Lindsay Casey

Xplornet Gets a D- in Engagement

Xplornet

Rural Canadians depend on Xplornet for high speed internet access. Unfortunately, as is the case with many companies who service rural markets, they have been left in the social media dust of larger, rival companies like Bell and Rogers. At this time last year, Xplornet’s Facebook page was a ghost town and their Twitter stream was barely updated.

To their credit, Xplornet does seem to be stepping up its efforts and I can personally say that I have received great customer service resulting from a tweet. However, the overall effort still comes across as weak.

xplornet

Blog – Xplornet has launched a company blog. It’s poorly laid out, which means it doesn’t actually look like a blog at all, and it’s difficult to find. Some of the content is outdated – even though the audience is a rural one, I’m pretty sure most people know that Google is a verb by now.

My Recommendations:

  • Write shorter, more engaging posts and make it easier to find and share them.
  • Get  rid of the Captcha system and use a back end spam blocker.
  • Ditch the corporate responses. Not every comment needs to end with regards, the customer service rep’s name and their job title.
  • Change how posts are tagged. I find it icky that blog posts which have nothing to do with Xplornet’s services are tagged with the names of all of their internet packages.

Twitter – Over the last few months, Xplornet has been providing quite good customer service on Twitter. However, it’s all reactive. I don’t see anything proactive there. While responses to customer complaints are good, it would be better to have some positive tweets displayed when you land on their page.

My Recommendations:

  • Start engaging. Retweet and thank people for positive tweets when they show up.
  • Be human. Can the corporate speak and let the reps talk like humans.
  • Share. Find relevant content and share it. Show some behind the scenes action. Humanize the brand.

It’s difficult for a communications company, especially one that works in rural locations. Services go down due to remote locations and weather and when people get frustrated, social media is rapidly becoming the first place to air frustrations. However, by being proactive, heated situations can be diffused and by humanizing the brand, a company can begin to build customer loyalty.

It currently seems that people are with Xplornet because they have to be, not because they chose them. If I were in charge at Xplorenet, my goal would be to be the company people would choose even if another company entered the market.

Final verdict: D-. Not a complete fail, as progress is apparent and it’s nice to see them making an effort, but  they still have a long way to go.

Lindsay Casey

Return on Experience

Do you think about your ROI a lot? Say, if you put $2.25 in you need to see $3.50 back and so on? I think it’s time to change the way you look at it.

This certainly isn’t the first post written about this, and I didn’t think of it myself, but I had a conversation today that made me think about it and I’ve realized it’s a way of putting what I feel is a wonderful way of living and doing business into words. It’s all about the return on experience.

That sandwich you had for lunch may have cost $10, but think about the experience as well as the food. Did you enjoy speaking to the proprieter of the small business you bought it from? Did you get satisfaction knowing you were eating locally sourced ingredients and supporting your local farmers? Did you run into a neighbour on the way to get your sandwich and enjoy a quick chat? These things are all part of the experience. Suddenly, that $10 seems like a great price compared to a fast food environment, where your food may be a dollar or two cheaper but it won’t make you feel good physically or mentally. It won’t be an authentic experience. It doesn’t build community.

I’ve thought about this for a while and it’s one of the reasons I left Toronto for a simpler life in the country. I want to enjoy my life. I want everything to be an experience  yes, even that quick sandwich for lunch.

I believe businesses should start thinking less about ROI and more about ROE. Think about what kind of experience you can give your customer. It’s what we’re looking for. Give me a great experience and I’ll sing your praises far and wide. That’s the kind of return money can’t buy and, if you’re genuine about it, the ROI will follow naturally. Add value to someone’s life and your business will reap the benefits.

Lindsay Casey

Customer Service: When is it time to fire your clients?

I’ve been thinking about customer service a lot lately. As someone who bends over backwards for my clients, I’m realizing that I sometimes feel taken advantage of.

Most of the folks I work with are interesting, creative people who I enjoy spending time with and don’t mind going the extra mile for. I love my clients and I relish making great things happen for them. However, the law of averages must prevail and they can’t all be your favourite. I also value my sanity and have learned that losing one or two demanding clients along the way is not the end of the world.

It’s very difficult to reject business, especially in this economy, but sometimes you need to draw the line between great customer service and abuse of your time and efforts.

5 ways to tell you may need to cut the cord:

  1. They’re always right. If your client is always disagreeing with you  and you can’t seem to say anything right, maybe it’s time to suggest they find someone else who’s opinion they will respect more. The customer is NOT always right.
  2. They’re not profitable. This person’s business is costing you money. Do the math; how much time are you spending on this client vs. the amount they are paying you? When it stops adding up in your favour, it’s either time to approach negotiating a retainer or time to move on.
  3. They’re wasting your time. You are in contact every day, whether you’re working on a current project or not. This person doesn’t value your time. Are you becoming too emotionally invested? Unable to focus on other projects? When your client is draining you this much, it’s time to let them go.
  4. They’re rude. They’re constantly threatening to pull their business and comparing you to your competitors. Dump them. It’s not worth it. If they think someone else provides your services that much better than you, they should take their business to that person.
  5. They’re never satisfied. Even after you’ve lost money, waived deadlines, delivered stellar work and gone above and beyond, they are still not happy. Lose the complainer. It’ll give you the time to find a new client who appreciates the work that you do.

The bottom line is, it’s not easy to break up with a client, but sometimes you have to put your foot down. There is a fine line between providing amazing customer service and being abused. If the latter is happening, your business can’t afford the dead weight. Even if you don’t have another client waiting to take their place, dropping the nightmare client gives you the time to focus on your business plan and find new customers who will value your services.

Have you ever fired a customer? How did you approach it?