June 2, 2016
Where is the Customer in Customer Service? So, recently a landscaper stopped by the house and offered to do some work. They basically would put down new soil, seed, and fertilizer. The cost? $1000, now you might say, “Hey Matt, you overpaid!” There were, however, some extenuating circumstances. I will review a few, so you can get an idea. The wife wanted grass even though we are in a drought and I stopped watering the back yard a few years ago. The wife wanted grass. And lastly…, I knew my wife really wanted grass. So, when these guys stopped by and offered to give me a yard, I took them up on it. The Actual Work Here we are: they laid soil, seed, and fertilizer. They actually gave me a one-year guarantee, so I was pleased that I didn’t have…
November 14, 2017
Yay! A New Phone Wait -- how many of us REALLY feel that way? Getting a new mobile device is less than joyous when you know you are going to leave the store or check out from your online cart with far less money than with what you arrived. Even with a “free upgrade” – Is anything ever really free? My son is the only person I know who can crack a mobile device screen more than I. Venturing into a phone store often proves I am as cracked as my son's phone screen, but I am always up for a challenge. I made sure the store had the one in stock we wanted before we even left the house. I won't fight over a phone. The “host” at the AT& T store hesitated, like he knew they didn’t have any. I pressed on,…
September 11, 2015
Customer Service in Your Selection of Software Vendors I was reading Naomi Bloom’s blog post, “In Enterprise Software and Luxury Accommodations, Details Matter and No Disappointment Accepted” and it got me thinking. I think Naomi makes a really good comparison, but I will add another element, Customer Service. Things will happen, whether at the luxury accommodations or with your Enterprise Software. The key question becomes what does the establishment/vendor do when there is a problem? That will probably be what you remember more than the actual problem. Addressing Enterprise Software It is inevitable that there will be problems during implementation. Any HR Tech vendor who tells you they never have problems is lying to you. Expectation differences, communication gaps, the customer environment is slightly (or vastly) different than the vendor was told/expected - they happen. The best vendors are set…
August 11, 2015
Employee Engagement Suite The Dovetail Employee Engagement Suite (EES) was designed around a few simple ideas. Our clients are smart. Our clients deserve to be able to build and modify their own configuration in ways that suit them. Our clients sometimes have better ideas than we do. To that end, we purposefully built a system that is all about configuration choices. This leads to my answering a lot of questions with, "It depends." Does the system notify you when you get a new case? It depends. Do I have to log in to see my alerts? It depends. Can I have a hug? It depends. (OK, that one usually is a yes. But you get the point.) Why is "It depends" the answer? Because the question of "does it" depends on "have you told it to?" Have…