UKNM: UKNM Digest V1 #202 BT customer service online: a poor standard

[thepartnership]

azeem azhar wrote

>

>Continuing my current bug bear with large corporations trying to get the

>net; viz BT phone net.

>

>I sent a feedback message via their Web site on the 28 May.

>

>Today (jun 16th) I got an acknowledgement that they had received it and it

>was in the queue.

>

>Is 19 days good enough for an acknowledgement?


The answer (obviously) is absolutely not. Sadly, however, this level of

service seems to be the norm rather than the exception. There's loads of

surveys to support the case that email response management and indeed, the

whole issue of customer care online, including ecommerce fulfilment, is

currently done really badly.  (EG 42% of emails sent to financial services

companies are never responded to at all!)


However,  clients often forget that the real successes online, like Amazon

and Dell, are actually brilliantly slick fulfilment/customer care

operations, who happen to use the net to advertise. (OK, an exaggeration to

make a point!).


I also declare an interest here,  particularly in the email management side

of things. I'm involved in running a very successful fulfilment company.

We've been banging on about email management for two years now to both

clients and prospects. Yes, they agree it's important to respond to emails.

Yes, they suppose it is important that emails are answered promptly and

probably the same day of receipt (or even acknowledged immediately and

responded to later).  Yes, they understand that failing to respond to

queries will lead directly to lost business. So why are they never prepared

to do something about it? OK, I'd be the first to admit that this isn't the

sexy bit on ecommerce, but surely everyone can see it's important?


Anyway, enough ranting. If anyone has any comments on why this is so often

overlooked, I'd be really interested.


Kind regards


Russell Buckley

The Handling Partnership

Tel: 0171 350 1113 Fax: 0171 228 4340

russellfulfilment [dot] net

http://www.thepartnership.co.uk

ecommerce fulfilment * mail order * telebusiness  * email response handling

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