SXSW Interactive is less than 24 hours away and the excitement and traffic congestion is building in and around Austin. To celebrate the recent debut of Sht Lst, (pronounced "shit list"), we are giving away a Fitbit to someone who signs up! Sign up now for Sht Lst's SXSW Interactive Fitbit Giveaway! Fine print is too difficult to read, so we're just going to post the rules in regular-sized [...]
Over the past couple months, we have been testing the Sht Lst (pronounced "shit list") web application. If you don't know what Sht Lst is, read this. Since we launched Sht Lst early this year, this is what we have learned: People will complain when there is an easy means to do so People are more comfortable complaining when they see others doing the same We need to make [...]
This has absolutely nothing to do with Comnio or customer service, but we love animals. On a recent trip to the Africa area at the Kansas City Zoo, we were fortunate enough to see and hear the lions. Due to it being late in December, (and very cold weather) there were a lack of mammals out and about at the zoo. Many of the animals were also either incognito, [...]
At 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, January 14, 2014, Sht Lst Beta v.01 went live. Sign up and login to share and resolve a complaint about anything! It was an un-published rollout to allow for a couple days of live testing and final updates. (We needed to address several issues related to our SSL certificates.) Not to worry - our developers were able to address the issues and, in the [...]
Companies constantly advertise how much they value customer feedback. Unfortunately, few actually do value customer feedback. What are upset consumers doing? Turning to social media to share their feedback, both positive and negative. Millions of Twitter, Facebook, even Instagram users use social media to share experiences, and now customer service experiences are beginning to surface. However, even on social media sites like Twitter, customer complaints often go unanswered. As [...]
Customer spending accounts for 70% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in America, so treating consumers fairly and providing legendary customer service should be a top priority for every company. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), customer satisfaction is a leading indicator of a company's financial performance. Shifts in customer satisfaction cause overall changes in the consumer's willingness to buy, which impacts the GDP and our economy [...]
The day after Christmas can be a shopping nightmare for customers and customer service departments. Retailers roll out huge after-Christmas deals to attract a surge of year-end business, while customers come in droves to return or exchange Christmas gifts. One thing you may not know about December 26 is that in some nations, it is a holiday. The United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad [...]
As traditional and non-traditional methods of communication converge, businesses must be able to provide multi-channel customer service. Call centers, email, and online chat capabilities are not enough. Businesses face the challenge and responsibility of monitoring and responding to customer service issues through social media. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. - every social media network your brand or business is on, your customers and prospective customers are, too. Social [...]
If a new customer came into your establishment ready to make a purchase, but they had a coupon for a competitor, would you accept it? Before you answer, consider the following facts: Chances of getting a sale from a new customer are between 5 and 20% Actual sales from promotions sent to new customers are fewer than 1% Loyal customers are less price-sensitive. New customers, however, will buy based [...]
Every business should make customer service their first priority. All other functions are secondary to ensuring businesses maintain great relationships with customers. Side note: it's not enough to make customer service a priority - businesses must be legendary at it. Love customers and make them feel important. Why? Word-of-mouth (WOM) is the strongest form of marketing. If you suck at serving your customers, they will engage in negative word-of-mouth [...]