The FT has lost almost the entirety of it’s reputation (what it was in any case) in the USA due to the dramatic cut in print sites for the physical newspaper, the glaring (and completely unaddressed) editorial lag experienced on their multimedia platform (literally a US centric headline, example, “Michael Dell attempts Private Buyout”, appears as the headline on their iPad app a full 36 hours after the news is announced in the USA by BLOOMBERG). SO THE FT is killing itself in the eyes of both the print subscribers (who they are trying to push to multimedia) and multimedia subscribers who know there is much better, cheaper, more relevant content. And most importantly–FASTER. The US FT editorial staff should not have to wait for someone to wake up in San Francisco to call the UK in 12 hours to get the go ahead to run a headline from some guy in the UK who is sleeping when the news breaks.

That is all organisational background. The TRAVESTY that has become FT Global Customer Service, under the auspices of Katheryn Roberts, could only happen in an organisation whose moving components spend all day pushing things off onto other people under the guise of “this is not my area of responsibility”. IN fact, everyone at the FT knows just enough of their area of responsibility to NOT BE responsible for anything at all. That’s why they all have to change their extension numbers every two weeks. Maybe also why half the good talent and staff have left for competitors in the last year. Only Martin Wolfe and John Authers seem to be bound with going down with the boat.

Hi Nicole,

I’ve been away from the blog for a few days… what an excellent comment to come back to!!! I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts.

You hit on a really important point with price. I do think all organizations can deliver great service even at low price points, the service will always be capped by the limitations of the business model and the margins. Chik-Fil-A is known for its service, but it will never achieve the level of attention that will be achieved by a 5 Diamond restaurant. It delivers great service within the context of its industry.

You are spot-on with the fact that CS is being forced into a system. I think how I would qualify that thought is to say that cust serv is being forced into a system where customer service is not the priority, minimal customer service that produces maximum short term profits is the priority. I think that’s what we saw a lot of with the call centers in the show.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for the great comment Nicole! Look forward to seeing you back in the future.

My first thought was to consider places like Neiman Marcus and Land’s End. These companies provide amazing customer service but at a price. My thought was, great customer service costs money and consumers would honestly rather have low prices than high customer service. How often do you need good customer service anyway? Only when something goes wrong.

But then I got to thinking of some other companies. Southwest. While not everyone likes their “cheap” style, they are very good at customer service (though there are exceptions to every rule). Kohl’s has built a reputation for their lenient return policy that has almost gone the way of the Commodore 64. That’s good customer service. And their prices are very affordable (as long as you make the most of their sales). And what about sites like Amazon or Zappos. They are definitely built on both affordability and customer service.

I think what it ultimately comes down to is that customer service is being forced into a system. Consumers are no longer treated as human beings. The customer service workers are just following a set of rules that really doesn’t allow them to think, problem solve or empathize with the customer.

I’m not sure if big businesses do this simply because of cost or lack of foresight or some other reason. It’s kind of a chicken or egg problem and everyone is blindly accepting it as something that just is.

What’s the best way to get great customer service? Shop small business. You may pay a little more but you’ll be more than a customer code.

Now Bill, how do you know about the OBT… that’s the real question. 🙂

I completely agree with you Bill. When you look at these industries where customer service is lacking across the spectrum, there is a tremendous opportunity for the company that does deliver great service to gain incredible competitive advantage. The problem is they almost always have to make less money in the short term to do so, and for large public companies, that does not sit well with quarterly earnings and investors.

And you’re point about acceptance comes down to barriers to switching. Why haven’t credit unions been crushing the big banks with service since the crash? It wasn’t until the majors overreached with fees (and had to back down quickly) that the credit unions started making a dent. Before that, people just accepted poor service because the barriers to switching a bank account nowadays are fairly high and all of the big banks seem the same anyway.

Actually, I think you just gave me an idea for another blog post… Hmmn. Thanks for that — and for stopping by!!!

It seems that crappy or marginal service is becoming the norm and is almost expected. Especially in industries where there are limited options. However, what a huge opportunity to stand out from the rest and you only need to provide ‘ok’ but consistent service. Just think if it was outstanding………

Yes, everything is so fast paced, instant gratification oriented; does that promote just accepting what is given to you? It’s just bad/good enough to still be acceptable which probably won’t inspire the masses to revolt.

I will definitely check it out………at home.

Well done my friend; thanks for sharing.

Hey Kaarina, It’s definitely worth checking out. Thanks for stopping by!