The Lowdown
ALL I WANT IS AN APOLOGY
By Jeff Matlow
I’m in a battle with a major phone company right now. The thing is, I’m not sure they realize we’re even at war. Truthfully, I doubt they even care. Which is exactly where the problem lies.
You see, I just moved to a new home and have been trying to get my Internet installed. It seems to me I should just be able to call the phone company, confirm the service, schedule the technician and, bing-bang-boom, it’s done. Right? Apparently not.
The first time I called to confirm the service, I spoke to a perfectly pleasant gentleman who arranged to have it installed. The call, which should’ve taken 15 minutes, lasted for one hour and seven minutes — not that I’m counting or anything.
At the end of the call he told me that the technician would show up two days later to get my DSL installed. No problem, I said. At least I’d have Internet service in a couple of days. Two days later, when I got a call, I fully expected it was the technician letting me know he’s on his way. It wasn’t. It was a sales person who said they were calling to schedule my installation service.
“Schedule my service?” I asked, confused. “My service is already scheduled. The technician is supposed to come today to install it. I confirmed that two days ago.”
After some animated discussion, I relented and confirmed another technician to come to my house in another three days. After one week, the technician finally came and installed my Internet. Two days later, it wasn’t working again. I spent 2 1/2 hours on the phone today trying to get somebody at the phone company to care. I finally just threw my phone against the wall and went for a run.
Needless to say, I am angry with the service I’m getting. I’ve received no check-ins, found nobody who seems willing to solve my problem, nobody who wants to acknowledge my issues, nobody who seems to care that I was even a paying customer and definitely nobody who gave a hoot that I’d been a loyal customer for over 15 years. Apparently Elton John was right, “sorry” seems to be the hardest word after all.
I’m a stickler for good customer support. I run a registration technology company and customer support is a number one priority for us. We do our damnedest to go above and beyond the call of duty to provide great customer support. Not good support. Great support.
Because when I, as a customer, get treated like I’m important, when I experience a company that makes me feel valued and special, when I am recognized for my loyalty, that is a company that I want to continue working with. Even more, it’s a company I want to talk about and tell others to work with.
This is no different in triathlon. Race directors are the event owners and we, the participants, are their customers. When I do a race, when I pay my hard earned money to participate in a race, I want to feel good about it, I want to feel appreciated and special — regardless of how I perform.
I was speaking with John Korff recently. He’s the guy who puts on the New York City Triathlon and, as it turns out, he’s also got a commitment to the customer experience. He actually has his employees call every single participant in the race to thank them for signing up — and they do this before the event even happens! I was blown away when he told me. I wouldn’t have believed it had I not been sitting in his office and actually heard his team making the calls. It’s no wonder that they get racers coming back to them year after year and others scrambling to get in.
Similarly, if you’ve ever been to a Team Magic event, you probably know the cult-like following behind what they do. Therese and Faye focus on creating an amazing experience for all participants, regardless of whether you finish first or last. And oh, you’ll never finish last in any Team Magic race. That’s because Team Magic always has a designated last place finisher — a person whose sole job is to make sure nobody crosses the finish line behind them. So regardless of how slow you are, there’s always somebody slower. And that’s just one of the many little things they do to show their appreciation to people.
When it comes to post-race celebrations, I have yet to see a race that even compares to the Survival of the Shawangunks (SOS) in New York. As if the race itself weren’t an amazing experience, Don Davis, the race organizer, must spend a pretty penny on the post-race party. It is, in short, incredible. All participants get a free, all-you-can-eat, outdoor barbecue buffet at a five-star resort overlooking one of the most beautiful lakefront oases in the country. And when I say barbecue, I don’t mean burgers on a grill. I mean gourmet chefs churning out a plethora of delectable treats. There’s the meats section, the fruit section, the vegetable section, an ice cream bar, salads, breads; you name it, it’s there and it’s amazing. After a hard day on the course, there is nothing better than being treated like royalty.
When it comes down to it, you can tell a lot about a company by how they treat their customers. In today’s social environment, a mere phone call or a little acknowledgement can mean the difference between having an amazing experience and sharing with thousands of others on Facebook, Yelp and Twitter how terrible you’ve been treated. Assuming, of course, that the phone company finally installed your Internet.
Jeff Matlow just wants to feel like somebody cares.
He’s here:
jeffruns@imATHLETE.com – or –
www.twitter.com/IAmAthlete
120 USA TRIATHLON SPRING 2012
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