From September 2006 until
December 2011, I worked for a company that did market research. Specifically the company worked in
entertainment, mostly movie trailers.
The biggest thing we did was intercept work – we had crews in movie
theaters and malls across the nation stopping people who we then tried to fit
into our quota. If they fit in the quota
then we would show them trailers for previously unreleased movies, get their
opinions on what they liked and didn’t like and then, after companywide quota
had been met, we would send that information back to whatever movie studio had
booked the work. They would then recut
the movie trailer based on that information and that is what you see on tv and
in movie theaters. Sounds fun,
right? It was an absolute BLAST. Except when you are trying to
communicate.
In my opinion, there isn’t a
person alive who hasn’t had
difficulties communicating with a business.
Whether that difficulty is in the mode
of communication or in the people
doing the communicating, it’s still there.
How many people get irritated when they pick up the phone and speak to
someone with a thick accent that they simply cannot understand? It doesn’t take the support person saying
more than “hi” and a lot of people are already irritated and assume they will
not be able to understand. I think in a
lot of ways, social media could alleviate those pains.
Recently, I had an issue with
Amazon Textbooks. I had returned a book
but they had no record of it. Amazon has
a nifty chat feature that made resolving the issue so much easier. With two small children, my (quiet) phone
time is limited so using the chat was infinitely better. When the phone did ring and I spoke to the
Amazon support staff member, he had a very thick dialect that was a bit
difficult to understand. We did not have
that hurdle when in the chat window.
I’m sure you’ve seen the many
viral Facebook posts about who did what at Walmart or Target and the response
that they’ve received. There have been
more than one case of some business firing employees over something posted on
Facebook. The most recent thing I saw on
Facebook was a group of employees quitting the shoe store Journeys during a
back to school sale because of the manager.
I’ve liked the pages of several businesses and communicate through their
Facebook page and it really does make it a lot easier. You know they check their Facebook pages
regularly.
In my opinion it is the
people who make communication positive or negative, not the medium.
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ReplyDeleteCynthia, I want that movie trailer job! It sounds like so much fun!!!
ReplyDeleteBut you gave a good example on communication: I think Amazon is one of the best companies to deal with, be it for buying, selling, or addressing problems. They've got it right!
Lenah
If you're in the San Diego area, I can pass along the San Diego manager's email! When my husband left the company in 2012, they had sites at the Plaza Bonita mall (in the food court) and one at the San Marcos regal movie theater. :)
DeleteI agree that Amazon is amazing - I do almost all of my online shopping through Amazon!
....yah Cynthia! This was an AWESOME post!! I STRONGLY agree with it being easier to communicate.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kyle! :)
Delete...EXCELLENT point Cynthia!! I too have used the Amazon chat and it is awesome. It really does make communicating easier, especially when you get those people on the phone you can barely understand!! Have a fantastic week Cynthia.
ReplyDeleteThanks John! I really find that if a company offers a chat it can get the problem straightened out much quicker!
DeleteWere can I sign up for this job? I agree with you about the live chat option I have used that feature myself a couple of times and find it way more simpler.
ReplyDeleteHi Cynthia, I so agree with you that it is PEOPLE that make the communication positive or negative! We forget that it is still people who have to write those communications on whichever social media outlet we frequent. I think sometimes writing everything is harder because we don't have those verbal cues to let us know when someone has not understood or misunderstood (sometimes worse)our written word. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI have had those experiences where I have called for help/assistance and then got someone I could not understand and, of course, that was after I had to push numerous buttons to finally speak with a person. I once actually had to ask to speak with someone else because I could not understand her. With a couple businesses I deal with, they now have "Chat" mail, it takes longer, and you are typing messages back and forth, but at least I was able to understand what I needed to do.
ReplyDelete