Dell Support Call

Introduction

Some suggestions on what the Dell agent could have done

More suggestions

Transcript of Call

Comments left on other sites

What Can We Learn?

Want to Complain About Dell? Forget it (2005 article)

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The comments left about this call tell us a lot about what is wrong in the United States. Instead of showing any compassion at all for the caller, most people simply judge, label and laugh at him. I wonder if I am the only one in the world who actually understands how he feels and even feels bad for him.

I lived the first 45 or so years of my life in the United States. Like this caller, I got increasinly frustrated with the lack of human understanding and comparing. It makes me think of what Obama called the empathy deficit.

I am hoping that my subscribers and site readers will have something more intelligent, or let's say emotionally intelligent, and more compassionate to say. I hope that people will also add to my suggestions.

You can leave comments on Youtube through this link, or you can use our feedback page.

As soon as the caller asked if the agent could hear him, the agent could have given him more reassurance and more encouragement by saying something like, "You are breaking up a little, but I think we can manage."

Next when the caller first started to show frustration about not being able to turn off the laptop, the agent could have said something like. "That sounds pretty frustrating." Then he could have waited for the caller to say something else, which he probably would have since he seems to have felt a strong need to be listened to and understood.

Next the agent could have said, "Well, I think I will be able to help you, how does that sound?" This would have helped the caller feel encouraged. And it would have given the caller a chance to "vent" some more. It would also help him feel more in control because he is given the opportunity to direct the flow of things a bit.

I can understand how this customer feels. I have called those kinds of lines myself. I even tape recorded some calls to Compaq because I was so unsatisfied with their service. It was very much like the customer said in this tape. I had to keep calling and talking to computers or different people who kept asking me the same thing when I had a simple question. Or they didn't believe me and treated me like I was stupid. I proved the technical support people wrong on several occasions so I felt very insulted when they implied I didn't know what I was talking about. I have also been known to swear at customer service phone support people, so I can empathize with this guy. The only thing I haven't done is say I would kick their ass, as this guy does!

Anyhow here are some suggestions for big companies.

When a customer is that angry and frustrated, bend the procedures a little. Don't ask him all the usual questions right up front. Instead, validate his feelings. Let him talk about his frustrating experiences until he feels heard and understood. Then you can move onto the administrative and technical stuff.

When they say something like "I just gave someone that information!", say something like, "Oh, you did?" And see if they want to talk some more. They might say something like "Yes, to three different people. Why can't you guys get your act together?"

Then you can say something apologetic and understanding like "Wow, I am really sorry. That is kind of a waste of time isn't it?" You might also say something like, "I am going to put in a suggestion to my manager that they pass that info along to me when I take a call from someone else."

If the customer starts complaining about all the administrative data the company wants you to collect, say something like: "Well let's see if we can quickly solve your problem, then if you don't mind I'd like you to help me file a complaint about the bad service, then we get all the other stuff like your name and phone number, if that is okay with you at that point."

In other words, some general guidelines are

- Agree with the customer.

- Show understanding.

- Validate his/her feelings

- Make some exceptions to the standard procedure. This helps the customer feel more important and unique. No one likes to be a victim of standard procedures.

In the Dell case, the tech could have said early on "Ok I am sorry this has been so frustrating for you. Normally I would have to ask you a lot of questions, but since you've spent so much time on this already let's just try something. Often you can just hold down the power button for ten seconds. Do you want to give that a try?".

Often you can just hold down the power button for ten seconds. Let's try that first.

- Give him some control of the process (like "if that is okay with you" and "Would it be okay if ..." "Do you want to give that a try?'

- Show them you take them seriously.

This is easier to do if you try to put yourself in their situation. If you try to force yourself to show understanding and empathy when you don't really feel it, an emotionally intelligent customer will sense this.

Customers want representatives who do more than follow procedures. They want someone who thinks and feels. In other words, they want a human, especially when they are already frustrated from talking to computers and automated attendants. How much did the customer feel understood between 0 and 10? Probably zero.

What I would suggest to Dell is they apologize to this customer and ask if he would be willing to accept a small consulting fee to help them improve their customer service. An irate customer like this would make an excellent consultant on how to improve things.

Or, at the very least, Dell could ask if he would accept a small gift certificate or something like that for his troubles.

Another idea would be to ask him if he would take time to voice his complaints to a customer complaints specialist, and put him directly through to one, or have him leave a voice recording of his complaints and then have someone call him back with in the next 2 hours or something.

Could have said...

...you said there was a problem with the batteries too?

Could have said "how many people have you talked to?"

He didn't see what was important to the customer.

Customer wanted someone to listen to his complaint, understand how he felt.

--

The Cluetrain don't stop in Round Rock no more

Begin by turning off all the LEDs on your keyboard.
My keyboard doesn't have any LEDs.
You must turn off the LEDs on your keyboard.
My keyboard doesn't have any LEDs.
I can't help you if you don't turn off the LEDs.

-- Excerpt from a Dell customer service call

If Dell CEO Kevin Rollins owns a copy of The Cluetrain Manifesto, he ought to beat his customer support managers roundly about the head with it. Because the Round Rock, TX company on Friday, in complete defiance of Cluetrain's famous "markets are conversations" pronouncement, shuttered the Customer Service boards on its Dell Community Forum, apparently to suppress the anti-Dell sentiments that were proliferating there. A hamhanded move, and one that demonstrates, yet again, Dell's continuing failure to recognize that business, at bottom, is fundamentally human. And though Dell's move will quiet, for a time at least, a few of the louder dissenting voices in the Dell Community Forum, it will do nothing to silence the company's more visible critics, among them Buzzmachine proprietor Jeff Jarvis, who's been pushed to the verge of an aneurysm these past few weeks by a ghastly failure of Dell customer support "I paid for both at-home service and complete care but have received neither," Jarvis wrote in a recent email to Michael George, chief marketing office and vice president for Dell's consumer business, posted to his blog. "Your at-home and complete care service is a fraud. Your customer service is appalling. Your product is dreadful. Your brand is mud."

http://jeremy.zawodny.com/blog/archives/006009.html

Today Dell is seen as a model of how a business can use social media techniques to provide a superb level of customer management. But it didn’t start out that way.

In 2005 an influential blogger posted his tale of woe dealing with Dell’s notoriously poor customer service. The post caused a bit of a firestorm which exploded when Dell finally got around to responding, saying they refused to respond to negative blog posts! When they finally did respond they got very defensive, pointing out the benefits of their products instead of listening to what the customers were trying to tell them.

Finally, Dell established their own social media site – Direct2Dell – and gradually they began to listen and respond. Today they have another site – Ideastorm – where a community of Dell users actually makes product suggestions. Dell listens and responds and lets the community know what’s happened to their ideas. If you search the Internet for success stories of corporate use of social media for customer management and marketing, you’ll find Dell on every list.

From Worst to First

So what can we learn from Dell’s stunning transformation from “worst to first?” Listening, engaging, and responding pretty much sums it up. Spend some time investigating their sites to see how they do it. Start with Direct2Dell. First, notice that they call the site the “Dell Community”. From this site you have access to solutions for product issues, blogs and forums, wikis, and user groups. If you get into any of those areas you’ll see an exchange between Dell employees and Dell customers, both engaged in a conversation. There are tech support articles, topics of general interest to computer users, and even a section on newly released Windows 7.

Finally, notice what is at the bottom right hand corner of the home page. There you’ll find the only window on the site meant to sell product. When most companies first got into social media, windows like that would be right at the top. It was all about selling product, but not anymore.

Next visit the Ideastorm site at ideastorm.com. You’ll have to look really hard to find a link to a spot where you can actually buy a Dell computer. The site is all about sharing ideas and advice. Dell has come so far that not only do they solicit product innovations from the community; they allow the community to vote on the best ideas.

Listen, Engage, Respond

There is another point to be learned from the Dell story. Managers in businesses where employees are “told” everything by management should not be surprised when those employees find it difficult to listen to customers. Managers in businesses where employees have little or no involvement in decision making and problem solving should not be surprised when employees fail to solve customers’ problems, should they?

Dell now allows all employees full access to all social media sites while on the job to monitor and respond to Dell issues they might uncover. They trust their employees enough to get them directly engaged in the conversation. Listen, engage, and respond.

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From http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2010/02/social-media-for-customer-management/ It was found by searching "What can we learn from Dell?