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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| reply to KrK
Re: yep
The point is, HALG, that you have a monopoly view of customer service and I have one reflecting the competitive side of business.
Many "impossible" things have happened because customers wanted it--we don't have to have our autos "lubricated" every 1000 miles like they used to in the 1930's. Long life rechargeable batteries without "recharge memory" problems for cell phones were, not long ago, "impossible" or "way too expensive". Now they are common.
The successful company will try to satisfy the customer, no matter how "hard" it seems. The failing dinosaur of a company will argue incessantly that the customer has "unrealistic expectations." If the dinosaur is big and powerful enough, it may survive long enough to eventually adopt the innovations made by the smaller player, or it may not.
This is not to say that every idea from some marketing MBA is a good one. (I recall stories of a marketing guy at ATT telling the newly-acquired NCR engineers that a new laptop needed an "off" light, even though that would eventually drain valuable battery juice. The difference is that this stupid idea wasn't at all important to customers.)
One reason that monopolists so resent new competitors is that the competitors are willing to take risks and innovate when the monopolist would rather just sit in the chair and tell the customer how "unrealistic" or "plain stupid" is. It's very hard to do that when the guy down the street is actually focusing on meeting the customer's wants.
And yes, I have some first hand experience in this area, having worked a difficult "post dial delay" problem in the days before SS7--with focus, we achieved what our engineers had said was "impossible" and only the result of "unrealistic" expectations on the part of our customers.
Calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
Premium
join:2000-01-17
Tulsa, OK
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| You're still missing the point. Most competitive companies (not the monopoly ones) still try to meet the customer's expectations, and still try to deliver the absolute best.
However, it's not a case of "impossible" as much as it is a case of economic costs. As you are aware when in a competitive environment, price is a factor (often, the #1 factor.)
Let me illustrate with an example: A corner store has 2 employees to serve customers. Most of the day, this generates little or no wait times for customers, but at peak periods, or during rush periods, lines may form that are swiftly worked through-- but it's possible that customers may have to wait in line 45 seconds to 2 minutes to get through the process.
Now, there IS a solution: The store could add a 3rd register, and hire on another employee. This would improve wait times. However, the costs of hiring the third person would cut into the profit to such an extent as to require a 30% increase on prices to cover, but in a competitive environment, such prices would simply kill the business totally. Not increasing prices would make the store survive, but the owner would now make so little that he could close the shop and work for someone else and make a lot more money and a lot less headaches.
So what do you think is going to happen? The third person will not be hired, and the status quo will continue.
It's more then just trying to meet everyone's demands. You have to weigh the economic costs of pleasing everyone vs the small amount of business you might lose.
It's always a compromise... and that compromise usually comes down to "you can please most people most of the time, but not everyone all of the time."
And trust me, that IS what sucessful companies do.
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"Regulatory capitalism is when companies invest in lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians, instead of plant, people, and customer service." - former FCC Chairman William Kennard (A real FCC Chairman, unlike the current Corporate Spokesperson in the job!) | |
calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| Yes, there will be compromises.
But I hope your corner store would consider hiring someone part time to handle the expected peak period rush--and if they don't, then the store in the next block probably will.
If neither corner store is able to meet the customer expectations, they both risk being run out of business by an operator with a different business model which keeps the customers happier--which is exactly what happened to traditional "corner stores" in much of America as supermarkets opened. Their surviving offspring are more "convenience stores" than the true grocers they used to be.
The original discussion appeared to relate to waiting times for telephone assistance. If you're running big call centers, keeping wait times to the absolute minimum should be a priority (unless you want to discourage calls, which is a whole 'nother can of worms....)
Calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! | |
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