Wednesday, February 18. 2009How Can You Be Involved In Running An ISP.......John Linton .........when you clearly have absolutely no customer handling skills? Someone sent me an email today asking why I was so incompetent in this key aspect of business management and why "my superiors" didn't fire me for my attitude to customers. Apparently his/her understanding of the relative status of a CEO who also happens to be a majority shareholder vis a vis the ability of anyone to "fire" him was obviously lacking. My personal contribution to "helping Exetel customers" consists of: 1) Working the best part of 16 hours each week day, and over 8 hours each Saturday, Sunday and public holiday (except Christmas Day), on a wide variety of tasks that are all focused on delivering better services at lower prices than any other provider in Australia to Exetel's current and future customers. 2) Personally helping over 60 customers a day in the ways in which I am competent via direct email, forum or telephone contact (incidentally a higher number than we expect our CSRs to help). 3) Answering and writing another 200 emails each week day and 50 each weekend day dealing with various internal and external issues that relate to improving the services provided to Exetel's customers. So, the short answer is that the person running any small business that lasts some sort of significant length of time usually understands very well how to handle all sorts of things and that includes how to communicate with other human beings. I stress that communicating with other human beings is the key aspect of all aspects of business and conferring different stati on different human beings using some arbitrary tags such as "Supplier", Customer" or "Employee" is a stupid and totally pointless distinction.....and one that my personal upbringing and education ensured that I would never make the mistake of attempting to do. This particular enquiry about my "customer handling" skills was prompted by me posting on the Exetel forum a letter I had written to an Exetel customer who had made a complaint about four separate Exetel support engineers and who had then elaborated 'her' list of all things incompetent about those four Exetel engineers on a public forum. In the event that the details of what I said in the original response to the complainant and then my subsequent 're-clarification' of some other points are relevant to someone reading this they can be found here: http://forum.exetel.com.au/viewtopic.php?f=288&t=30804 While I may be biased in reviewing the words written (being the author) I would think that an impartial reader would deem them to be courteously and moderately phrased in circumstances where one person is claiming that four other people acted in ways that each of the four other people categorically denied. The only collateral documentation/facts supported the four people's versions of events while contradicting the complainant's version in several key aspects. The other claims/statements by the complainant, judged on their standalone self determination, indicated that the complainant was far from correct in 'her' views on how ADSL connections work or how major carriers treat weekends and public holidays. My personal views of individual people is that everyone should be treated with elementary courtesy until they clearly give up their rights to be treated in that way by their own actions/statements. I have been brought up to believe that no distinction can be made in dealing with other human beings irrespective of their age, gender, race or any other attribute. In other words no individual human being has any specific claim on how they should be regarded or treated other than how they conduct themselves. Not quite an OT "eye for an eye" view of relationships but its less violent social intercourse equivalent. I have written over 550 entries to this blog during the past 20 months and over 12,000 Exetel forum replies and statements over the past 5 years and it should be obvious to anyone who had ever read what I write, and how I write it, that my view of the people I write for is that they are adults and that they have the same rights to express themselves as I do. Neither party has any claim of 'special privileges' in any dialogue - interchanges are between adults expressing their views - and in some cases choosing to express their views in ways that other people may not deem appropriate. I don't regard anyone as a "Customer" when they write whatever it is they choose to write - I simply look at what is written and make my own personal determinations of what I think has been stated - and sometimes I make a guess at why statements have been made - by a human being. In the latest case of some sensitive soul taking exception to how I treated a "customer" - get over it - anyone who maliciously attacks four people whom I am familiar with in public is not going to be meekly allowed to spread their lies and other calumnies without me taking exception to their cowardly rantings. While people I employ might not be my best friends or members of my immediate family I am certainly not going to allow them to be defamed by some random a**hole simply because 'she' thinks she can say whatever 'she' likes. If running a business means letting a**holes demean the people you employ because they are a "customer" then the world has become a place that I'd rather not be associated with. Paying a few dollars less for the lowest priced broadband services in Australia confers no status or ability on anyone other than saving a few dollars a month - it certainly doesn't provide a license to behave like a total d***head. So, I guess, I'm incapable of running a commercial business - unfortunately, at least right now, I see no other alternative so Exetel's 90,000+ customers will have no option in replacing the current CEO but, of course, have an easy remedy for any dislike they may have of how Exetel is managed.
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I have to say I agree with you, especially in this case. I have been reading those posts by the user in question and they seem far more inclined to rant and insult than anything else.
But then of late there seem to be a few accounts that are making claims similar, and most of them not providing the required information to prove their stories. Have you pissed anyone off lately? I seem to remember reading somewhere this sort of thing happening before, trying to spread FUD among other misinformation. Comment (1)
I don't think that Exetel as done anything in particlar to 'annoy' the usual suspects other than continuing to exist.
Comments (9)
2 eternal truths:
the customer is always right. exetel is cheap. You're not inventing a cure for cancer John, don't expect ppl to be grateful when you wanted their business. They are too cheap and lazy to afford a better ISP. If they paid more they might respect you? Comment (1)
How very condescending of you.
Exetel provides services at costs that are lower than less efficient and greedy companies - that is true. The points at issue, as you clearly are as illiterate as the piece of sh** that made the original complaints are: 1) Telstra Wholesale doesn't work on weekends and NO EXPENSIVE ISP would be able to alter that fact. 2) NO EXPENSIVE ISP can do a tunnel reset or a port reset on Telstra equipment. 3) The "crapppy IVR" not only logged the fault with Exetel but also automatically logged it with Telstra at 4 am on a Saturday morning within 2 minutes. 5) Her denial that she didn't authorise a call out was simpy a lie. 6) etc, etc Neither I, nor anyone else at Exetel expects "gratitude". What any CSR is entitled to is not to be lied about and demeaned in public by a person clearly lacking in any moral or ethical upbringing. As for "a better ISP" - personally I don't know one in Australia. So why don't you just fuck off back to whatever cloud cuckoo land you live in and stop wasting your time reading my cheap and not up to scratch writings - at least until you have successfully completed a remedial English course? Comments (9)
john,
its funny the last two "nutcase" posters from today and a couple of days ago both use "band names" as their user names. I wonder if they are connected. I dont think you should take posts from people that use hotmail / gmail / generic email addresses. Anyone with common sense knows your leading the pack with innovative ideas and plans. Comments (2)
One of the reasons I'm in Sri Lanka is to do a first hand review of the 16 personnel we have answering teephnes and in the case of the complainant I actually was abe to have a first hand view of two of the calls and to see the attitudes displayed to the CSRs by the more ratbag of callers and, in the case of the complainant, to actually see the disparities between how she described the calls and what I heard on the calls - I can assure you there was a huge disparity.
Every aspect of every commercial company can always be improved and I'm certain that is the case with telephone support. We will continue to improve it based on what we see and what sensible customers suggest - as we always have done. Comments (9)
Hi John,
From my experiences with customer service, there are a few people that just have/like to complain. You can run around and pick up their whole life and they don't thank/think/do anything about it. They tend to fall apart when they realize the world doesn't revolve around them... Likewise, their own delusions help them cope. From my email experience, Exetel support has been very helpful, concise and prompt; far more than other "better" (expensive) services and ISP's! Comment (1)
Can't let customers get you down. Just this morning I had a customer tell me I'm incompetant, and my entire store is filled with crap... because the one item she did want was out of stock, to be replenished in a week.
Then there were the other 2 or 3... Some people just don't like hearing "No" At best, can only withdraw your items/services from sale and tell them to go elsewhere because you won't tolerate their rudeness and arrogance. Something I seem to do once per day. I think the pensioners are disgruntled right now, due to losses of their superannuation. Comment (1)
Pensioners will be even more disadvantaged soon - when we get the inevitable bout of superinflation that will result from Krudd's recent actions.
...... and in the meantime the $$$ is being devalued. People on fixed incomes will really suffer! Harry. Comments (2)
Are you saying the inflation genie has escaped from the bottle again?
Comments (9)
Yes, but it will probably take 12-18 months to become more visible!
Harry. Comments (2)
IMHO, Exetel's customer service has always been nothing but professional, with CSR's doing their utmost to solve problems (not that I have a problem very often.
As a sole trader, I sometimes come across customers who like to nothing but bitch about anything & everything. Whilst I tend to keep my mouth shut, occassional they go too far & I just have to respond. Does this mean I also have "no customer skills". I don't think so. It only means that any business operator can only take so much bulls**t before they need to respond & set the facts straight. Comment (1)
You say it so much better than I did - and in so many fewer words.
Comments (9)
john,
one concern many people i talk with about Extel hspa internet, are questions relating to ping times for their gaming. gaming is their life during their recreational hours- could i be so bold as to ask for you to post some ping times since your on a 14.4Mbit wireless contection. personally im not a gamer but im sure people would give you sites to ping for gaming. warcraft gaming servers is always a primary question. what speed do you get off - http://www.exetel.com.au/speed/meter.php such trivial things - but to the technically minded means alot. Comments (2)
Ping times will continue to be, at best, 80 - 90 ms and depending on the location often more than that.
I have never looked in to when/if these will improve but will do that later this year. Pings in Colombo are not something I can easily test as I don't have the IPs of games serviers here. I would doubt they would be any different to Australian times - they weren't in the UK last year. Comments (9)
My home HSPA service has a ping of around 80-110ms, it's fine for games like WoW.
Comment (1)
One of the upsides of starting one's business is a) you can choose who you work with, and b) you can choose who you use as suppliers and who you sell to as customers. One of the very good things about having hundreds of ISPs is that none of them have to be all things to all people. Exetel seems honest about what it is and what it is not. Perhaps the usual Whingepool mob who expect everything to be exactly what they want ought to try starting their own operations.
Comment (1)
I have found Exetel support via email and the forum to be excellent, but the phone support somewhat lacking.
The first time I tried to contact Exetel by phone, I got an engaged tone. The second time I couldn't hear the engineer (very poor quality VoIP line, too quiet to hear the operator even on full volume). The third time I connected OK and could hear the operator fine, but was cut off instead of being transferred. Comment (1)
I've got agree with Chris.
I've always found the email/forum support to be excellent. But I have also had my phone calls get cut off. I'm happy to use the forums normally, but still, it is never fun when your call gets cut off like that. Comment (1)
Obviously whoever said you don't have the skills to interact with customers, doesn't work in IT support / management. Its a very painful thing to do even at the best of days.
Your response on the forum is even better than i would have put it. I dont think i would be able to be that diplomatic. Some customers you handle with care, but as soon as they become vindictive I say kick em out the door. Honestly, you can only help so many idiots per day ... and when they become difficult to handle and want to make unnecessary (and false) claims like that it makes me want to get the proverbial s#!t$. Next time, be less diplomatic. Comment (1)
Spoke to an Exetel employee in SriLanka recently.
Can't say anymore than; the phone was answered almost immediately, the guy spoke fluent english, wanted to help me, resolved the issue immediately, was friendly, helpful, knowledgable and sincere. "Fully Sic" service!! Congratulations Exetel. Comment (1)
Hi John
firstly let me preference this by saying that im not a business expert and do not know yours or entire situation at extetl. ive been reading a few of your posts over the last couple of weeks i know you have wrote previosuly that it would be hard to bring on a general manager for exetel, but you seem to be heavily tied down to the day to day running of the business with the hours you say you are putting in even though exetel have achived great growth of the last couple of years, is that impeding the expansion of the business? you seem to be working for the business and not letting the business work for you i know that some business owners suffer the problem of transitioning their business from a small business into a properly structured company and stepping away from the daily running of the business just some thoughts, could be totally off the mark but keep it up, i like reading some of your thoughts and the behind the scenes stuff abouyt running a business tim Comment (1)
Generally you are quite right in what you say.
However these are interesting times and need a lot of thought and that needs to be based on a lot of knowledge and on some experience. Right now I don't see any options. Comments (9)
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