In a previous post on blog.inphonite.com, Dave Tosi listed eight criteria to consider when evaluating ITSPs (Internet Telephony Service Providers). Allow me add one to the list, “Provides superior customer service.”

One such ITSP is Broadvox. Let me tell you how they provided superior customer service.

Several weeks ago, I attempted to call the office from my new cell phone. I was surprised to hear the “all circuits are busy” message, so I called my wireless provider. They told me that there were known issues with cellular coverage in our part of town. When the issue persisted into the next week, I called again to escalate the matter.

Let it suffice to say that the wireless provider was unable to resolve the issue.

My next call was to Broadvox Technical Support. Instead of focusing on whose fault it was, they focused on fixing the problem. They scheduled a conference call with technicians from the three providers involved. By working together, they quickly discovered that the company in the middle was routing the calls incorrectly. The problem was fixed. Case closed. Huzzah!

If you would like to share an example of a telephony provider that provides superior customer service, please do so by clicking here.

As a marketer, my goal has always been to “Delight the Customer”, “Exceed the Customer’s Expectations”, or (a la Seth Godin) create a Purple Cow.  As a consumer, however, I find that only rarely are my expectations exceeded.

My expectations were far exceeded last year at the Bug Zoo during a visit to Victoria, Canada.  This is a particularly amazing accomplishment given that our other Victoria stops included Buchart Gardens and the Victoria Butterfly Gardens.  My daughter and I entered the Bug Zoo and joined a tour that was already in progress. 

I don’t think we were in the Bug Zoo for more than 10 minutes before I was holding an Emperor scorpion in my hand!  After that, I was hooked.  (OK, not literally.)  Later in the tour, I found myself volunteering to have a 400 leg millipede placed on my forehead.  One of the children on a previous tour commented, “It feels like a dancing toothbrush!”  Luckily the cockroaches and the giant tarantula remained safely in their respective displays.  Cockroaches are too fast and this particular tarantula was too big and fragile to be handled safely.

We expected our visit to the Bug Zoo to take about an hour.  We were still happy to be there over two hours later.  What made our Bug Zoo visit extraordinary was that our guide, Steve:

• Got us involved by allowing us to hold almost all of the bugs that were on display.
• Was very knowledgeable on the subject of bugs (insects, spiders, and other arthropods).
• Took time to answer every question
• Clearly loved his job.

If you would like to share an example of a product, service, or organization that has exceeded your expectations, please do so by clicking here.

Will you be making appointment reminder calls over the Labor Day holiday weekend? To help you configure ReminderPro to run over weekends and holidays, we have prepared a Knowledgebase article to offer instructions for automating ReminderPro for a few days. See our Running a Multi-Day Call Session article for more information.

And have a great (and safe) holiday weekend!