Customer Service in the Information Age

In his post, Why I say I’m a Blogger, Dave Winer follows up his Comcast diatribe from a few days earlier, with a subdued explanation of how he expects blogs to change how corporations interact with their customers. In the former post Winer states:

One of the reasons I believe in blogging is that it can reform business, giving power to the users, where we were powerless before. If I didn’t have a blog what could I have done to get Comcast to pay attention? Tell my friends and relatives? Sure, they know that isn’t very powerful. But when any customer could also be a publisher, well that does change things. This new power to publish can help us all get a better deal.

Most companies have left the sheltered view that business needs to be done on their terms, and will adapt certain policies and procedures to ease customers’ concerns. Companies whose framework depends on customer feedback to alter their future strategies will certainly take into account what is being discussed on the blogs, but they will also scour other online sources known for their customer feedback including but not limited to feedback forms at their official website, discussion threads within the webforum community, and product reviews at online retailing giant Amazon.com. Additionally, these companies will continue to take advantage of offline sources of feedback such as letters, phone calls, and faxes. Regardless of the medium that the feedback is generated, customers should understand that the process can be reversed when Companies feel that the limits of their product(s) and/or service(s) are intentionally being challenged.

When Winer’s original complaint about Comcast was circulating throughout twitter, I asked him if bandwidth could possibly be a scarce resource and his response alluded to him not necessarily knowing the answer. But Winer is not alone. Over the past six (6) months I have discussed the subject of bandwidth limitations with a number of my undergraduate colleagues from Drexel University, a Philadelphia University that favors science, technology, and innovation. My colleagues; whose concentrations varied from computer science to information systems, could explain in great detail the technicalities of how the internet works but were unable to provide me with a concrete answer on whether or not bandwidth is a scarce resource. According to Green Living Online’s article Greening the Internet, bandwidth is a scarce resource due to the sheer energy usage required to keep it running. The article states:

The Internet keeps us connected, helps us share information and reduces travel time. But it also has a big carbon footprint. It is estimated that globally it takes about 868 billion kWh of electricity per year to power. That’s a whopping 14 power plants worth of energy and about three percent of all the energy consumption in the USA, which adds up to a lot of energy and a lot of CO2 emissions.

Winer’s topic is just one conversation in this tangled web of how customers and companies are interacting with each other. On what feels to be a separate planet from the blogs and twitter, are the automotive webforums which is where I was introduced to the concept of blogging nearly ten (10) years ago. One of the hot topics from when I owned a car that is still discussed today, is automotive dealerships and insurance companies going to drag strips to catch pictures of their customers’ cars being used for non-street purposes. In a recent post at automotive webforum Myspecv.com, Moderator Kevin (RedDragonV09) puts out a WARNING To Warranty and Insurance Policy Holders Going to the Track!

A few weeks went by and my friend calls me all pissed off. He says to me, “Dude, you were right! The [CENSORED] dealership sent me a letter telling my that they are voiding my entire drivetrain’s [CENSORED] warranty! And they got [CENSORED] pictures too man! My car is going down the track in this one!” I know that this happens, but honestly I was surprised that it actually happened. I was kind of sickened to hear this news. But no where near as sickened as my friend was. He was so [CENSORED] furious.

And to think that was the end of it. 2 days later, he got another letter from his insurance company, which was Geico, the same insurance company I used back then. They canceled his policy. He had to go to another company and get another policy almost immediatly because the next day his bank that financed his car called him and said that they were notified that the car did not currently have insurance and that they needed him to insure it and to have a copy of the policy faxed to them as soon as its insured or they will repossess the car if he doesnt comply in 30 days.

So, as a warning to all of you that go to the drag strip. If you have a warranty and would like to keep it, or if you just have an insurance policy and dont want to be caught on the track, take the 5 minutes to remove them before you go down the track and the 5 minutes to put them back on. And cover your VIN while youre at it.

And just because youve been to the track many times and youve never gotten the letter, doesnt mean it cant happen to you. I found this out on a local Nissan forum in Washington where a guy had went to Pacific Raceways in his new 350Z and they voided his warranty this way. His insurance didnt get canceled, but he warranty was GONE!

Personally, I feel that drag strips provide a regulated environment for drivers to test their vehicles off of public roads, but understand that it is the right of the automotive dealerships to cancel warranty coverage on vehicles that have been used outside of the scope of normal use. Tying back to Dave Winer’s issue with Comcast, it can be debated that he was using Comcast outside of its intended use. As he states in this post, Winer uses more bandwidth than the average internet user:

I figured out why I use so much more bandwidth than the average Internet user. I have five computers, all Macs, all sucking down FlickrFan pictures once an hour. That adds up to quite a few gigs. It would be easy to cut back. Not sure I will though, cause I hate to be lectured and threatened by companies I pay $180 per month to.

which is further backed up by this photo:

In one corner, you have a customer knowingly using a great amount of bandwidth and in the other corner a company that is sensitive about how customers use its bandwidth due to the regulatory and environmental risks they face from such usage. I will digress the question of who is “right” in this case to the myriad of conversations floating around on twitter. But to those individuals that are looking for more open and honest communication with companies, caveat emptor.

Avoiding Unproductive Conversations

On this morning’s HBR IdeaCast(85) Podcast, the featured guest was Marshall Goldsmith, who writes the Ask the Coach Blog at HarvardBusiness.org. Goldsmith and Paul Michaelman, the IdeaCast’s discussion leader, talked about counterproductive communication in corporate America and how sixty (60%) percent of workplace conversations involve employees discussing their self-importance or harshly criticizing their coworkers. It is in management’s best interest to mitigate these conversations because of the reputation risk associated with the disclosure of sensitive information. For example, a boastful or inflammatory employee may exercise poor judgment outside of the workplace and disclose private data to unrelated third party. To help my manager mitigate this risk, I have adopted a process of asking myself several questions before I speak.

Why would I want to say this?
This question forces you to think at a very high level.
Personally, if I am unable to ascertain a reason as to why I am going to say something, I tend not to say anything at all. Additionally, if the reason is anger, jealousy, fear, or any other emotion that is best kept out of the work place, I will also tend not to say anything at all.

Am I right?
This question forces you to make a decision.
In prior experiences, when I felt that I was right about an issue or a situation, I would speak my opinion at will. And my colleagues were not pleased. This behavior lead to a series of humbling experiences while I was in college, and I have learned that being right all the time quickly loses its novelty.

Is it worth the risk of being wrong?
This question forces you to think about the consequences of your actions.
In college, my free expression of my opinions were both self-gratifying and inflammatory of my peers. I cringe at the memories of what I said when I was an undergraduate, but use those experiences to help me avoid making the same mistakes as a professional. It has been my experience that most of the time, it isn’t worth the risk of being wrong.

Overall, this process has lead me to sublimate my ego so that I may have honest and productive conversations with my colleagues.

Why I work for America’s Most Convenient Bank

I have been seeking my dare-to-be great situation since I decided to leave a two-hundred (200) employee community bank last year in search of the Manhattan financial dream. It was promising; I had lined up four (4) interviews with international banks of varying size. The positions ranged from corporate finance, specialty financial vehicles, and shipping finance. But I failed to land a position after poor follow through demonstrated inexperience on my behalf. In hindsight it was for the best, because I was in a financial position which would make transitioning to a New York City resident difficult. I set out again to find a new position, expanding my search to Chicago, Atlanta, and any other city that would have me. I called in all of my connections including family, past companies that I had interviewed with, and my credit training instructor. I lined myself up with a barrage of interviews many of which were similar to my last position.

Headstrong not to make a horizontal move, I trudged on looking for the right opportunity. It came from Lisa Hall, a Human Resources recruiter for Commerce Bank who spoke with me for twenty-five (25) minutes on the phone, immediately following an unsuccessful interview. I went through a rigorous yet expedient interview process including a one (1) hour face-to-face interview with Lisa Hall, a three (3) hour interview with my soon-to-be manager Jim Nixon, and a quick meeting with his boss Roger Bomgardner. Even with Bank of America in New York City and Merrill Lynch in Chicago knocking on my door, I chose Commerce Bank because they made their decision to hire me within two (2) weeks of first contact.

Over the past year I have learned the importance of detail-oriented underwriting, seeing potential deals in the eyes of a risk manager, a salesman, and a customer, and how hard you must work when you are in a larger pond of employees. On Monday, my company Commerce Bank was acquired by TD Banknorth, a subsidiary of TD Bank Financial Group. For me and my colleagues, this is a tumultuous time because we must expediently adapt to new policies from a multinational corporation that avoided sub-prime mortgage exposure and enjoys helping the environment. With unemployment at 5.1% and growing, I am up for the challenge and feel fortunate to be working for a company in a position to weather this economic uncertainty.