Real customer care: An interview with iBurst's Blogger

by Darren Ravens

Credit where credit’s due. And full credit to iBurst for their customer service blog.

Ed hall, head of customer support, is the face and voice of the blog, making it clear that when it comes to customer care the buck stops with him. As someone who is annoyed by poor customer service with irritating regularity, I must say I am well impressed.

We caught up with him for an interview, hoping to get an insight into their experience with the blog (well, we sort of caught up with him, actually we emailed the questions…)

Darren Ravens (DR): So, iBurst has started a blog. That’s quite a groundbreaking step for a South African company. What was it that made you decide it needed to be done?
Ed Hall (EH): We were looking for an innovative way to personalise the service that we provide to our customers while at the same time being transparent about it. The Blog fulfilled both requirements while providing instant feedback from our customers. This in turn helps us to improve our service delivery and is part of our continuous self-improvement process.

DR: Your first post resulted in 96 comments (including your responses and a few duplicates) when last I checked. Were you surprised by the number of responses?
EH: We were surprised by the number of responses and also the positive nature of the vast majority of them. The feedback has been great and we’re really impressed by the fantastic ideas coming through from our customers.

DR: How tough a sell was it to get buy-in to the idea at iBurst? Was it an idea that everyone immediately liked?
EH: Blogs are very topical right now and everyone liked the idea, management and staff included. We even did some informal research with some of our customers and they loved the idea.  The blog wasn’t a tough sell internally because iBurst is very focused on any idea which can potentially improve customer service. Staff recognised that it was a great way to get closer to our customers in a friendly, candid, and transparent way.

DR: WebPR and Online Reputation Management are hot buzzphrases in the marketing world of late. How important is it for companies to be proactive in shaping their online image?  
EH: It’s vital and especially for us as a company so intimately connected to the Internet. The growing importance of WebPR and Online Reputation Management reflects the reality that many consumers obtain more information from the web than they do from radio, television or print.

DR: When it comes to customer service, what do you think the number one thing is, that annoys customers?
EH: From my experience, the number one thing that really annoys customers is not delivering on promises.  If you say to a customer that you will call, make sure you do. Also make sure that you call so many times than contact is indeed made. It’s pointless to make one unanswered call to the customer and then to think you’ve delivered on your promise.

DR: By using a blog to open up a dialogue with your customers, aren’t you afraid that you’re also opening yourself up to criticism you can’t escape?
EH: Criticism is not a bad thing, and we are open to criticism. It keeps us on our toes.

DR: A more traditional school of thought, that so many companies still follow, suggests it’s better to give less coverage to bad publicity and eventually it’ll go away. Have the days of “head-in-the-sand PR” gone? Or are there still some matters best kept private?
EH: iBurst won’t hide from good or bad publicity because your reputation has a habit of eventually catching up with you. There will always be certain strategic issues that deserve a measure of privacy but as long as organisations are moving in the general direction of greater transparency, then progress is being made.

DR: What’s your policy in terms of extremely negative feedback? Will you be moderating comments at all?
EH: Since the Blog launched, I have not deleted any comments posted or moderated any.  One customer used a swear word, and I put some stars over it.  Unless a comment is very personal or completely unrelated to the topic, I won’t moderate.

DR: The voice or tone you adopt with customers can, to a large extent, guide the level of interaction you enjoy with them. In terms of choosing iBurst’s “blog voice,” how did you decide, or do you feel that this is something you need to refine as you go along? Do you have a corporate blogging strategy in place or are you just playing things as they come?
EH: The strategy from the start was to get closer to our customers and to create a forum that encourages comments, suggestions, criticism, good and bad. We wanted to put a face to customer care. Our customers are busy people, so they don’t have time to write long letters, make lengthy calls… we value feedback on our service quality and what better way than a Blog that is styled to be open, friendly, informal and easy going. We’re going to keep it this way.

DR: How do you think customer service blogs relate to other consumer forums like hellopeter and, in the case of broadband services, myADSL? 
EH: Both these forums are brilliant and we are present on both. It’s not enough though for us.  We wanted something we owned, and something that customers can see that we are doing.

<_________________end interview__________________>

Our sincere thanks to Ed and iBurst for taking the time to answer our questions.

I think this blog should be an eye-opener for other South African companies. If they’re all as serious about customer service as they claim, then they too should be tackling customer service issues head-on. Customers appreciate honestly and openness from the companies they deal with. How do you treat your customers?   

Share your thought’s about iBurst’s blog. Which other South African companies would you like to see take this kind of approach?  

2006/11/02 | permalink | comments (1) | trackbacks (0)

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