"Your Call May Be Recorded" is a Two-Way Street

CNN and Money.com recently announced their 101 Dumbest Moments in Business. It's an interesting list, and one worthy of a few good chuckles and a great illustration or two for your upcoming presentation. The Grand-Prize winner for the dumbest moment in Customer Service came compliments of Comcast, whose installer fell asleep on the couch of customer Brian Finkelstein. Finkelstein took the opportunity to video tape the scene and it quickly became one of the most watched videos on the web. While Comcast apologized and fired the installer, there was no getting around the fact that the installer fell asleep while on hold for over and hour waiting for Comcast themselves to answer the phone. The negative word-of-mouth continues months later.

Companies regularly record calls to provide accountability and training. We're all used to the phrase "your call may be recorded to ensure quality service." But the recording of service experiences is quickly  becoming a two-way street. Get ready. Your customers may be recording phone calls to your customer service department and sharing them with the public. Some companies are welcoming the challenge. The Geek Squad even tells customers on their front-end IVR to go ahead and record the experience, if they wish.

Is your company ready for customers to record your calls and service experiences?

Comments

[Mitch Matthews]

Tom -

Wow... I hadn't seen this. It's painful to watch but it's also a great piece of evidence on how the world is changing.

It used to be that if a person had a complaint they would have to connect with the company, submit their issue and wait as they wonder whether their problem would ever be addressed.

Now... with things like YouTube and a little creativity... you can "post" your complaint... have millions of people see it... and get quoted on CNN and Money.com!

That's awesome! It's also a little scary for those of us that own businesses.

This a great reminder of ONE more reason to always shoot to be "remarkable" in the area of customer care.

Keep up the great work Tom!