Investing Curiouscatblog

Tag: customer service

  • Using Customer Data To Grow Your Business

    Finding new business and retaining existing customers is needed to sustain and grow a business. Gathering good customer data is important to helping increase sales.

    Gathering customer data

    Collecting customer data requires some effort- but it doesn’t have to be expensive. Here are some great sources you can use to collect data:

    • Website Analytics: Your website may be the most common way customers interact with your business. Google Analytics, Piwik and other web site tracking software can provide a tremendous amount of detail about your website results. You can see which pages of your website generate the most traffic and can adjust your site’s design based on data to build your customer traffic.
    • One of the most important measures of customer experience is repeat business. Gathering data on customer retention is a valuable measure of how successful the business is at meeting and exceeding customer expectations. In order to help improve that performance one valuable tool is to ask the simple question: “What one thing could we do better?” The questions is simple; creating a management system that takes that data and uses it to continually improve your value to customers is not nearly so easy.
    • Gathering data on the experience your customers have is also important. There are many obvious frustration points customers face that any business should be able to identify. How easily can someone find an email address to contact your company? How quickly are matters resolved by email? Do you force customers to fight their way through phone menus instead of letting them talk to a person? How many customers hang up while being forced to waste their time fighting through your companies phone system? This is just a few examples, getting 10 such ideas for your company shouldn’t be hard.

      Many companies instead of having measures customers care about, only have measures accountants care about – such as how much your phone center costs to run. That is fine, but you likely will waste most of your time worrying about collecting customer data if your organization isn’t interested about what the customer experiences. Those companies just are interested in taking as much money from customers as they can without concern for customers. In that case don’t bother pretending you care about customers, it is just a waste of time. Instead just focus on what your business model is and hope no company comes along that has a business model to treat customers well.

    • Surveys can collect data from customers but the danger of relying on expressed desires rather than actions must always be remembered. SurveyMonkey is an easy to use tool that makes this process simple. You can create a short survey for free, then place the survey link on your website.
    • Ad Responses: Online ads allow companies to easily collect data on customer responses. You can run several types of online ads, and see which ad generates the most clicks to your company website.

    Use all of these tools to gather useful data while always remembering that customer data is only a proxy for understanding customers, and there is a gap between what is measured and reality.

    Storing customer data

    Because you use this data to meet your customer’s needs, the information is extremely valuable. Many businesses use internet security software to protect customer data. Every week it seems there is another high profile leak of customer data from hacked company servers. It is very important to isolate sensitive data and use cloud security system to reduce the risk of data loss.

    Personas
    Many companies use personas to target different customer segments they aim to capture. A business can use customer data to create an ideal customer ideal customer for specific products or services. And personas can help you target your web site to meet the differing needs of various target customers.

    Using data to improve your organization’s performance is powerful. But the power is mainly from designing a management system that uses that data effectively. That is much harder than collecting data in the first place. Our management blog discusses how to use data to manage most effectively.

  • Bad Phone Fees

    Many people notice the ludicrous phone fees the phone companies charge. Some are indeed passed on taxes and fees imposed by government (though phone companies seem to love adding on fees and saying or implying they are government taxes when that is not completely clear). I got rid of my land line phone for Vonage, years ago. Vonage started to add on all sorts of fees so I dropped it and went with Ooma (free after the initial purchase $203 for me).

    Ooma has now decided they need to change $12/year in fees (very reasonable I think). But they are not going to charge those, like me, that bought before this change (it has been 100% free for me for the last year). Great service (and a huge contrast to the attitude of typical phone companies looking to gouge everyone they can).

    I also use and recommend Google Voice. They have to deal with another form of government approved fees for local phone companies. Some are using traffic pumping and high charges to gouge Google. I am glad Google is taking on these pumpers.

    Related: Sex, conference calls, and outdated FCC rules – Telephone Savings – Paying for Over-spending – $8,000 Per Gallon Ink

  • Lying to Customers – No Surprise A Bank Does It

    It is a shame that it is no surprise when a bank lies to you. I got a “priority notice” from my mortgage company that my 30 year fixed load could be reduced. They show big huge figures showing current interest rate, new interest rate, potential yearly savings of over $5,000… Complete lies. They are claiming savings with a completely different mortgage, a 5/30 year adjustable rate mortgage (which you have to turn over the paper and note they list “mortgage product: 5/1 ARM” and then know what that means).

    Then they go on for a page with all sorts of text seemingly designed to confuse fools. Obviously they try to claim the savings are what is important and the different mortgages, risks of rising interest rates etc. are not important [why don’t they just make it a 30 year mortgage at the low rate, if they think the interest rate risk they try to stick the client with is such an unimportant detail that isn’t even mentioned on the front page with the “comparison” mortgage rates]).

    Anyone that trusts any company that so blatantly tries to fool you is crazy. When they are not shy about using such obviously deceitful tactics you can’t trust them to do much much worse in ways that are very difficult to protect yourself from.

    As I have said before, don’t trust your bank. More than any other companies I see, financial institution, treat customers as fools to be fleeced not customers to provide value to. It really is amazing people defend banks paying obscene bonuses to those that are able to fool financial illiterates into stupid decisions. The company trying to deceive in this case, did indeed fail (and was saved by the FDIC). Financial institutions have decided that they will just focus on tricking those that are not financially literate out of as much money as they possibly can. If you don’t educate yourself you are at great risk to be taken advantage of by financial institutions focused on finding people they can take advantage of.

    Related: FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Fees – Ignorance of Many Mortgage Holders – Don’t Let the Credit Card Companies Play You for a Fool – Customer Hostility from Discover Card – Legislation to Address the Worst Credit Card Fee Abuse – Maybe

  • Small Business Owners Angry at Big Banks

    Main Street vs. Wall Street by Kevin Kelly

    Small businesspeople I spoke to over the past few days feel little love for their bank, or the banking system. “Every time I turn around they’re raising their fees just for our business checking account,”
    …
    Fees are only one part of the problem. Several owners I spoke to talked about how difficult it has been to get loans, or how restrictive loan covenants had become. “My bank won’t even talk to me,” confessed the owner of one local eatery who had received a Small Business Administration loan nearly two years ago that financed an upgrade and expansion of his kitchen.
    …
    As for my relationship with Wells Fargo, it endures. Our line of credit comes up in six months, and I’m expecting the bank to try to boost our interest rate, especially given how much it has complained about how it’s too low. Where we once bundled many of our services through Wells Fargo—including our corporate, commercial, and equipment lending and our 401(k) plan, a policy the bank encouraged to deepen our ties—we’re looking to back out of some pieces…

    Good idea, big banks have shown over and over again they take pride in consistently raising fees, reducing service and treating customers as though they are a bother. It is annoying that the big banks are constantly buying out the little banks to eliminate competition (and that regulators allow this is a sad commentary on our disrespect for the principles of capitalism) but when that happens move your banking needs to a small bank and you will be much better off in the long run.

    Choosing to deal with big banks is bad idea. They have provided lousy service for quite some time. Obviously they do not chose to provide value to customers.

    Related: Small Business Profit and Cash Flow – Smaller Companies Grab Bigger Share of Surging USA Exports – Congress Eases Bank Laws – 1999 – FDIC Study of Bank Overdraft Fees

  • Minnesota’s Attorney General Suing 3 Debt-relief Companies

    Minnesota’s attorney general suing 3 debt-relief companies

    Until the phone call, Rossie Anderson-Howze didn’t think she needed help negotiating her $12,000 in credit card debt. But when the company promised to cut the retiree’s 12.9 percent interest rate and save her $4,000 or her money back, she agreed to let Moneyworks LLC charge $1,090 to her card.

    The company failed to deliver on its promises, she said, forcing Anderson-Howze, of St. Paul, to become one of hundreds of Minnesota consumers to seek help from Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson.

    Swanson sued Moneyworks LLC and two other debt assistance companies on Tuesday, alleging that the companies made unsolicited phone calls promising lowered interest rates, guaranteed savings and money-back guarantees. Swanson alleges that Washington-based Priority Direct Marketing, Clear Financial Solutions of Florida and Moneyworks LLC, based in Georgia, “charged financially strapped people a lot of money to lower the interest rates on their credit cards, only they failed to do so, leaving people even further behind on their bills.”
    …
    Swanson also sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission asking it to adopt federal regulations to prohibit companies from charging consumers until services are delivered satisfactorily.

    Many organizations overing to help with debt relief are fraudulent. They are constantly being shut down for illegal activity. You must be very careful when you consider dealing with any of these organizations. Do not pay out money up front. Make sure the organization has a strong reputation and history of ethical behavior. Be financially literate: don’t get taken advantage of.

    Related: Manage Your Borrowing and Avoid Debt Negotiators – USA Consumers Paying Down Debt – Continued Credit Card Company Customer Dis-Service

  • Five Consumer Laws You Really Ought to Know (for the UK)

    Five consumer laws you really ought to know if you live in the United Kingdom.

    To mark National Consumer Week, here are five laws the canny shopper should be using in their battle to get stuff that actually works. There is a war being fought between customers and many of the firms they have to deal with. It is an asymmetric conflict – the little man versus the faceless, bad customer service monoliths.
    …
    Your iconic white MP3 player, the totemic centre of your life, breaks down precisely 366 days after you bought it. The large electronics firm that sold you the MP3 player says that because the one-year guarantee had elapsed, there’s nothing they can do to help you. You’ll just have to buy another one.
    …
    if the player has been lovingly treated and has still conked out that suggests something may have been wrong with it at the very beginning.

    It works like this. For the first four-five weeks you have a “right of rejection” – if the item you’ve bought breaks down, you can demand a refund.

    For the next six months, you are entitled to replacement or repair of the goods. It is up to the retailer to prove there was nothing wrong with it if they wish to get out of having to do the work. And then after six months, there is still a duty to replace or repair faulty goods, but the onus is on you, the consumer, to prove that there was something wrong.

    And the key time span is six years. That’s how long goods may be covered by the Sale of Goods Act. It all depends on what “sufficiently durable” means. If a light bulb goes after 13 months, the consumer is not going to be overly gutted.

    Extended warranties are general a very bad personal finance move. I never purchase them. Many companies push them on customers because of the large profit margin and because they don’t want to provide value to customers.

    Related: 10 Things Your Bank Won’t Tell You – Ohio Acts to Protect Citizens from Payday Loan Practices – Save Money on Printing – Don’t Let the Credit Card Companies Play You for a Fool – Student Credit Cards

  • More Outrageous Credit Card Fees

    Sneaky changes to your credit cards

    Although banks are scooping up billions in bailout money or borrowing money from the Federal Reserve at as low as 0%, they aren’t passing on those savings to consumers. Credit card interest rates have increased for many major card issuers and even doubled or tripled for some consumers who pay their bills on time. Bank of America is raising interest rates on about 4 million customers with balances. Citigroup and Capital One have also jacked up rates.

    Credit card interest rates are typically pegged to the prime rate, which has fallen from 5.25% a year ago to 3.25% now. But the national average rate for credit cards has actually risen over that period, moving from 11.3% to 12.4%
    …
    * The standard balance transfer fee has risen to 3%, and Bank of America recently joined Discover in increasing that fee to 4% on certain offers.

    * Cash advance fees had been 3%, but Bank of America now has 5% cash advance fees for money obtained through ATMs and at banks, and 4% fees on advances via direct deposit and checks.

    * Foreign transaction fees — charged when you make purchases in other countries or use foreign banks — are going up for many cardholders. Starting June 1, Bank of America will begin charging for a service it had previously provided free: Transactions made in U.S. dollars but processed through foreign banks (such as online purchases from overseas merchants using foreign banks) will be hit with 3% fees.

    The incredibly large fees are a good reason to not use your credit card for these activities. 5% to get money from an ATM. You have to be crazy to submit to such a fee. The banks continue to fight with the airlines for who can keep providing the most horrible customer service.

    Related: How to avoid getting ripped off by credit card companies – Sneaky Credit Card Fees – Avoid Getting Squeezed by Credit Card Companies – Incredibly Bad Customer Service from Discover Card – more posts on credit cards

  • Monopolies and Oligopolies do not a Free Market Make

    Pretty much everyone (certainly the vast majority of regulators and politicians) have no clue about capitalism. The concept that a “free market” should be allowed to operate is theoretical, based on “perfect competition” (which essentially means zero barriers to entry). Obviously the politicians support, not capitalism (which would require regulation of imperfect markets (and certainly not support consolidation past the point of many competing companies), but the idea that those with the gold make the rules. Natural monopolies (like gas distribution, electricity, likely internet infrastructure…) should be fully regulated companies which then have the infrastructure accessed by multiple competitors (none of which own the natural monopoly – of course).

    With some market that is even remotely in the area where a capitalist free market was in place, it is very simple to not have to deal with companies that treat customers horribly (like Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner Cable…) you just chose another company to deal with.

    But these companies want to have the government allow them to create a monopoly (or something extremely close) and then claim to be in favor of capitalism (and further make ludicrous claims about what capitalism would suggest about regulation in oligopolistic markets). These ideas is so laughable that if politicians had even a sense of economic understanding they would adopt the appropriate capitalist response (for government).

    Obviously, regulation is required as the market moves away from the area of “perfect competition.” When some huge company wants to buy some other huge company (say creating greater than 10% of the market combined) this would be rejected. If the market is a natural monopoly where the free market is not the proper capitalist market (such as one where the government would allow the proper capitalist response to players in the market attempting to break the free market by gaining to much control), then, of course a regulated natural monopoly would take on that economic task. This is not really complicated stuff.
    (more…)

  • Avoid Getting Squeezed by Credit Card Companies

    Squeezed by credit card companies

    “I was charged an over-limit fee when the interest charge kicked my account over my limit,” said Cressman. When he called his credit card issuer to complain, they refunded the charge. “I was told that in the future I would ‘just have to watch my balance,’” he recalled.

    Over-the-limit fees aren’t the only tactic in the credit card companies’ bag of tricks. There are a slew of penalties, fees and other billing practices that can cause consumers to find themselves drowning in debt.
    …
    But even borrowers who pay their bills on time can fall victim to deceptive practices used by the card issuers and get slammed with rising interest and hidden fees, which have become the industry norm in recent years.
    …
    many banks calculate finance charges using what’s called double-cycle billing, a confusing practice that averages out the balance from your previous two bills. So if you carry a balance and pay a finance charge one month, you’ll get hit with a finance charge on your next bill as well, even if you’ve paid off the balance.

    Then, there’s a practice known as “trailing interest” – another “gotcha” to watch out for, Arnold said. If you send in a payment according to the full amount on your statement, you may find that you still owe a small balance next month. That’s because you accrued interest between the time you sent the payment and when it was posted to your account.

    As previous posts have pointed out you really need to keep your eye on your credit card company as though they will trick you out of your money given any chance to do so.

    Related: Don’t Let the Credit Card Companies Play You for a Fool – Managing Your Credit Card Successfully – Sneaky Credit Card Fees – Legislation to Address the Worst Credit Card Fee Abuse, Hopefully