Out of all the Marketing Bloggers I have read, I like Peter Shankman's blog the most. I think what I like the most about him is how blunt he is. The article I posted above is one that he wrote on customer service--working in a field that is focused on very personalized customer service, the things that bother him about his experience with Infiniti would bother me as well. I take a lot of pride in the time I spend personalizing emails, letters and phone calls to my students, so now it is hard for me to deal with such bad customer service...especially when it's this careless. I honestly don't think I would have signed a new lease with them.
I was thinking Steve could probably be from New Jersey, California, or India (since it seems all customer service has moved out of the country).
ReplyDeleteWith the last being the case, it would be hard to know American names and American punctuation and NYC locations. So if it is outsourced to another country, that becomes a problem of Infinity, Infinity of Manhattan, and Steve. Sadly, it also becomes a problem of Mr./Ms. Peter Shankman.
I understand why Mr. Shankman is irked. I'd be irked to. And I'd pull my loyalty from Infinity in a heartbeat. It's a foreign company trying to do business in America. Do business in America, don't outsource to another country.
Yes, I agree. Infinity definitely needs to work on improving customer service skills across the board.
As a post-script, I should make it clear that I have nothing against India, I just picked one country that much American work has been outsourced to. I'm sure India is a beautiful country with a very nice population. I also know India is a very impoverished country. Nor do I have anything against NJ or CA. My point is, Steve may not be across the street from Peter.
I absolutely love Peter Shankman! He is so funny! If I had received that letter from the dealership I bought my car from I would have been very upset. Not by just the grammar errors or the failure to put a salutation on the letter but by making the letter so impersonal.
ReplyDeleteI spent a good bit of money on my car and I would expect the dealership to take the time to 1. Know where I live, 2. Know if I'm male or female and 3. Proofread the letter. However, I receive a phone call at least every 3 to 4 months from the dealership where I purchased my car to make sure everything is ok. Maybe infinity should do the same.