Actually looks like a very sensible set of guidelines. Lots of notes in there about when sales are not appropriate. Don’t see the big deal about tech support inquiring about upgrading service or otherwise selling in cases where they were able to resolve a problem (the manual is very specific about this not being appropriate if the problem was not solved)…
I suspect it seems fairly reasonable and mostly logical because it was went over with a fine tooth comb by legal. In reality I bet management’s position, and I mean their real position not just what they say, is more aligned to sell, retain, and sell some more. Where I work safety is a #1…but you better hit that production rate, safely of course.
"Guidelines for repair reps, which show how a trouble call can be segued into a sales call, are part of S4, Comcast’s “universal call flow.” "
That right there. I call with a technical problem, I don’t need a goddamn sales pitch. Why would they think its good customer service to turn their tech support people into sales people?
I don’t see this as a big deal. Selling to someone while you’ve got them on the line makes sense so long as you’re solving their real problem first.
It may not be a big deal, but it’s absolutely annoying and perceived as poor customer service to a customer trapped utilizing a defacto-monopoly.
Guess the 911 service is missing out by not having their operators sell me Government bonds and lottery tickets. Only after they dispatch the ambulance to my house, of course.
I’ve spent a bunch of years in sales, and none of this looks even a little bit unusual, except the part about expecting the technicians to comb their hair. Like @EricE said, there’s a wrong time. There will always be a few - or maybe a lot - who don’t get it, and will push for a sale when it’s the absolutely wrong thing to do. But I hope it’s rare.
Full disclosure: I used to be a Comcast subscriber. Yes, they’re really that bad.
I worked for a company that Comcast contracted their computer support to for a few, brief, miserable months. It was the Comcast contract that finally broke the camel’s back and got me to quit. One of the weirdest moments came when we spent five minutes (I timed it) on whether putting an extra “please” into script constituted a script violation which could end in termination. We also had to go over a Customer Interaction Experience module because, apparently, following a script made us too robotic.
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