C KS PAC E
LIVING THE SERVICE MANTRA
To give you an example of how diligently
we stuck to this philosophy, one founder
actually had his email autoresponder
message state his mailbox was full and
divert people to the customer support
number, while his phone message did
just the opposite refer people to a full
mailbox. In reality, we were not dealing
with this “novice” group of customers
at all, deeming them incongruent with
our desired customer profile. The angry
emails started pouring in, and they were
decidedly not in the form of emotional
rants. Instead, they included logical
arguments supported by details of
customers’ multiple contact attempts and
their resulting frustration.
I grabbed one such relatable email
remember, I’m not a techie myself and
showed it to our founders to discuss.
Somehow, generating all this anger
seemed contrary to the principles of
good business management, and the
alarm bells were ringing. If there were
so many people out there wanting to
do business with us, shouldn’t we find
some way to accommodate them and, of
course, monetize our idea in the process?
A Reversal to Fortune
We decided to do a complete one-eighty.
The company was only nine months old
at the time, and I knew that it was not
too late to change our culture to one of
service, with customer satisfaction as our
ultimate barometer of success. I realize
that every company these days has a
mantra of customer service, but what
does it take to actually make these words
a reality?
/
I called on David Bryce, the most
customer-focused executive I knew at
the time, to shepherd this change. He
joined the company in 1999 as the vice
president of customer care. Handing
me a book by famed customer service
advocate Leonard Berry, Bryce set the
company on a brand new path, which he
called “fanatical customer support.” In a
nutshell, we did anything and everything
to service our customers, as quickly and
as efficiently as possible. When they
called on us for help, we would be there.
Period.
HERE ARE A FEW EXAMPLES OF
HOW THIS NEW PHILOSOPHY OF
FANATICAL SUPPORT PERMEATED
EVERY ASPECT OF RACKSPACE’S
CORPORATE CULTURE:
Commitment to Resolution – No matter
how complex the customer problem,
it always had an “owner,” someone to
coordinate the various support players to
get the job done. No flipping the account
from person to person. The point person
continued to claim ownership throughout
the resolution period, vowing to own the
problem until it was fixed.
Eliminated Fallback Possibilities –
We decided to literally give our support
staff “no way out” when it came to
servicing our clients. We had installed a
new phone system, but tough as it was,
we disabled our voicemail and auto-
attendant capabilities so it was always
on us to answer each call. We had zero
tolerance for the “I can’t get to it right now”
mentality. Instead, you made it happen.
GRAHAM WESTON
Assigned a Time Frame – Time matters
when it comes to customer support, so
resolving problems quickly became a
priority. Answering phone calls within
three rings or fixing the problem within
one hour became the standard. We
created a “hustle” mentality and lived it
each day.
Considered Customers Blameless
– When a customer called, we did not
spend precious time trying to figure out
who caused the problem or play the
blame game. We knew that this approach
was counterproductive and would not
help fix the problem any faster. We only
cared about a quick resolution so that our
customers could get back to work.
Created a Manifesto – Our mantra of
“fanatical support” became a way of life
within Rackspace, and everyone who
was hired understood that service was
the name of the game. Our company
culture was defined by it and became
known for it, even after the company went
public in 2008.
Once we set these rules in motion, the
marketplace responded. We grew by 50
percent a year for over 10 years, adding
50 to 100 employees a month. Our
commitment to service was not an added
expense that dragged us down but a
tremendous motivator to help us always
do better. I apply these same principles
now in mentoring budding entrepreneurs,
and I recommend them to you too. Let
them guide your business and you
will see that they will pay you back
in spades. u
FALL 2018
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