http://globalcopywriting.com/home/ http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67911 Hi Susan, The saddest part of this whole experience is I do believe the vendor's intent was to provide some sort of added-value service. It's clearly failing for them but no one is listening to the complaints. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:04:43 -0800 Sarah Mitchell http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67911 http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67910 Hi Mike, You've touched on a very valid point about auto-responders and automation, in general, when it comes to customer services complaints. I would go as far to say customer service issues need to be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. My biggest gripe about this whole experience is that I never, not once, felt like I was being heard. A far more effective approach to the whole situation would have been someone (ANYONE) in the service department saying to me, "I'm sorry this happened to you. I'll do whatever I can to solve the problem. We value your custom and want to make this right." Instead I was fobbed off with "It's not my fault" (someone actually said that to me) and repeated failures to address or correct the problem. Thanks, Mike, for your thoughts on this. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 19:01:23 -0800 Sarah Mitchell http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67910 http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67909 James makes a good point. Sometimes a little knowledge can be dangerous. They may actually have done the card in good faith although the execution of the idea doesn't sound good at all. Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:27:09 -0800 Susan Oakes http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67909 http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67908 Challenges like this will always arise when you take the human element out of customer service and try to automate and systematize everything. The "gift card" from the car dealer is probably standard customer complaint resolution policy. But there's another issue here. Something all web marketers need to think about when using auto-responders to automate their marketing ... What happens when a customer has an unresolved complaint and ... at the same time ... receives promotional emails from you via auto-responder? If they think the email is personal (which is the goal) then they're going to think you're a real twerp for trying to sell 'em more stuff before resolving their gripe, right? Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:18:30 -0800 mike http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67908 http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67906 Hi James, Yes, the car dealer obviously thinks they're covering all their bases. In fact, their efforts are having the exact opposite effect; they're driving customers away. I think it's always important to remember every customer is an individual. When you forget that, you're damaging future sales and generating negative word of mouth. Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:43:12 -0800 Sarah Mitchell http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67906 http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67905 Hi Paul, I did try to scan the envelope to include in the post but the true tattiness of the image didn't come through in the digital copy. Shame. I thought the yellowing edges would show up. Thanks for stopping by and leaving such a nice comment. Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:38:29 -0800 Sarah Mitchell http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67905 http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67904 Hi Sarah, I agree with everything you say and have a comment that goes off at a bit of a tangent to your post. Sounds to me like someone at the car dealer might have done a course, or read a book, that covered "relationship building". Some people think that shoving a special offer or a newsletter under the customer's nose is relationship building. It's plainly not. At best it's like waving a flag with the words "Remember me! Remember me!" on it. It's up to the customer to decide if there are good enough reasons to join in. Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:45:11 -0800 James Bull http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67904 http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67903 Too right, Vegemite! :) An awful tale, beautifully told. I'd LOVE to see a pic of the ratty old envelope! Nice work, Sarah! Best regards, P. :) Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:35:56 -0800 Paul Hassing http://globalcopywriting.com/is-your-customer-service-a-thinly-veiled-sales-job/#PageComment_67903