Mitsopoulos.net

Simple yet so true.  The little things go a long way.

admin Customer Service, Social Media

Interview with Google regarding our switch to Google Apps for our email services.

admin Customer Service, Technology, Telecom

Response to Jason Calacanis’ newsletter “Is Facebook unethical, clueless or unlucky?”:

I am not sure if I would call Facebook clueless or unlucky.  Maybe envious or a bit jealous of what Twitter and others who chose to setup their platforms / networks as open to the public from the get go.  Though it is important to look at what your competition is doing and constantly innovating / making changes to stay ahead, you can’t do that at the expense of your customers / users.  In a conversation that we had on Friday evening at the meetup, you talked about the culture and past leadership at AOL  You mentioned they were very marketing driven and because of it had some of the highest CPM on their homepage but weren’t product driven and lost the concept of what their users wanted.  What Facebook is doing reminds me of what AOL once did.  People came to Facebook because it offered a sense of privacy.  Unlike MySpace it was a closed network which made users feel safe.  Despite the changes I can assure you the average user still thinks that is the case.

When logging into Facebook today there was a new event in my list titled “Phone is gone…..need numbers.” an event / trend that has become popular amongst the younger Facebook users.  There is no easier way to get your phone numbers back when you lose your phone than asking “your” network of friends to respond with them.  Within hours there were quite a few people that responded openly with their numbers.  They are assuming that those numbers are only being seen by their network of friends.  I don’t think they will be to happy to find those numbers in Google search results and live on the web.

admin Customer Service, Social Media

DNA + Culture + Customer Service = Winning the game!

admin Customer Service, Social Media

DNAmail was excited to sponsor a giveway of 20 copies of Gary Vaynerchuck’s book Crush It on episode 24 of This Week in Startups.  In Gary’s video blog post below he explains why Social Media = Business.  Most importantly Gary discusses why participating in social media isn’t about selling something. It is an extension of your customer service.  It is getting in the trenches and listening to your clients.

Companies that realize that participating in social media is more about service than sales will find the true value in participating.  Participating and being open in both good or bad situations will make your company transparent.  That transparency will build a brand of trust and ultimately lead to a thriving business built on trust relationships.

admin Customer Service, Social Media

Last week I had an opportunity to meet off site with my management team for a leadership training session.  The session was one in an ongoing series being led by Dr. Alan Spizman of Management Resource Associates.  I feel strong about the continued development of my management team and the role it plays in our ability to achieve sustainable growth. As Alan has worked closely with the likes of former GE CEO Jack Welch, the team is very lucky to have him working with us.

Part of our session included presentations prepared by our respective departments to share their teams accomplishments, failures, opportunities and challenges with the entire group.  It is important for individuals and teams to periodically take a step back and think about these things especially in a fast paced environment that a technology service provider lends itself to.  It proved to be extremely beneficial for the group as it gave everyone an opportunity to share, discuss and exchange ideas that will help us overcome our challenges and exploit our opportunities.

In one of the presentations led by our customer service manager, she included a couple of quotes that resonated with me.

“If we don’t take care of our customers, someone else will.” – Unknown

“In the world of Internet Customer Service, it’s important to remember your competitor is only one mouse click away.”- Doug Warner

Though very simple, these two statements are very true and often forgotten in the customer service world.  Our DSL Extreme vision statement starts off stating that we provide Internet and Hosted Application services but goes on to further define that what we truly provide “superior personalized customer service and support.”  That is what clients expect and pay for.  If you do not strive to provide that on every interaction with your client they will be looking to your competitor to provide that.  Despite how long they have been a client or how many wonderful experiences they’ve had, studies show that approximately 57% of clients terminate service after just a single bad customer service experience.

In Seth Godin’s blog post “Win the fight, lose the customer,” Seth discussed the notion that you can’t be right and have empathy for a client at the same time.  Though I think it is important to explain to clients your policies / procedures to help them understand why you took the action you did, at the end of the day if you do not empathize with them, work towards correcting their underlying issues and prevent them from occurring in the future, you will lose that client to your competitors.

admin Customer Service

I spent twelve of approximately the last twenty-four hours behind the wheel making a quick trip from Los Angeles to the Bay Area and back.  In an effort to save time we opted to pick up food on the way and eat in the car so we could keep driving.  We had important business to accomplish so time was of the essence.  A few hours into our trip I took the exit towards the 58 off of the I5 North and made a quick stop at Carl’s Jr.  Other than a few fast food restaurants and gas stations there didn’t seem to be much around the area.  It looked like a classic highway ghost town.

After giving my wife our food the Carl’s employee said something very simple that resonated with her.  “Have a safe trip.”  Despite not knowing who we were he understood it was a great possibility we were traveling.  It’s likely that 99% of the people that picked up food in the highway ghost town were on a trip.  He had an understanding of who his customers are and by knowing that he could serve them better.  More importantly he made what could have been a quick an impersonal transaction a personal one .  It’s important for employees at all levels to understand who there customers are.  In doing so they will be able to better server that customer’s needs and create a personal memorable service experience.  That level of customer service, simple as it may be, keeps customers coming back.  In fact…we stopped there again on the way back.

Despite the grueling drive, being able to hold our new born nephew for the first time was well worth it!

admin Customer Service

Recently I had the pleasure of touring the Mahalo offices in Santa Monica and meeting Jason Calacanis.  When I heard that Jason was launching a his new podcast, This Week in Start-ups, a few months ago I jumped on as a sponsor of the show prior to launching.  Over the years we have experienced great success sponsoring radio shows and podcasts with the likes of Leo Laporte and Bill Handel so despite not knowing what Jason’s show was all about I had a strong feeling it would be a great avenue to get the word out about our Hosted Exchange service DNAmail to fellow entrepreneurs and start-ups.  Trusting in a fellow Greek likely played a small part as well!

Following our office tour a few members from the DNAmail team and I had the opportunity to have lunch with Jason’s production / conference director Alex Miller.  As with most conversations of late, our discussion revolved around how businesses large and small are using social media (namely Twitter) and which ones are doing it right and wrong.  During my tenure at DSL Extreme / DNAmail we have found great benefits in participating in various community outlets on the web.  We didn’t do this to simply get our name out there (though that was a positive side effect) but rather to listen, learn and understand what existing client wanted and expected from their service provider.  It is interesting to find which businesses use social media sites as simply another avenue to blast our their press releases (those that don’t get) and those who actually participate listen and learn from the greater community.

At the end of the day whether the interaction with a client is via new outlets like Twitter or traditional outlets like a phone call, it is important to empower your employees to find resolutions to clients problems.  We have all been on the other side of the fence looking for support from a company that we purchase services from.  Though at times situations can be frustrating, I find that in general clients simply want their issue resolved in a quick and efficient manner.  Too often employees at all levels are tied behind corporate policies and aren’t empowered to come to amicable resolutions with clients.  Does this mean that you should give into everything the client wants and asks for?  No, I don’t believe that is necessary but allowing your customer service representatives to think outside the box and allowing them the freedom to make decisions that they think are in the best interest of the company and their client should be part of your customer service culture.  It isn’t likely that a decision they make will put the longevity of the business in harms way nor is it difficult to guide and lead them to make solid and amicable resolutions.

admin Customer Service, Social Media