As you may recall, I sent an email to the makers of Silk Yogurt asking several questions. After some delay, they responded:
Thank you for your recent e-mail to Silk®. We appreciate your interest in our products.
Thanks again for contacting the Consumer Affairs Department.
Sincerely,
Jesus Lopez
Consumer Response Representative
I don’t think he even read my email. This type of response could just have easily come immediately from an email auto-responder. But it didn’t. It came from a third-party customer service provider after several days of waiting.
Don’t Hide
I’m disappointed that Silk has chosen to insulate itself from customers by routing all feedback through a third party. To add to the frustration, if you visit casupport.com, from which Jesus’ email originated, you get this message:
OOPS!!!! If you are trying to reach a consumer products company, you’ve come here by mistake!
To send an email to that company via AOL, simply click on “Write” in the upper left corner of your screen.
Follow the company’s instructions by either entering the company’s name or the product name followed by “@casupport.com” in the “Send To” box.
For example, if you are instructed to use the company name and you are trying to reach “XYZ Company,” type “XYZCompany@casupport.com” in the “Send To” box. If you are instructed to use the product name - say “ABC Product” - type ABCProduct@casupport.com.
Write your message, click “Send Now,” and your email should arrive at the appropriate destination!
Thanks for following these directions!
Good luck with those directions. Not only do you not respond to my questions nor my follow-up email but I can’t even tell who you are or how to escalate my issue.
After a little sleuthing, I found Telerx, a customer care outsourcer, owns the casupport.com domain name. Unfortunately, even they don’t live up to their own hype where they state:
Handling [customers] expertly enhances brand value. Anything less and you run the risk of creating ambassadors of negativity, not to mention lost business.
So this very post has become an ambassador of negativity. Don’t let it happen to your company.
Make it Personal
Keep in direct contact with your customers. Losing that connection will lead to you living in a false reality while customers angrily leave your business for better opportunities.
Craigslist’s founder Craig Newmark is a great example to follow. He personally handles customer service emails. If he can do it, why can’t your company?
Answer Questions
Answer each and every question in your customer’s emails. The customer took the trouble to ask, you can take the time to answer. Don’t ignore questions you’re uncomfortable answering. Don’t respond with just a link to a help page on your site. Answer the questions.
Tell Me Now
If you aren’t going to tell the customer anything useful, tell them sooner rather than later. Customers will understand a slight delay in answering questions if you give good answers. If customers had to wait for you to simply respond with generic babble, then you’ll just make them mad.
Conclusion
Customers require proper customer care. Don’t neglect them, ignore them, or outsource their care to the lowest bidder. Take the extra time and resources to nurture your existing customers and they’ll be yours for many years to come.
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Andrew Breese
November 2, 2006
Agreed in full, and I find it as frustrating.
That said: there is a place for automated responses. Technical support emails are bound to arrive in volume, and I found being given an automatic ticket number sometimes is helpful.
However this also creates a mess of problems if staff depend on them for the interaction with clients.
My policy is to make as direct contact as possible when talking to customers; especially prospective customers. If they ask via email, but also supply a phone I will respond using email first, and often follow up with a call.
You can use a system to your advantage, and not the customers disadvantage.
Craig Newmark
November 2, 2006
thanks, much appreciated! but I’m only one part of a customer service team, and they do a great job.
thanks!
Craig
Joe Rawlinson
November 2, 2006
Andrew-
Automated systems are great when they are mutually beneficial to both the company and customer. Your policy of direct contact with customers is excellent.
Craig-
You’re welcome! Hats off to both you and your team.
Jason
November 3, 2006
I actually had a great example of this last week. My wife and I bought a bottle of the new Tide “Simple Pleasures” scented detergent. We couldn’t stand the smell of our clothes after we washed them and made my wife sick to her stomach to wear them. So, I e-mailed P&G’s customer support to see if they had a “satisfaction guaranteed” policy.
This was the reply I got:
——————————————————————————-
Thanks for contacting us, Jason.
I’m sorry about your wife’s recent experience after using Tide Simple Pleasures in the Vanilla & Lavender scent. Our products are thoroughly evaluated to be safe when used as directed, and we wouldn’t expect the results you described. I’m sharing your report with our Health and Safety Division. If allergies are a concern for your family, you may want to try Tide Free. It doesn’t contain any dyes or perfumes.
Your satisfaction means a great deal to us so I’m also responding by postal mail. Look for my letter to arrive in 7-10 days.
Thanks again for getting in touch with us.
Mary Lou
Tide Team
——————————————————————————-
Thinking it was a canned response, I replied back personally anyway:
——————————————————————————-
Thank you for the thoughtful reply, Mary Lou. However, you didn’t respond to my question regarding returning the product. Should I return the remaining portion to the store of purchase or can P&G issue me credit toward the purchase of Tide Free?
–jason
——————————————————————————-
This is what I got back:
——————————————————————————-
Thanks for contacting Tide, Jason.
I’m sorry about your wife’s experience with Tide Simple Pleasures Vanilla & Lavender. Our products are thoroughly evaluated to be safe when used as directed, and we wouldn’t expect the results you described. I’m sharing your report with our Health and Safety Division.
Your satisfaction means a great deal to us so I’m also responding by postal mail. Look for my letter to arrive in 7-10 days.
Thanks again for getting in touch with us.
Melissa
Tide Team
——————————————————————————-
Not exactly a two-way conversation. If you’re not going to take the time to understand me, why bother responding at all?
Cheers,
–jason
Joe Rawlinson
November 3, 2006
Jason-
Round and round we go. Where we stop, nobody knows!
Sorry you got hit with the endless loop of no answers. I’ve found that with consumer companies, you’ll get a better response if you call them up on the phone. That worked with me for DiGiorno pizza, Huggies diapers, and Nabisco.