John Linton .....are only tangentially related to the human race....if the attributes of a TIO complainant were generic to the species then we would have been extinct centuries ago.
In the week or so before I go to do the quarterly reviews in Sri Lanka I start listing the topics and issues I need to cover in addition to the 'standard' topics that are a recurring part of any ongoing review process. Uppermost in this thinking is the improvement of customer satisfaction with the various services supplied by the Sri Lankan company and the measuring processes that are needed to ensure that these key aspects of Exetel's operations continue to improve. Steve has been improving many aspects of support during his visits and subsequent follow ups and I think we have been able to continually improve many aspects of what is done in Sri Lanka to levels that exceed most customer's expectations most of the time...but by no means always.
One of the depressing things I still do is to look at the TIO complaints on a regular basis. It is depressing because it demonstrates how far Australian society has fallen in terms of ethics and morality and even good manners and literacy. If a customer TIO complaint is an accurate reflection on Australian society in general then amorality is pandemic and education stndards re non-existent. Transferring the TIO complaint dealing process to Sri Lanka was one decision we hesitated about making for a long time before deciding to do it. Our main reasons were the obnoxious nature of the people who file TIO complaints and their breathtaking lying and often the incredibly unacceptable language they use in addressing the Exetel personnel involved. I think TIO complainants, as a general rule, are total d***heads with the social graces and communication skills of a wild pig with one trotter caught in a gin trap, the ethics and morals of of a mass sex murderer and the English language skills of a slug. However the decision to move TIO complaint handling to Sri Lanka has been a major success - thanks to the inherent gentle natures of Buddhists and the technical and inter-relationship skills of the SL staff generally - plus the excellent training given by the person who did the training and supervised the transfer processes.
Since we began the move of TIO complaint handling processes to Sri Lanka there are two, very evident, trends. The first is the total number of complaints has steadily declined although we have continued to increase the number of customers and the services have become more complex. The second, and much more revealing trend has been the reduction in Level 2 complaints which, over the past six month period reduced to zero - a quite remarkable achievement. While other aspects have contributed to this (suing the TIO for gross breaches of their constitution, recognising customers that are total d***heads early and 'losing' them as customers, modifying our complaint handling procedures) there appears to be little doubt that it is the calibre (education level, technical knowledge) plus the Buddhist attitude towards even the least pleasant of God's creatures that has made the difference.
We will continue to look at ways we can improve the very good results already being achieved next week but the results so far have exceeded any expectation that I may have had. Perhaps we can even use the published figures relating to other ISPs as an example of, despite any other suppliers claims of excellence of service, Exetel's support personnel are better than them all on the least number of TIO complaints in total but, much more importantly, the fact that even if you are a complete idiot as a customer (outrageously lying and incredibly abusive) Exetel resolves even your outrageously lying and abusive claims more completely and in shorter time frames than the companies that claim to offer the best service in Australia....based on the TIO's annual report statistics.
Something to think about on the long trip to Colombo.
Another opinion on what I wrote about yesterday:
http://www.smh.com.au/business/qe2-is-sailing-the-us-into-stormy-waters-20110110-19l6b.html
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