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More ideas about improving customer service calls.

The last couple days have been fun thinking about ways to make the customer service experience less painful for both companies and customers.

If you haven't read them yet, please go check-out Does thinking of customer service as a negative blind companies to new opportunities (Part I) and Part II.

But, the best part has been when readers have written in their own thoughts about customer service problems--and jump-started my thinking in new directions!

James Todhunter of Innovating to Win commented that when he calls RCN with issues, he hears a recorded message that says "We are experiencing higher than expected call volume" and then is faced with a long wait. 

Although it's good that the company tells him that many others are ahead of him, the following message "Your call is very important to us" sounds like a blatant lie when the company is always overloaded and does nothing about it.

Some ideas that came from James' comment...

• What if customers were able to see the estimated wait time online before they called?
  
  Most of the time, people just pick up the phone without realizing that 500 other people are calling on their lunch breaks too.  As a former restaurant host, I know that telling customers right away how long they have to wait lets them decide whether they want to or not.  It should work the same for phone service.

• What if customers needing service could sign-up for email or text message alerts when the call volume is low and the wait is short?
  
  Customers would then be able to find out when it is the best time for them to call in, and the company would be able to maintain higher call volume in normally-slower periods (and thus reduce wait time in busy periods).

• What if customers calling the customer help line could "take a number" and then the call service would call them back when it was their turn?
  
  This would give callers a chance to do other things while they were waiting and not have to stayed glued to the phone.  Plus, the teeny extra step of calling the customer back would make customers feel that the company was taking an extra step.  And phone companies need to know the phone number of the customer in order to help them--calling up the account screen and calling the customer could be a combined step.

Doug Meacham of Next Up says that it would be best if customers didn't have to wait for customer service at all!

Although Doug obviously doesn't understand that customers always have had to wait for companies to get around to serving them, that it's just the way things are done, and that no one likes people who come up with crazy ideas... (just kidding, Doug!)... his radical statement makes me wonder how that could work.

Some initial thoughts...

• What if the company specified online the types of issues that could be resolved through email, and reduced call-ins to more unusual problems?
  
  The advantage of this is that many issues can simply be resolved through a couple minutes on the computer system.  Thus, customer service reps don't have to spend as much time talking, and the issues could be worked on outside of regular business hours. (Potentially overseas to reduce costs further.)

• What if customers could book appointments to speak to customer service representatives?
  
  This would work really well for both customers and the company.  Customers would feel that they were being treated well and were respected by the company, while the company would be able to schedule those service appointments during the slow-call-in periods.
  
  
  
• What if customers didn't feel like they were waiting?
  
  Perhaps customers could choose between different types of hold music to get one they liked, or the hold system let them listen to a radio station, or sports results.  Who said that waiting for customer service had to include sterilized elevator music and irritating advertisements?

Any more thoughts and ideas?  Please share them below!

The iPhone is worth its weight in gold for its ability to inspire thinking!

The blogosphere has been alive and hopping the past week and a half as the iPhone finally hit the shelves.

It's a wild ride and everyone has an opinion.

Many people absolutely love it!

From those Apple fans who are so gaga over the iPhone's arrival that they're willing to wait in line for days before iDay to those bloggers who have been praising the iPhone's every virtue since Steve Jobs announced it, to those gotta-have-it-no-matter-what-service-I-have cell phone users who paid stiff fines to get out of existing service contracts so they could drop a lot more money to buy the iPhone.

Many people absolutely hate it!

From Verizon's internal memo telling sales people how to trash the iPhone's every flaw, to the unimpressed bloggers who can't understand its appeal, to techies who prefer different models to  skeptics waiting to see the first-generations major problems to customers who would never dream of switching service providers just for a flashy phone.

As for me?  I'm absolutely loving the whole shebang!

I don't intend to buy the iPhone, nor am I in a position where I can do so, but I have never been more excited about a cell phone in my life.

This is a very exciting time because the iPhone is such a game-changing, emotion-inspiring, polarizing product that it's caused more people to truly think about cell phones than ever before.

Look around the blogosphere. Watch the News. Read the paper.  Talk to your friends.  Talk to your parents/kids.  Chances are that everyone has an opinion about the iPhone.  And those opinions are raising questions like crazy.

Here are some of the fantastic things people have been asking because of the iPhone...

• What makes a cell phone so exciting that people will wait in line for hours just to be a part of the first day of release?

• What kind of phone causes people to willingly throw out their long-term service relationships with a company they selected not long before as the best match for their needs?

• What kind of service does it take for companies to retain their customers when a fan-club-inspiring new product hits the market?

• What are the features that customers really want in their phones?

• How can cell phone makers create phones that get such an incredible response from customers?

• Will the iPhone still be hot in 6 months, or will it fade as quickly as the Motorola RAZR?

• Who will turn out to be that happiest iPhone users? Who will it benefit most? Will it be the Apple-fanatics? Techies? Young, hip students? My mom?

• How will Apple stay ahead when every cell phone maker is focusing on beating them?

• Can charitable organizations use the hype of the iPhone to raise awareness of their issue?

• Will the iPhone still be cool when everyone has it?

• Or is it cool because everyone wants to have it?

• Is all the fuss about the amazing new technology?

• Or is it just about how Apple has combined existing technology in a new way?

• Is this the end of the phone as we know it?

• Harry Potter vs the iPhone: who wins?

• How can our company make money off the new iPhone?

• If people are willing to pay $500 for an iPhone, how much will they pay for the next generation of phones?

• How much does a company's brand influence sales of its new products?

• What will Apple think of next?

• Is every little thing Apple does magic?

• And most importantly, what is the next phone that will blow our minds?

Are you thinking yet?  You should be.

The present shake-up of the American cell phone industry is giving us an amazing opportunity to redefine the cell phone and determine where it goes next.

So, what are your thoughts?  Do you have any answers to those questions?  Or do you have even more questions to provoke creative thinking even further?

Who else could benefit from this idea?

One thing I really love is finding ideas that are just begging to provide value for someone.

Like this coffee mug that Yusuke Fujinuma and Yoko Yamazaki of Public Design posted on IdeaList.

They present it simply as a quirky novelty gift--a coffee mug with a ring as the handle, that comes packaged in a mock jewelry box designed to open up like an engagement ring.  Like this, it's a fun present for a couple getting engaged or married.

The moment I saw this product, however, my mind started spinning.  The idea itself is cute, unexpected and made me take a second closer look. 

Then I thought, "What if the ring wasn't just a standard loop with a rhinestone, what if it was real?" 

A real diamond ring on a coffee cup would definitely stand out.

How could this actually work though?  Obviously, a real diamond ring on a coffee mug isn't the greatest idea.  It's a little expensive for a ceramic cup, and people want to wear rings all the time--not just when they drink coffee.

A fake ring, with a synthetic moissanite stone, would be an option.  However, the big question is who would want such a thing and why!

In fact, ring coffee cups could have marketing potential for jewelry stores.

Here are a couple examples of how they could use the cups and why they would want to:

In the Jewelry Store

When couples come in to buy engagement or wedding rings, they usually don't want a hard sell.  A wedding ring store could make their customers feel welcome by inviting them to have a cup of tea or coffee, and then presenting several different coffee cup ring options in their presentation boxes.

Not only would this help the couple relax, it would also give the store a chance to put models of the most beautiful (and expensive) rings in front of the customers in a fun, friendly manner.  Then they could get down to the business of selling... already knowing that their customers have been impressed by examples of the best rings right away.

At Conventions

Many companies give out "freebies" to promote their products or services.  Usually, it's something useless, but the companies that give out useful or unusual, eye-catching items can get a lot of attention.

The ring coffee cups could be an good freebie because it's something people would use on a daily basis and it's eye-catching enough to get attention.  Coffee mugs are always popular anyways, because people use them, and this would help the company stand out.

On College Campuses

Recently, coffeehouses have become popular meeting and socializing places on collage campuses.  College students frequently spend hours there meeting friends, doing homework and just sitting around drinking coffee.  Many of those same college students, especially in smaller cities, will be getting engaged and married soon after they graduate.

Jewelry stores could take advantage of this by donating cups with a variety of imitation engagement rings to on-campus coffeehouses.  This would get their name in front of students on a frequent basis while letting the students "try on" rings for fun.  They also have the advantage of appearing generous and environmentally-friendly because of their donation.

The advantage of using a ring coffee cup is that it isn't traditional advertising. 

People see print advertisements everyday and usually tune most of it out.  On the other hand, people do remember advertisements that fun and interactive. 

The design of this coffee cup begs drinkers to slip the ring onto their finger for fun, and that gives it potential.  What jewelry company wouldn't love to get people trying on their rings everyday?

Of course, this isn't the only one way that the ring coffee cup could be expanded beyond a novelty gift.

Does anyone have any other ideas?  What else has this made you think about?  Please share them below.