is become as smart as the person you are dealing with.
I learned a long time ago that I don’t like frustration. I hated trying to explain to someone my problems that I knew little about. It was efficient for me, and it made them guess at what I wanted accomplished. This goes for everything in life, not just customer service at your wireless provider. Here is how you become as smart as the person you are dealing with: research.
In today’s world, you can minimize your time with the customer service people by being knowledgeable. If your phone spits out an error, quickly enter it into Google with keywords like your phones make and model along with the world ‘help’ or ‘problem.’ Many times you may find an answer on how to fix your issue right then and their. Other times, you get a name for your problem. In the case of my friend, she was not able to access the internet on her phone, completely voiding her unlimited data plan. When she would talk on the phone with the people at Sprint, she would tell them that the internet on her phone was not working. Naturally they assume she wants to go through a wireless hot-spot. Her plan entitled her to be able to use the internet anywhere, anytime. Five minutes of research on my part produced that Sprint calls this function PCS Vision. When I called customer service up, I said my friend has been having problems with connecting with PCS Vision making her data plan useless, how can this be remedied?
A minute or two later, I am taking the battery out of the phone, the lady on the other end is remotely updating the software, I put the battery back in, press some buttons, it works and I’m asking her to dinner next Friday to show my gratitude. Well, all but the last part. The point is, if you make yourself intelligent about your situation–five minutes of research, ten if you’re feeling arrogant or haven’t received something solid–can save you tens of minutes or hours, if not the embarrassment of stumbling through your problem with six different people.
Try to become knowledgeable. Speak in their terms if at all possible. Be polite, courteous, and respectful–they will like you and be easier to deal with. Finally, if you get someone who is obviously a moron, you have the choice to end it and call back (make sure you get his name so when he answers you can call again), or you can ask to be transferred to someone higher, politely.
Tags: customer, diy, easy, help, nextel, phone, quick, save, selfhelp, service, sprint, time, verizon, wireless