Young toddlers are famous for asking the question, "Why?" It's too bad we don't ask that same question very often in the workplace because it turns out that "Why" is a very powerful tool for diagnosing the root cause of many performance problems. The simple technique, pioneered by Toyota, simply involves asking "Why?" an average of five times until you uncover the real cause of a particular problem.
Read MoreFun with word clouds
Communicating in writing seems so much more efficient that taking the time to draw up visuals, but our audience typically doesn’t feel the same way. As a trainer, a consultant, and as a leader, I’m constantly encountering situations where a visual can make the point far better than written or verbal words ever could. The challenge is creating a good visual is often difficult.
Read MoreIs it time again for sexual harassment prevention training?
Most California employers know about the mandatory sexual harassment awareness training. Are you up to date? If not, it could mean big trouble.
I was reading my October edition of HR Magazine and saw a headline that caught my attention, "Survey: 10% of Employees Report Harassment at Work". The article discussed global trends from a recent survey by Reuters-Ipsos and pointed out that 8% of respondents from the US claimed they have been victims of sexual harassment. These figures suggest that many workplaces are at risk for harassment claims if employers aren't diligent about prevention.
Read MoreUnnatural service: how 'common sense' gets hijacked
People often wonder why customer service providers don't apply common sense to seemingly simple situations. As I recently discovered, many customer service behaviors don't come naturally. Let's add another reason to the list: our common sense often gets hijacked by our emotions.
Read MoreWhy I don't like customer service scripts
I called a customer service line today to schedule some minor repairs at my home. The person who answered the phone gave me an unusual greeting:
Read MoreAvis experiment: Viva la Resolution (& lessons learned)
I've been blogging about a customer service challenge I experienced with the Avis car rental company. The problem is now mostly resolved and I think I'm ready to share a few lessons learned.
Read More5 things I learned in my first 5 years in business
Yesterday was the five year anniversary of Toister Performance Solutions. Although this post is a bit of self-indulgence, I thought I'd take a moment to share the top five business lessons I've learned in that time.
Read MoreAvis experiment: It's a shame about Ray
Yes, the title of this post is a reference to that Lemonheads song. Now it's stuck in your head too.
It's also a reference to the latest update with Ray, the person who contacted me because of my blog post on poor customer service at Avis. Ray had identified himself as an Avi customer service supervisor and offered to help me. At the time, I was excited to hear from Ray because I think it is a great way to respond to customers who are ranting about your company via social media. I was also guarded in my optimism since Ray represented Avis employee #6 to try handle this situation.
Here's what happened:
- I emailed Ray to give him the run-down on the situation and my proposal: I'll try Avis again if I can get a free weekend and I get the Preferred experience on that weekend with no hassles.
- He left me a voice message in response to my email and said he could help me out, but needed some more information so he could sort out the problem.
- I called and left him a voice message last Tuesday (September 21) with the requested info.
Then I waited. And waited. And probably heard that Lemonheads song on the radio today which reminded me it had been a week and I hadn't heard back from Ray. "It's a shame about Ray." So, I emailed him back to ask for an update.
Ray did email me back today to say everything should be all set and he had mailed out coupons for two free days (the equivalent to a weekend). Again, I'm cautiouly optimistic, but I've also heard promises like this before so I'll wait to see how it goes.
Background: I started this blog experiment after I had unsuccessfully tried four times to resolve a problem with Avis. I signed up for "Preferred" status so I could bypass the rental counter, but I've had to go to the rental counter anyway. Now, I'm using my blog to chronicle my attempts to see if Avis will finally resolve the issue or cause me to find a new "Preferred" rental car company.
Avis experiment: I get contacted
On Friday, I received an email from someone named Ray who identifed himself as a Customer Service Supervisor with Avis/Budget. His message explained that he had been referred to my blog and he offered to discuss the issue with me and try to make it right.
Today, I sent Ray an email detailing the situation. I also put my proposal on the table. I'll rent again with Avis if they can provide two things:
- A free weekend rental.
- A hassle-free experience that includes me being on the Preferred list.
This is a bit of a surprising development because I honestly didn't expect to hear from someone at Avis. I'm now cautiously optimistic, but Ray's response will let me know if I really do have something to cheer about. I'll let you know how it goes!
Background: I started this blog experiment after I had unsuccessfully tried four times to resolve a problem with Avis. I signed up for "Preferred" status so I could bypass the rental counter, but I've had to go to the rental counter anyway. Now, I'm using my blog to chronicle my attempts to see if Avis will finally resolve the issue or cause me to find a new "Preferred" rental car company.
Avis experiment: the call to customer service that goes nowhere
I wish I could build a time machine so I could go back in time and reclaim the past 19 minutes that I just wasted on the phone with Carl at Avis customer service. Carl acknowledged their motto is "We try harder", but he definitely didn't.
Background: I've unsuccessfully tried four times to resolve a problem with Avis. I signed up for "Preferred" status so I could bypass the rental counter, but I've had to go to the rental counter anyway. Now, I'm using my blog to chronicle my attempts to see if Avis will finally resolve the issue or cause me to find a new "Preferred" rental car company.
Today's Update: Calling customer service
I called the Avis customer service line today. Their phone menu set-up should have been an indication of the type of service I was likely to receive. On menu #1 I had to press #5 for "all other inquiries" and on menu #2 I had to press #4 for "all other inquiries". The end result is I'm on the phone for 1 - 2 minutes before I even get dumped into the queue to wait for the next available agent.
After a few minutes, Carl answered the phone. I told him up front about my situation, admitted I was frustrated, and then told him I hoped he was the guy who could finally fix the situation. Carl's response, "Do you know why this is happening?"
**Crickets**
Uh, Carl?! That's why I'm calling.
It went downhill from there. Carl made the classic customer service mistake of trying to find an easy way to get me off the phone rather than taking the time to acknowledge the issue and then resolving the problem.
Here are just a few of tactics he used to get me to end the call without him having to solve the problem:
-
He looked up my account and tried to tell me everything was fine and I should be OK the next time I rented.
-
He put me on hold to "check with someone" and then came back to me and again said everything would be OK.
-
He tried to blame me for the problem by saying I had changed my profile (I hadn't).
I finally ended the call with no resolution, no apology, and not much hope for Avis. Does the quest end here? No, simply because that wouldn't be fun and wouldn't make for interesting blogging material. What it does do is raise the stakes. I now require a service ransom before I rent with Avis again. I figure Avis owes me one hassle-free weekend rental on the house to prove they can get it right.