What Should Cable Do To Improve its CSR Image?

[Jack 1000]

Throughout the cable industry,

There have been reports of very poor Customer Service, incompetent technicians, and cable TV personnel not being as qualified as they were 10 years ago.  We have seen an increase in technology in the cable industry with the advent of digital cable, DVR's, high-speed Internet and VOD services.  But there has been very  poor training among customer service representatives concerning knowledge of often times the most basic information.  The way information is conveyed from national levels, to state and local offices, is substandard at best.  Many divisions often don't talk to each other, and the customer is often left not informed or misinformed about basic information such as updates, service changes, reasons for rate increases and so forth.

However, this quality does seem to fluctuate from division to division.  People have experienced better satisfaction with their high speed Internet service and digital phone than with cable in recent years.  The competition from satellite offering more HD offerings is a series concern.  But because of costs, environmental conditions, or the loss of consolidated billing from the cable company, satellite may not be for everyone.

Therefore, what do cable operators need to do to improve their image with customers and make cable a value that is important to them?  What type of training is needed that is lacking in the cable industry?  What educational resources and communications are needed to help establish a better relationship between the cable operators and the customers they serve?

Jack

[gparris]

Jack, in many businesses we all know of or have experienced lately, training for anyone in the "service industry" is at a premium.

CableTV  and Phone companies (or "cablecos" and "telecos") are part of the service industry, since in actuality, they do not offer a product other than a STB rental, they offer a service.

Some telecos seem to be ahead in some services such as HD channel availablity (AT&T's U-Verse) and for other telecos, almost everything else (Verizon's FIOS).

Cablecos have an unlimited potential to offer the maximum (whatever that is) number of channels, including HD, plus anything else comes its way, too.
As a service, it has a good deal going for it technology-wise:
-if only the technology was fully realized and applied.

Some of the CSRs I work with in HT setups are talented, wonderful people in TWC, while others seem to be having bad-hearing days (I'm being polite here), to put it mildly.

What can be done to offer better customer service is an emphasis on better training overall and hiring more qualified customer service supervisors/managers, across the board to help execute this training and increase overall performance, IMO.

While I do not know first-hand as to what goes on in cablecos' call centers, there could possibly be more on-hand information CSRs could "play" with, so that once a call comes in, they would have access to things such as a "knowledgebase" they could work from, to better assist their customers, like they have in my company.

Tests could be given at random to train and educate CSRs, right on their screens, possibly when there is a slow time (if there is one) just to educate, not discipline, for example.

In a better business world/climate, the professionalism associated with good customer service could somehow be better equated with customer retention and increased business, but it is more often not the situation, sad to say.

Many plaques in the offices I visit, including my own, have a plaque that states that:
1) It is easier to keep a customer than lose one.
2) Harder, if not more difficult (expensive) to get them back.

Cablecos like other businesses can often forget this in the customer service area, so the subscriber pays with bad customer service and goes elsewhere (D*, E* or U*)

Just my experience and thoughts, anybody else?

[tencom]

Good customer service costs money and are cable subscribers willing to pay more for good customer service? No other delivery service such as satellite which only offers video services can match the number of services and the delivery options that CATV, has and maybe impossible, for one person to understand all  available  program options and technical expertise that would be required on a multifaced technolgy.

[gparris]

Many CSRs I have discussed this with in priming the HT setups I have done, have noted to me that TWC does use some sort of database for answers and often have to refer to others in their group for specific answers.
I still think a "knowledgebase" system for access is the easiest to use and allows for more interaction and quality of service.

Additionally, TWC tends to segment its calls based on the type of product or concern the subscriber or customer is asking for at any particular time.
Calls, therefore, are split between cableTV service, RoadRunner service and Digital Phone service, so it is done.

[Jack 1000]

My Own Experiances With Time Warner Cable

The good news for me is that in over 20 years I have had very good service from TWC. (All elements worked.) I had maybe 5 service calls and two of them were to replace buggy SA boxes who's PPV pin functions didn't work right. Of those 5, I had maybe two inept techs and a supervisor who was excellent when I was getting the run around. My old Pioneer box worked for 6 years and was only replaced when I went to "All in One Service" with a DVR. But remember that I have had Passport software and a division who has been TWC since the mid 80's.

In fact, TWC bought out a very poor performance cable outlet that was in my city back around 1990. The only time that I have had problems getting through on the phone was back in January-February when Navigator was first rolled out with the high call volume message and back in November during the big football game where customers were all complaining that TWC couldn't get NFL Network.

But on a global national level, I think the company sucks. There are far too many divisions with inept people, poor management, bad head-ends, faulty C-boxes, and bad Navigator. It's an overall, ineptness. The technology is there, and we have seen more funding, more specialties, and TWC's commitment to education and the public school system, (at least in my division.) But I think on this global level, the people who are managing the technology don't know what they are doing. It's almost like TWC in several divisions has forgotten its roots that are supposed to be cable TV. Yes, it's wonderful that for the most part they have had success with Road Runner and Digital Phone. Now if they can do those elements well, why can't they do the same for the cable tv part of the service in all divisions?

I think there is one important variable that can determine quality of service. If your TWC division has been around for 15-20 years or more, they generally seem to have a better overall track record. If your TWC division has "bought out" a competing cable division such as Adelphia or Comcast, that is where you are more likely to get service and performance where no one knows what is going on. My philosophy is that technology can only be as good as the foundation on which it rests, and the people who run it.

Jack

[gparris]

Jack 1000: From your writing and commentary, I can tell you are a very intelligent, knowledgeable and thoughtful person.
CableTV is what started it all and the company that forgets its very roots gets stuck with its own eventual destruction.
In many other type of industries, other than cable, I have seen it happen business-wise and it could happen to TWC, too, if it doesn't get its act together soon.
The main-line existance that started it all was cableTV and if TWC could manage the technology as well as it does its RoadRunner and Digital Phone services, it would be a wonderful thing for all subscribers, but that hasn't happened yet.
But so far, no one at TWC knows what they are doing, apparently, otherwise TWC would be on top of the HDTV market in rollouts, technology and so on.
The fact Comcast has done more for cable in the HDTV department with expansion of channels and service, just to the south of me, shows that it is possible to apply technology by informed management to get the job done.