Who hasn’t had a bad customer experience at some point or another? From slow or no response on social media, to being passed around between departments on the phone, to being inundated with surveys after not solving your problem, companies can do things that drive us crazy. If your company’s customers have experiences like this too often, rage can result and damage your brand. Even among well-meaning customer experience professionals, sometimes systems fail, policies inhibit doing what is best for the customer, or the smartest people make mistakes. And again, customers are left feeling frustrated or worse. How can you avoid conflicts before they turn to anger? In this program we will take real world customer complaints and talk about the root causes behind them, considering how to fix them as well as how to ensure the problems behind them don’t become the norm at your company.

1. 1

2. 2
Brought to you by
Social Media Today presents:
Preventing Customer Rage – How to Defuse
Common Customer Complaints

3. 3
Join the Conversation…

4. 4
About the Moderator
Emily Yellin is a journalist, author and consultant. Her most
recent book, Your Call Is (Not That) Important to Us -- Customer
Service and What It Reveals About Our World and Our Lives,
was published by Simon & Schuster. Currently, Emily is a
consultant with Peppercomm, a strategic communications firm
in New York. She also regularly speaks at conferences and in the
news media about customer service, marketing, social media
and journalism, and is on the advisory board for
TheSocialCustomer.com. Emily was a longtime contributor to
The New York Times, and has written for Time, The Washington
Post, The International Herald Tribune, Newsweek, Smithsonian
Magazine, and other publications. She has lived in New York
City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London, but is currently based in
Memphis. Website: www.emilyyellin.com Twitter: @eyellin
#smtcust

5. 5
Our Speakers
#smtcust
Amy Kelman Vice President, Customer Success at Zendesk. Amy leads the team charged with
providing beautifully simple customer service to Zendesk customers worldwide. Amy has a deep
background in enterprise and social software, customer support, and professional services. Prior
to Zendesk, Amy led Customer Success at Hearsay Social, where she worked with Fortune 100
customers to grow revenues through strategic use of enterprise social media software.
@zendesk
Mary Jo Bitner is Professor of Marketing, Edward M. Carson Chair, and Executive Director of
the Center for Services Leadership (CSL) in the W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State
University. She has contributed over two decades of research to the field of services marketing
and received the American Marketing Association’s recognition for Career Contributions to the
Services Discipline Award. Among her most publicized research is the regular Customer Rage
study sponsored by the CSL, Customer Care Measurement & Consulting. @WPCCSL
Charles E. Miller, Director of Digital Care and Social Media, Direct TV. A leading Social Media
practitioner, speaker and panelist, Charles has advised business leaders on Social Media best
practices, sCRM, and customer communities nationally. Within DIRECTV he launched Social
Media use throughout the enterprise including advising PR, Marketing, Engineering, Research,
Field Services and Mobile Advanced Services on best practices. His customer service operations
team is both U.S. and internationally based. @zendesk

6. • Research and education
center within the W. P.
Carey School of Business
at Arizona State Univ.
• Outreach arm of ASU to
the business community
and global academic
community
• Founded in 1985 to
pioneer the study of
services
THE CENTER FOR SERVICES LEADERSHIP (CSL)
BRIDGING ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS COMMUNITIES
www.wpcarey.asu.edu/csl
@WPCCSL

7. THE CENTER FOR SERVICES LEADERSHIP (CSL)
BRIDGING ACADEMIC AND BUSINESS COMMUNITIES
www.wpcarey.asu.edu/csl
@WPCCSL
Actionable
Research
Executive
Education
Student
Education

8. Bi-Annual Customer Rage Study
2003-2013

9. Impact Of Complainant Satisfaction*
Satisfaction
With Action Taken
(% Complainants)
=
=
(TOP 2 BOXES)
Satisfied
(21%)
(SECOND 2 BOXES)
Mollified
(39%)
79%
33%
54%
17%
% Recommend
Company
(Top 2 Boxes)***
Average
Number Told
About
Problem
7.2
25.8
(BOTTOM 2 BOXES)
Dissatisfied
(40%)
= 5% 7% 23.2
All complainants 31% 21% 25.1
* Based on aggregated results from 2011.
** Based on “very” and “somewhat satisfied” with offending company.
*** Based on “definitely” and “probably would recommend” offending company to a friend or colleague.
% Satisfied With
Company
(Top 2 Boxes)**

10. What Complainants Got: “Bubkus”
% OF COMPLAINANTS WHO FELT THAT THEY GOT
NOTHING
2011 2003-2011
47% 51%

11. Comparison Between What Complainants Wanted
To Get And What They Got:
Remedy** % Wanted % Got
To be treated with dignity 90% 40%
My product repaired/service fixed 77% 32%
An explanation of why the problem occurred 73% 23%
An assurance that my problem would not be repeated 72% 19%
Just to express my anger/tell my side of the story 71% 42%
A thank you for my business 70% 32%
An apology 62% 38%
My money back 49% 17%
A free product or service in the future 32% 10%
Financial compensation for my lost time,
inconvenience or injury
22% 2%
Revenge 16% 3%
Other 10% 2%
@WPCCSL

12. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
One contact Two contacts Three or more
contacts
49%
30%
11%
“Ping-Ponging”:
Still The Deadly Game In 2011
%ComplainantsSatisfied
WithActionTaken(Top2Boxes)
All Complainants
(19%) (18%) (62%)
Average # Of Contacts:
2011: 4.4
2003-2011: 4.2

13. How Respondents With Problems
Expressed Their Displeasure
Expressions Of Displeasure
2011
Problem
Respondents
2003-2011
Problem
Respondents
Shared the story with my friends/other people 88% 87%
Complained to the entity that caused the problem* 82% 77%
Threatened to talk with or contact management 52% 54%
Decided I'd never do business/come back again 47% 53%
Yelled or raised my voice 24% 25%
Threatened to report the entity that caused the problem
to a government regulatory agency
16% 17%
Cursed/used profanity 8% 7%
Threatened legal action 8% 8%
Threatened to contact the media 7% 6%

14. Product/Service That Caused The Most
Serious Problem: Top 5
Product/Service Type
2011
Problem
Respondents
2003-2011
Problem
Respondents
Cable/Satellite TV 19% 7%
Telephone 14% 10%
Consumer electronics –
non-computer
9% 8%
Retailer 8% 10%
Automobile 6% 11%

15. 15
#smtlive

16. 16

17. THE IMPACT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
SOURCE: DIMENSIONALRESEARCH.COM, ZENDESK.COM

18. THE IMPACT OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
SOURCE: DIMENSIONALRESEARCH.COM, ZENDESK.COM

19. IMPROVING THE WAY CUSTOMERS HELP THEMSELVES ONLINE
SOURCE: ZENDESK.COM

20. Case Studies:
Social Customer Interactions
Charles Miller
Director Digital Care and Social Support
DIRECTV
@chasmiller
V3

21. Turn Outreach into Standard Practice
Case Study:
Opening Day: College Football
• Detected in real-time
• Communicated alternative SD to HD feeds
• Engaged customers and notified when restored
• Incorporated process to National Command Center

22. Focus on the Customer Experience
Case Study:
Avoid typecasting upset customers
• Be aware of customer’s other brand interactions
• Customer Service insights can provide ROI

23. Join our Best Thinkers Webinar…
#smtlive
Empowering Employees:
Could Your Staff Be Your Best Brand Advocates?
http://socialmediatoday.com/employee-advocates-webinar
11

24. Liked our webinar? Join us IN PERSON
We're super excited about our first-ever conference, The Social
Shake-Up...and that's due in no small part to the fact that we
can't wait to meet our SMT community (that's you!) face to face.
Join us in Atlanta as we bring together major thought leaders,
many of our bloggers, and community members to find out what
they are doing and how it can impact your business. All webinar
attendees get 25% using code: SMTLIVE
http://socialmediatoday.com/event
#socialshakeup