Customer C.A.R.E. by Dr Trilogy
It all started one Monday morning, when
all three telephone lines in our office went
down within a few hours. First it was our
ADSL line, and when we reported this on the
one line that was working, we were given
a reference number and told that it would
be fixed within 48 hours. No explanations,
no apologies, no empathy, just a bored call
centre employee without any customer care
skills. When we complained about the fact
that we would have to wait two days, and
that our business relied on the ADSL line,
we were told rather rudely that we were not
the only customers with this problem, so
we should effectively stop complaining, and
to lump it. Then the only remaining working
line went down and we were left up a creek
without a paddle.
Something did not make sense, so I went
up the street in search of technicians, as I
was sure that it was technicians in the area
that were the problem. And so it was. I spied
a contractor vehicle, and asked what they
were doing. A piece of paper was thrust into
my hand - a notice of service interruption
to everyone in our street - advising that
the lines were being upgraded. This notice
was supposed to be given to us the week
before, but why bother with such a simple
communication to your customers? I could
go on and on, suffice to say that over the
next five days I had a running battle with
this contractor and Telkom technicians, as
they came in and out of my property and the
adjoining properties, as they fumbled about
with their “upgrade”.
Let’s have a look at their rating against the
Mirror Image of Customer C.A.R.E.:
1.
41091
2.
3.
4.
Over Promise, and Under Deliver.
If one peruses Telkom’s website
and its advertising, it is littered with
FM-Motorparts Logos_ABR_ad.pdf
1
such phrases as “best-in-breed”, 9/17/14
“experienced team of professionals”,
“world-class infrastructure”, etc. and
the biggest promise is that “Telkom
Business is the blood that gives life to
your operations”. Absolute rubbish,
and an enormous lie, over promising
and under delivering to a massive
extent!
Keeping Your Customer Waiting. This is
also cut and dried. Not only was I kept
waiting, without even knowing what I
was waiting for, but the uncaring “it will
be fixed in 48 hours” comment, and the
fact that it took five days to fix, puts
Telkom firmly in the horse’s rear end
territory when it comes to keeping their
customers waiting.
Mushrooming Your Customer. Here, the
horse manure is dished up in copious
quantities. Telkom didn’t tell us that
our lines were about to go down. They
didn’t warn us in time so that we could
have taken the necessary action to
avoid our communication problems.
And they even mushroomed their
own call centre, with the operators
totally unaware of the “planned”
maintenance on our numbers. From a
communication perspective, Telkom
would achieve a rating of 0% if this
was an exam. Appalling, disgraceful,
shocking and unacceptable are just
a few of the adjectives to describe
Telkom in this mirror image aspect.
And since this is a family programme, I
will not use the words that I should be
using to describe Telkom.
Losing Your Cool. Even here, where
it is not too difficult to get a decent
score on how you interact with your
customers, Telkom failed miserably.
When I mentioned to the call centre
that my business was suffering
2:38 PM
because of the ADSL line going
down, I was berated for only thinking
5.
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of my business, and that many other
businesses were in the same boat.
Apart from this comment being
absolutely inane, the lack of humility
and empathy is breathtakingly uncaring.
Thus, another cardinal crime!
Second Best is Good Enough. It is clear
that Telkom is still in the Stone Age
when it comes to customer C.A.R.E.,
and they are firmly entrenched in the
monopolistic mindset. With this mindset
comes the belief, despite their untrue
comments on their website and their
advertising, that second best is good
enough, in everything they do. It is an
entrenched problem, and only genuine
competition will change this vexatious
customer care aberration.
So there you have it.
Another example of
an institution failing
the mirror image test.
Telkom scores badly
on all five points, and a
clear indication that they
regard their customers as
the rear end of a horse.
They lost the plot decades
ago, and only intense
competition will get them
out of their rut, and to
truly understand that
C.A.R.E. means
Customers
Are Really
Everything!