Blogging Your Customer Service

It's no secret that Franki and I use our blog to talk about our retail experiences. When we have a good meal, when we find a new product we want everyone to try, or when we see a good commercial, we talk about it.

We want to let companies know when they do well and when they screw up. As more business bloggers gather confidence, traffic, and a high search engine ranking for their blog, I think you'll see more of this. Just the other day, these three bloggers were talking about their experiences.

Blogger 1: Marianne Richmond.

Marianne has had a lot of problems with her Sprint customer service. It started with billing and has continued over, and over, and over again. So when she read in the WSJ that Sprint was firing some of their customers, she had an idea.

I called Sprint retention back and explained that I had called earlier and was told I couldn't terminate my contract without paying $200 for each of my three phones but since I saw that they were trying to get rid of "high maintenance" customers that I would like to volunteer. Marlene 3350 refused my offer.

Sprint disappointed her again.

Blogger 2: Spike

Spike from Brains on Fire is a marketing expert. He had some thoughts about one of Home Depot's latest initiatives. He writes a letter to them.

The first thing that jumps out at me is that it’s you (or your ad agency) telling the stories about your customers – not them telling their stories themselves. The videos look and sound like ads. The copy pushes your products. The photography was obviously done by professionals – not real people.

In other words, you’ve created a promotional site and campaign wrapped in a disguise of caring about your customers. It’s not about you, Home Depot. It never was. You’ve got potential, but unless Share your Story evolves into something that people can really sink their teeth into – until it really has meaning and substance and true engagement – nothing will change (and that goes for both people’s attitudes towards you…and your bottom line).

Companies used to have to respond to poor customer service and defective products. Now they're increasingly going to be on the defensive for everything they do, from recruiting and staffing, to consumer marketing to their decisions on allowing Merry Christmas in the stores. In other words, the entire enterprise is now under scrutiny.

Blogger 3: You people
Techdirt points a NYT article on the rising concern of restaurants that amateurs (like me) are criticizing their food, their service, and their decor. Much like my review of Aqua Vin here in Chesterfield, average people are starting to write their impressions of your duck in a mango sauce, or in my case your fishy mahi mahi. Is that one word of two?

From the NYT article:

Pioneered by food and restaurant discussion boards like Chowhound.com, a handful of Web sites have taken amateur restaurant critiquing to new levels, giving diners more power than they ever had to sound off on what they like and don't like. And chefs are taking notice.

There's a lot at stake for restaurants, whose reputation can rise or fall on a strongly worded review in an influential local media outlet. With often tight profit margins and a high rate of failure, restaurants have keenly watched reviews that appear in local media -- and now, from average users online.

Welcome to your Blog New World. What industry is up next?