“Besides perhaps a root canal or a tax audit, few things can be more frustrating than making an appointment to have a cable technician visit your home. You’re given a four-hour window and find yourself waiting and waiting, with no idea when the technician will arrive. Inevitably, it seems, he does not show up until just before the window expires. Or, despite the four-hour time frame, he arrives late.”

- “Cable Contract Has Fines for Late Service”, Fernanda Santos, New York Times, September 14th, 2010

In honor of TOA’s 7th birthday last week – The New York Times reported eloquently that the City of New York (the place where the idea for TOA was actually born) gave its citizens a long needed present by officially recognizing “The Cable Guy Problem” and codifying into law that cable companies have to provide a Time of Arrival (TOA) and then need to arrive on time or face a serious penalty (losing a month’s subscriber fees).

As all those who read this blog know – TOA Technologies, my company, has made it its mission to solve this problem : i.e. the problem of customers stranded at home, frustrated, waiting without knowing when, or even if, the cable technician will arrive. TOA’s advanced technology solution helps our clients manage customer appointments and the technicians in the field serving those customers with one goal in mind – to make sure that customers’ time is respected and customers’ needs and preferences come first. Our patented solution has been adopted by many companies around the country and the world to specifically address the problem  (including some in the NY Tri-State area).

Irad Carmi (my partner) and I recognized years ago that this problem was not ‘just another customer service annoyance’ but rather a greater sociological, economic issue that reflects a deep systemic operational problem that most service providers who run a mobile workforce have ignored. It is ingrained in their legacy systems and processes and based on just plain taking the customer and their time for granted. But it ultimately ends up backfiring and producing a lot of inefficiency along the way.

This problem isn’t trivial because it ends up costing many millions of people, the customers waiting at home, a lot of their precious time, their hard earned money, vacation time, their freedom, etc. It produces aggravation, at the least and, many times, even animosity towards these service providers and their employees. It also actually costs these companies their brand equity,  the goodwill of their customers and a lot of  wasted revenue money lost on missed appointments, unproductive technician time, unnecessary calls to the call center and, most of all,  the ultimate price:  customers leaving them when better service is offered by someone else.

[In fact, TOA just completed its annual Cost of Waiting Survey, which we will publish shortly and which I will be blogging about. This survey examines this very issue and its economic and social effects in three countries (US, UK and Germany), and the results are incredibly interesting, so stay tuned].

TOA has been blessed by many visionary clients who ‘got it’.  They are the trailblazers, the early adopters, who gave us a chance at every point along the way, and who like us, just could not sit around and see their companies waste tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, of dollars AND not provide great service to their customers.

There are always visionaries in every company. But all it takes is one person. One person, I know, can change a culture, a company, the world entire. And we have met many of these. These visionary leaders know that they had to make a change and they were and are willing to fight for that change themselves, against the machinations of their organizations.  They do this because they know that they are right. They know that there is a better way – and using a cross section of  technology and mind to transform the customer appointment experience (using TOA, of course) – and they KNOW:  if it is there, then they have to make a better experience available to their customers. It takes a lot to make change in big companies, but there are always people who do.

We are grateful to them  (and you know who you are…) for standing up to the status quo and for giving us a great opportunity to (in our small way) help make life better for your customers in many places around the country and the world. So it is to these leaders that I am dedicating this post, and about them that I am actually writing the response to the NY Times article AND today’s editorial about this issues (yes, the Times wrote an editorial about this). Because these clients of ours did not need legislation to choose positive change for their companies and their customers.

We have a lot more companies and many more leaders to convince that we have THE solution for them. But with the help of my great team and the help of our fantastic set of current bold visionary clients (who all become evangelists too…) I know that we will.

Oh, and thank you, City of New York!

In an earlier blog, I discussed a missed opportunity to shine, and my feelings on customer care.  This week, Jennifer Friedman, TOA Technologies VP of Marketing, looks at some recent data behind this subject:

As I prepared for my first blog post ever, I read a recent survey entitled, “The Global Customer Service Barometer,” which was published by American Express (my previous employer).

The survey confirmed ideas that most of us suspect:

1)   Americans will spend 9% more with companies that provide excellent service

2)   Two-thirds (67%) feel companies aren’t doing enough to earn their business and nine in ten (90%) Americans consider the quality of customer service when deciding to do business with a company

3)   Three most influential factors when deciding which company consumers choose to buy from:

* Personal experience (98%)

* Company’s reputation or brand (92%)

* Recommendations from friends and family (88%)

Should companies invest more (or differently) in customer service to increase the value of their brands?  This is not a trivial question because in the vast majority of cases, it is the front-line customer service worker (whether he/she be on the phone, in the store, or showing up at the consumer’s home) that represents a company’s first and most important interaction between them and their customer.  These are the interactions that represent the moment of truth: the most important interaction with the company where the consumer forms his opinion.

Today companies with mobile workers have an unprecedented opportunity to transform what has traditionally been a “moment of pain” into a “moment of glory”.  This opportunity derives from the dual power of predictive analytics and improved forms of communication.

What can companies with employees who go to consumers’ homes do?

1)   Use the Information You Have to Make Better Decisions.  Most companies have the ability to know how long it takes to perform a task and how long it takes an individual worker to complete the task.  The problem is that they don’t use this information. They need to start!

2) Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.  And do it in the format that consumers want.  Call them, email them, text them, let them check on the internet to see what is going on.  And communication is a two-way street.  Let them be part of the conversation.  If you are going to be late, tell them; and let them decide what to do.  If they are willing to wait, great.  If they want to reschedule, let them.

3) Get Over the Idea That Cost/Service is an Either/Or Proposition.   With the advent of predictive scheduling software and communications it is possible for companies to delight customers and save money at the same time.  How? By giving consumers arrival windows that are short and accurate, by communicating with them so they know when you will arrive, and by showing up with the right personnel and tools to do the job right the first time.

I would be very interested to hear what other best practices exist in the sphere of customer service that are helping companies build their brands, especially for companies whose business takes them to consumers’ homes.  What else can companies do?

So what is the dilemma you’re asking?

Well I think it’s actually a dilemma that a lot of people have right now…a seminal zeitgeist dilemma!…

I lost my kindle – my favorite ebook reader (see previous post) – And now what do I do?

Do I buy another kindle? Or do I splurge and get myself an iPad?
I mean it’s not like I have a deficit of devices… and I am kind of a contrarian…this post is being written on the android nexus one after all, not on an iPhone.

But there’s something very tempting about that  beautiful thing…that iPad…clearly that’s where Steve Jobs has it totally right: it’s all about desire not about need (wasn’t that the question everyone asked at the launch – ‘who needs this thing?’  – ‘what’s it good for?’).

Desire for beauty, desire for the new, desire for more, desire for change, desire for image…because in reality I don’t think I really need an ipad… I’ve got a great macbook pro;  I’ve got the nexus one;  I have a blackberry; I have a mac mini at home and I had a kindle… till Thursday…

How many devices does one man need?

All I need to do is replace my kindle…right?  And it’s a third of the price of the iPad…so in the battle between reasons and desire who will win?
So you tell me.. the heart or the mind? Form or function? Beauty or the beast? A kindle or an iPad?

You choose!