Don't Call Us, We'll Call You!

Have you ever used Amazon.com's phone support? Chances are that you haven't, since there is seldom a reason to contact support at all (which isn't accidental). If you do, well, maybe not surprisingly from a company that clearly places Customer Experience foremost in it's design considerations, it is likely to be one of the best phone support experiences you've ever had. You can call the traditional 1-800 number, if that takes your fancy, but (and it's always about choice) you can alternatively choose to enter a brief description of the issue, the item that has the problem and your own call back number and have Amazon Support contact you instead. The call back was literally instantaneous, I was immediately connected with a person who knew: Who I was Why I was calling (or rather not calling) What specific item I needed support with How to help me Within 3 minutes, I was getting a free replacement expedited to me, and I was off on my merry way, feeling decidely promoter-ish (hence my blog entry). From an experience perspective it was perfect. However, if you think about it from other dimensions, such as cost, it's actually a win-win for Amazon. Rather than leave you sitting on an expensive per minute (to Amazon) 1-800 call as you navigate a phone tree and then wait for your call to be routed, Amazon can skip that cost, and make a considerably shorter and less expensive call to you, when they are in fact ready to help you. Couple this with customer-centric refund and return policies, and well you are cruising toward an excellent experience. If only from the cost perspective, I am surprised this isn't a more wildly adopted standard for phone interactions from even poor experience companies. Kudos to Amazon for this "innovation". I love it, and I've used the time and energy I've saved to promote my favorite online retailer.

CX in Action - UK

My good friend and colleague Sandy found this at London Heathrow yesterday. Nothing I love better than a company that is willing to put it out there, warts and all. This has all the elements of success, goals that appear realistic, driving internal competition between terminals, inviting direct and immediate feedback from the customer. I think it's a big jump for companies to put it out there and invite feedback, especially when it's a work in progress and seeking feedback from weary travelers, the ultimate trapped customer, is especially brave! So kudos to London Heathrow. Click the image to enlarge.