Thank you for all your comments and emails on the "Time to Innovate" post. There is some valuable stuff here. The goal was to get to the "Top Five" suggestions to move the support process to the next level.

Some clear messages:

Support the person, then the product:
Understand the profile of the individual. The people that use your products will help you do this. Understand their technical competence, experience with Apple, use of Pro Apps etc. Then support them and their product issue with the appropriate resource. e.g. smart geek, OS X since first release, and developer; get them to a specialist support rep directly.

Provide Options:
Individuals and their circumstances are different and "one size fits all" doesn't! Giving people options on how they would prefer to interact with support is important. Offer IM, Email, VOIP, Phone, online forums and Genius Bar. Choice is good.

Communicate!
For example; communicate accurately about where the product repair is in the system and what work is being done. We care about our computer and the issue. Also communicate more widely and transparently via forums and blogs. More information is good.

Consistency:
Getting it right ninetyX% of the time is not acceptable for the X% when things don't go right.

High-quality support:
High-quality support is primarily a function of great product design and ease of use, quality of product, great documentation followed closely by 100% interest in the customers situation. Get this right, then the rest is simply good process. This also lowers the cost for the brand owner too. Companies like Lexus understand this.

Is there a "Top Five" list of specific suggestions that would advance the art of customer support? How about this?

#1  Support the person first, then the product issue. Get me to the right level of customer support first time.

#2  Build a 7x24 Online Virtual Genius Bar that I can book appointments and iChat (IM, voice or video) or email a Genius, and perhaps use remote access tools to help solve my issue. Backup this service with existing in-store Genius Bars and AppleCare on-site / pickup / drop-off services. Let me choose the best option for me.

#3  Improve my self-service options. Put a wealth of support information online so I can search / research my issue and leverage other peoples experience and fixes. Dedicate more CSR's to online forums. Develop customer support blogs for every product line.

#4  Allow me to rate my service experiences to help you, the support provider, identify issues with your service consistency and solve them quickly.

#5  Just get the product right, make it easy to use, and provide great documentation. I may not need support, and if I do, you'll have the time to make my experience great.

What would be your first choice? What suggestion would help you the most?




Any other thoughts?

Kudos to Dell for understanding the "two" in two-way communications.

Dell external Blog policy:

How is it that an organization with such clarity of vision at the very top can be so "Dilbert-esk" when you get a few layers down?

Is it the same dynamic that effects all hierarchies? My perspective from the inside is that Steve's energies focus on creating products that stand-out from the crowd. Products of class that are compellingly simple in their use. Desired more than sold. Then we have the organization beneath this. Scott Adams could mine the riches of material here.

The same as every large company I hear you say! Of all the computer and CE companies, the expectation could understandably be different for Apple.

Perhaps the common denominator here are the individuals that are attracted to work and survive long-term in large companies. What drives them? Is is the need to pay the mortgage. Or for security, status or career development? Survival? It's certainly different than what motivates Steve and what has made Apple successful. And as you explore this "fat belly" the difference becomes glaringly obvious.

Steve drives the team to create products that are among the most desired. Step a layer or two out from this, fear for job security drives compromised consensus's, rampant politics and ultimately dumb ass thinking. Thank goodness for the cool products. Otherwise it would be just like working for any other large company.

[sigh, end of riff]

Additional thought: Would an edgy character like SJ survive in the middle of this mediocrity? Imagine they were starting their career as opposed to running the company. Let's hope nothing takes SJ out of the business as I'm sure Apple fans from the late nineties can attest to.

On the theme of customer support and making it better, here is your chance to be innovative!

Let's put together a list of the best suggestions that Apple could introduce to make customer support better for the customer. Let's get creative. Don't worry too much about practicalities. Just focus on new practices that would make us more satisfied about the whole support process. Let's aim for a "top five".

Post your suggestion in the comments below or email to me at blogger.masked@gmail.com

What I'm interested in are the things that remove your frustration from the support process. Increase satisfaction. Change the rules and move the art of customer support onto the next level.

Here's an example to get started:

Make the support experience more consistent. A simple to use rating system (think 2 or 3 clicks) that allows you to rate every service experience, the support rep and outcome. This would give you the ability to compare individual support reps, Genus Bars, AppleCare or channel support organizations and choose the most highly rated. The business can improve consistency through targeted training and incentive. Individual service locations and reps can benchmark their performance against their peers. Everyone has a stake in getting it right.

Remember, it's not about why something can't be done. It's about how something complex might be done better. Here's a chance to use your creativity to help make all customer support better.

Here's some of the interesting stuff:

Deirdre makes a lot of sense (and give yourself 30mins to poke around Deirdre's website, it drew me in)

"The Masked Blogger’s avowed purpose is to start a conversation about what Apple could be doing to communicate better with its customers. She’s asking the right questions, and some of the answers are useful. It therefore doesn’t matter whether the blog is genuine, because Apple is reading it. Whether they read it to see how their PR experiment works out, or to try to identify their rogue employee, the conversation about conversation is taking place – and Apple, volente o nolente, is listening."

John is also making a lot of sense. Great perspective.

"Well, let me tell you. A more open communications culture would benefit Apple not by allowing customers to learn more about the company, but by allowing the company to learn from the customers."

Jason cuts through the crap [comment 16 in full, here]

"Fortunately, there are worse things than losing confidence. Gadgets are tools, sometimes they're not as good as they could be, yeah it's frustrating. But you cope with it. My MacBook is fine after its surgery, which was inconvenient but pretty much forgotten now."

Thank you for contributing. As Deirdre points out, volente o nolente, Apple is listening

There is nothing worse than losing confidence. How do I feel when a product I've paid for and rely on has a problem? What's needed to make me feel comfortable again? In a market where I have lots of choice, at what point do I vote with my feet and choose another brand?

Dell has taken a hit. Is this directly related to "Dell Hell"?

Dell is doing something decisive about this and I have no doubt will come back even stronger. How much has falling customer satisfaction cost them? Is customer service now the key differentiator between the brands? Does Dell now recognize this with their incremental $150M investment into their support organization, and getting enthusiastic people like Richard to listen and react quickly to customer issues?

It's also a key point to understand that Dell has probably been delivering great service to a majority of customers throughout this time.

I'm frustrated that Apple hasn't taken up on the opportunity offered by our customers to address a confidence issue - MacBook random shut-downs:

- Dave Winer
- Doc Searls
- Scott McNulty
- Kevin Rose MacBook shut-down issues live on Diggnation Podcast (01:35 through 05:00)
- Liz at GigaOM
- Class Action suit

The list goes on and the conversation rages.

It doesn't matter that marketshare is up and user satisfaction surveys are strong. Dell had leading and growing marketshare and strong satisfaction survey results when "Dell Hell" started. For Dell, the market consequences have followed closely behind popular opinion, and are significant and no doubt painful.

How would I feel if I owned a MacBook with the random shut-down issue? Or was looking to buy one and saw the large amount of discussion on-line?

- I would want to know details of what the problem was and why it happened,
- I would want to know that the issue had been solved (or when it will be solved) and that new product available for purchase is unaffected,
- I would want a definitive plan so customers and the customer service organization had a clear process to consistently fix both the issue and my confidence,
- I would like to know that the business cared so any further issues would be dealt with, with my interests at heart.

Silence from Apple.

Is Apple addressing the MacBook random shut-down issue acceptably? Perhaps we have addressed the product issue acceptably, if not with 100% consistency.

In my opinion, Apple has done a poor job at addressing the confidence issue. Silence is an increasingly poor strategy. Popular opinion is influenced more and more by the conversations on-line (ref: Dell Hell and it's consequences). To the Apple exec, lack of confidence and poor popular opinion can be very costly. By choosing not to participate in these on-line conversations you lose any influence on the conversation. The amplification of the customer voice will only increase. Get involved. Bring  some value to the conversation. Innovate. Turn the support experience into differentiator. This is an opportunity.

Do you have a MacBook with the random shut-down issue? What could Apple have done better for you?

I want to go back to a comment I made that effectively started this blog:

"I think the broader issue is how we evolve large company support organisations where typically the relationship is managed by a junior member of staff and arbitrated by fixed processes? How do we build two-way conversations and trusted relationships? The organisation that cracks this first will have innovation far more valuable than any product based innovation!"

It's a big and important issue. Let's take a couple of small steps into this conversation with the issue of communities of interest. Here is a previous comment on this:

"Back in August I was intrigued how Mark Shuttleworth joined a raging and somewhat angry debate within the Ubuntu community. The latest release was crashing. Lots of emotion. Mark stood up, said to the community you're right, we messed up, and here's what we are going to do about it. Almost immediately the collective focus moved to how to fix the issue. I've seen this skill in the very best customer service reps. Listening, acknowledge the problem, non-condesending empathy and action to solve. One to one it's powerful. One to many it's gold."

Apple also has many communities of interest and, in my opinion, would be a great place to start developing stronger customer ties through two-way conversations. How might better two-way communication help with audio, video, photography and other creative professionals that rely on Apple tools and products for their craft?

MusicJon made some very interesting comments [full comments here, third comment from top]. The gist is:

"Now, the same people that worked to provide a great customer experience for Emagic work for Apple, but have completely disappeared to the end user. There is NO WAY to communicate with anyone at Apple/Emagic about issues or needs with Logic. The official Apple Logic forums have no developer or even Apple Support presence."

Looks like MusicJon uses Logic which is a professional audio production tool, as do tens of thousands of others. The commitment and investment in developing expertise to express your craft in any tool is large. These communities have a vested interests in the future of these products. I see very little downside and tremendous advantages getting the developers, product managers and support specialists from Apple to fully engage with these communities. Be that through forums, blogs, wiki's or whatever isn't really the important point. It's about the two-way conversation that makes product better and customers more productive. Logic isn't a "and just one more thing" moment in an Apple keynote, so transparency in this case looks like an opportunity rather than a risk.

Logic, and all of Apple's professional solutions, appear successful and growing in a competitive marketplace. Therefore, with this success is there a need to change current business practices? Smart business requires constant reinvention. Let me close by referring you back to the quotation at the head of this post. "... The organisation that cracks this first will have innovation far more valuable than any product based innovation!"

Do you use Apple's professional solutions? What are your experiences and thoughts on this issue?

Shel Israel has a genuine concern about the lack of credibility of the Masked Blogger.

"Masked, until you show yourself, you will lack credibility.  Just look at the comments you are receiving.  Until you show yourself, you will make finding you a game."

Hopefully my last post helped explain more about where I'm coming from. You can read it here:

Shel also offers to help answer the core questions I have about the value of "joining the conversation" and how this relates to larger businesses. These can be summarized into three main questions:

- how do corporations control the message if they let their staff blog?
- is there real value in getting involved in blogging, for a corporation and for the customer?
- is transparency and openness a risk or opportunity for businesses?

A good (but short) case study for these questions is what has happened around this blog in the last 48-hours. Is Apple getting any useful and actionable information from the resulting conversations? Do they better understand what its customers are thinking? What about Apple customers? Does participation and the value of the shared insights only matter if they are acted on? How sustainable will this be?

Shel has also given me the opportunity to verify my identity while keeping the protection afforded by anonymity:

"Masked, I'd be happy to give you greater detail, but we would have to go offline. I pledge Here and now in front of all these people that I will not reveal your identity, but I'll be very happy to answer any ten of your challenging questions, if you will answer ten of mine, letting me publish them on this blog, while keeping your name private."

Shel, drop me a note at blogger.masked@gmail.com

PS: Your book Naked Conversations arrived from Amazon an hour ago. Thank you for the recommendation. Looking forward to reading it.

I started blogging a couple of days ago. My goal was to understand the value of online conversation in the business context.

Back in August I was intrigued how Mark Shuttleworth joined a raging and somewhat angry debate within the Ubuntu community. The latest release was crashing. Lots of emotion. Mark stood up, said to the community you're right, we messed up, and here's what we are going to do about it. Almost immediately the collective focus moved to how to fix the issue. I've seen this skill in the very best customer service reps. Listening, acknowledge the problem, non-condesending empathy and action to solve. One to one it's powerful. One to many it's gold.

Jonathan Schwartz has moved the needle of my impression of Sun. Prior to reading Jonathan's blog I thought Sun was a large, previously successful company that failed to change. Perhaps it still is. What I know now is how Sun is changing. Standards based products, open source and some strong innovation. Lower power consumption systems (a biggie going forward), technologies like zFS and products like Thumper.

Can this power of conversation translate to my interests? It's been a very rewarding 48-hours. Two things resonate with me. Online conversations are powerful. And the collective wisdom of a crowd adds value. Let me highlight a couple of things I've found of value:

- a good number of you are having issues with your MacBook Pros and more importantly, unsatisfactory service experiences. There are lots of suggestions on areas for improvement.
- a good number of you are really pleased with your MacBook Pros and your service experiences have been excellent.
- there may be a difference in traditional Mac enthusiasts and "switchers" in their service expectations.
- transparency is regarded as important and good, countered somewhat by AntiBorg sharing an interesting perspective on the "Collective Consumer Market Mind". Very interesting.
- other vendors struggle with the similar issues (thanks Michael et al)
- Apple ranked highly compared to major vendors in a recent user satisfaction survey (which doesn't mean there's not more to do)
- Dell is participating in the conversations (thanks Richard)
- I've learnt that self-scan groceries is a con and only of benefit to supermarket productivity (thanks Francis )
- I'm guessing Shel Israel privately still lusts after a shiny new MacBook Pro

There has also been a lot of hype about an Apple employee blogging. My goal for joining the conversation is primarily to understand the medium. Working for Apple is only part of my "identity". Let me be very clear. I'm not going to divulge any Apple secrets or dirty laundry. I have a vested interest in Apple's success and certainly won't be leaving my ethics at the door as I enter the conversation. What's important here is the conversations and I'm sure Apple is listening. Wouldn't it be great though, if collectively we created value. Value for Apple customers. Value for Apple. Perhaps this may be a way of bringing Apple into the conversation on a long-term basis. So for some of you, time for an expectation reset.

Finally, thanks to everyone for the input, all the comments and emails. Particularly those that have taken the time to contribute thoughtful and valuable insight. This is what it's about!

Transparency:

Is transparency the core tenet for blogging and building trust online? Does understanding more about the individual, their background and current interests insert context into their contributions? Does transparency expose vested interests or any ulterior motives?

Shel challenged my anonymity:

"Masked--I just posted a comment on your site. Yours was a thoughtful post. But by being anonymous, you raise a larger question: Why should I trust a company whose employees have to mask their identities. How do I know who you are or why you are saying what you are saying. Why don't your employers trust you to speak your mind as a loyal cabable employee? Without those reasons, you are giving me a second reason to hold off on buying a Mac Pro."

Is it better to blog anonymously than to not blog at all, if revealing your identity could jeopardize your job and income?  Will trust develop as a normal part of the conversation, based on quality conversation rather than identity? What I do know is that anonymity gives me a voice I wouldn't otherwise have. Perhaps a necessary compromise?

Robert Scoble brings an interesting perspective:

"Here’s a question for Apple’s PR: what happens when only anonymous employees can blog? Hint: your PR will be controlled by anonymous people!"

Controlling the message:

Does your employer have concerns about blogging? Losing control of the message. The inadvertent leaking of confidential information. These are genuine concerns for organizations of all sizes that have invested in building and managing (traditionally) their brand.

Let me get your feedback on a hypothetical scenario. A company releases a new product. The engineering team see a "bump" in customer issues. While this is expected for any new product, the issues exceed the tight quality goals the company has set for itself. What would you prefer?

a) the company come out and say "Hey, here is the issue affecting our new product. This issue doesn't affect everyone, but has exceeded our tight threshold for quality. If this is happening to you, here's what to do .... "

b) the company just waits for individuals to contact them when they experience the issue.

What would "cost" the company more? How would scenario a) empower the front line staff to understand and address the issue? What would happen to the conversations online about the issues in both scenarios?

Is transparency and openness a risk or an opportunity for businesses? 

Benefits of Blogging:

Is there any real value in businesses getting involved in blogging and social media? How do we measure this? Shel has some interesting thoughts on ROI here.

I ask for your help again. Has anyone real examples of how "joining the conversation" has helped their business or improved customer satisfaction? What about the converse. Any horror stories?

Appreciate your help and input!

[Reply to Shel Israel's post Shel Hell Dampens my Mac Envy]

I work for Apple.

Apple is all about the product. The company hierarchy reflects this, in a similar way at Dell where it all starts with the sales organisation.  Anything that gets in the way of a sale is top of the list at Dell. Apple is a different animal.

The result of this focus for Apple is great and desirable products.  My background is with Windows, and OS X on Mac is comparatively a better experience.  To avoid any resulting jihad from the Windows vs Mac camps (and vice versa) my premise here is it's not just about the product.  Notebooks are one of the tools we use to "produce", whatever we do in our work and day to day lives.  Something like 80% of all notebook production comes out of Taiwan and China ... contract manufacturing for all the leading brands. Sure cool industrial design and better usability matter, but as the market continues to commoditise the emphasis shifts to "the other things" or ecosystem around the offering.  It is true that any of the top brands (and a number of the smaller niche players) can provide you a notebook that will get the job done.  But if there's one thing to get right, its is supporting the user. Nothing dismantles a brand quicker than the focus unhappy users and their ability to create a tipping point in general opinion.
 
I'm not sure anyone gets this 100% right.  Dell, aside from it's recent slide, use to do a great job comparatively ... and grew like crazy in the marketplace as a result. And their product, while reliable, was anything but inspiring in design.  Apple also places well in comparative user satisfaction surveys.

I think there is something missing though.  It's to do with relationship and trust.  Let me try and explain.

I did my weekly grocery shopping at my local Sainbury's Supermarket yesterday.  I used their self-scan handset that let's you scan items as you select them from the shelf. This means the checkout process is quick and painless.  For the third time in a row, their "system" dictated all the items be re-scaned at the checkout.  Ahhhh!  Turns out my purchase of 1/2 dozen re-usable carrier bags after the self-scan handset had been "loaded" at the checkout at a previous visit was flagged as a variance in items scanned.  The "system" had flagged me as someone they need to double check.

I worked out I spend over (US)$10,000 a year at Sainbury's.  They left the customer relationship to be managed by the most junior and probably the lowest paid employee's in their business and a flag in the database.  A flag that was indiscriminate to a legitimate at check-out purchase.  A great service (self-scanning) followed up by customer service that questioned a $10k pa customers integrity.  Do Sainbury's understand what happened yesterday?

I wonder if I offered the owner-operated deli, green grocer and general store on the local High Street their share of my $10k spend.  How different would my relationship with those businesses?

Two points:

Is the above supermarket scenario any different with the computer vendor support organisations?  Is the customer interaction handled by a junior member of staff and arbitrated by fixed process?  How do we develop a better trust relationships between vendor and individual to set and meet expectations (for those of us who are not bloggers of influence)?

I know there are many talented and passionate individuals in the AppleCare organisation, behind the Genius Bars in Apple stores, and in Apple's channel.  How do we ensure they understand what a failed notebook means to an individual that will have 500 people in an auditorium for the keynote presentation the next morning?  How do we empower them to help?

My guess it's similar to the relationship and trust I would build with the owner of the local deli as we got to know each others needs.  Is there a repeatable way we can make this work with the bigger support organisations?  How do we replicate the two-way conversation that makes the relationship with the deli owner more powerful than the checkout clerk at Sainsbury's?

To Shel Israel ... by a MacBook Pro.  You won't regret it.  But help me as I work from the inside to help Apple get into the conversation for the benefit of all.