Let's talk shoes

How long could you talk on the telephone with a stranger? 5 minutes? Half an hour? One hour? More?

What about if the conversation was about shoes?

How about 10 hours 29 minutes?

This was the 'world record' set for the longest customer service phone call by Zappos, the online shoe retailer with a very unique definition of good customer service. And they are so proud of this record as its spokesperson was delighted to explain,

' Zappos first core value is to deliver wow through service and allowing team members to stay on the phone with a customer for as long as they need is a crucial measure of fulfilling this value'.

I am not sure what was talked about for 10 and half hours though I believe that one pair of Ugg boots was in fact sold. However it does demonstrate Zappos legendary dedication to its customers.

Now this example might be a tad excessive. And the business case for this call might not be  financially sustainable. But it does raise one important question in my mind-how effective are call handling metrics and targets?

Too often call centres target average call handling times. In other words the average length of the call, or conversation with a customer or prospect, must not exceed say 90 seconds. And colleagues whose average exceeds this target will be subject to 're-education'.

So what happens in this environment-colleagues on the phone rush to finish the call as soon as possible to avoid breach. It must be like watching the Countdown Clock. The priority is to finish the call, not resolve the customer problem. Is this good for business? Is this good for the customer? No and most definitely no.

Last week I heard of a utility company, though I'm sure this tale is equally applicable to banks and anyone else with a large and even small call centre operation, whose rate of efficiency as measured by average call handling was amazingly high yet whose C-Sat scores were depressingly low. And there is a correlation.

For to keep down call handling times call centre colleagues were rushing through the calls with a high tendency to action single requests for service even though the customer might want to do more than one service action. And so this led to unhappy customers and the customer needing to call back. And so the number of calls into the call centre increased too. And you call this efficient?

This is a lose lose. It's not a great customer experience. Nor an efficient business model.

Now I am not advocating that 10 hour conversations about shoes should become the norm in our call centres. But I do say that by allowing our call centre colleagues to take the time necessary to help customers without the need to watch the clock, our call centre conversations will be more rewarding, more fruitful, more engaging, more customer focused and yes more productive and efficient.

If Zappos have found this out surely it is time that everyone out there with a call centre which imposes time limits on calls found this out too.

Trust me-talking about shoes can make for happy smiley customers and happy face accountants too.