Plebble and the volcanic ash travel chaos

James and I like many others were caught up in the volcanic ash travel nightmare. We were out in Amsterdam when the chaos hit. We feel extremely fortunate to get away with a surprisingly hassle free journey home (2 trains to Le Harve and then a fast ferry crossing). It only delayed us by 24 hours, which normally you'd be frustrated by, but hearing stories from other travellers put our disruption into context. It was fascinating to see how in times of adversity people clubbed together to help each other out.

Plebble has put together a collection of its resources on how to help customers who have been affected by the airline travel chaos. Including information on how to claim a refund and/or compensation.

Extreme events puts extreme pressure on companies. This causes them to either rise to the challenge and provide great service or break under pressure and cause severe angst. Our experience was a very good one. EasyJet were quick and efficient at refunding our flights and LD Lines (the Le Harve ferry company) provided first class service despite the situation. Some of you may not have been so lucky, but whether your experience was negative or positive, it helps other consumers and the businesses concerned if you let them know about your experience. So please tell us about your experience by rating on Plebble.

Online retail - the Perfect Storm

What makes the perfect storm in online retail? Huge demand and out of date systems. One such example is the Roof Box Company. They supply amongst other things snow chains and snow socks. Just like local councils, they could never have foreseen the cold snap and heavy snow heading our way and as such planned for normal levels of supply in snow products. So of course when the cold snap hit, demand went through the roof. There has for example been unprecedented demand for snow socks. You put them over your tyres to help you grip. A simple solution to immobile cars. One of the original issues with the Roof Box Company's site was you could order snow socks and select next day delivery. However there was no information on stock levels. I purchased a pair thinking I'd get next day delivery only to find out they had ran out of stock. They only take payment once the stock is dispatched and the next day delivery charge is cancelled, however I had to contact the company to get this information. If you select next day delivery you presume there is stock and they will be delivered next day. This has effected many customers as according to the company's director they have received hundreds of calls and emails, with one day receiving 500 answer machine messages. The company can't deal with all of these enquires leaving many customers frustrated and wondering where their stuff is.

Many online retailers don't properly display stock information and it can work with consistent levels of demand. However it's a dangerous game to play and consumers need to be wary. The simple solution is to have a system that notifies stock levels on the e-commerce site, so customers know what to expect. The Roof Box Company have since put notifcations up on their site and are working hard to deliver stock. They are also planning to update their system to make it more resilient to demand and manage customers expectations better. So the message to online retailers is, don't learn the hard way, implement systems now so you can manage customer expectations and provide good service.

For consumers looking for more information, Plebble's Advicecentre provides a guide for shopping online.

Eurostar - Who's been at the Kool-Aid?

I, like many, was following news of the complete collapse of Eurostar services over the weekend. Again like many, I did this not by tuning into the mainstream media but by reading a series of increasingly angry tweets, blog posts and comments about Eurostar's handling of the situation from the people I follow and others.

One of the main themes - and indeed a post from TechCrunch's Mike Butcher - that emerged was criticism of Eurostar for not using social media and in particular Twitter to desseminate information to staff and passengers (none of whom, I gather, knew what was going on). There was even criticism of Eurostar's 'social media agency' wearesocial who had been engaged on an entirely separate matter for not releasing info about the crisis on the @little_break Twitter account they'd set up for Eurostar to promote weekend breaks - although confusingly Eurostar do now seem to be using their @little_break account to post updates on Eurostar services (not sure it would occur to me to look there for updates if I was a Eurostar passenger...)

I think we've all been drinking too much Kool-Aid.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am an extremely committed proponent of social media and in particular its power to spread information very effectively but I think some of Eurostar's the critics in this case have totally missed the point. The problem was not that Eurostar didn't use Twitter or didn't otherwise use social media. The problem was that Eurostar didn't release sufficient information - on ANY channel (ASIDE: It sounds like they didn't have any information because they didn't have a plan to deal with a situation like this...). That's what they got wrong.

I mean, surely all Eurostar needed to do was put a detailed statement up on their website saying what was going on, when they expected the trains to move again and what contingency plan they had to ensure that people didn't run out of water and babies had enough spare nappies. After that people could have done the rest - via the world-changing technology that is social media. Twitter users could tweet that information to any other passengers who use Twitter. People who use other platforms could pass on the information that way. I dare say a few people could even talk to their fellow passengers to pass on news.

Of course, if Eurostar had taken the trouble to ensure that any information they did release was properly seeded on platforms like Twitter, that would have been nice but, frankly, just give us the info and we're quite capable of spreading it ourselves. Isn't that the point of social media?

Survey competition winner

Thanks so much to all of you who completed our survey. We had a fantastic response and were pleased to see some really positive feedback come through. However mixed in were lots of suggestions for improvement, so there's (as always) plenty of work to do.

Unfortunately there could only be one winner. Angela who lives near Derby won the £100 from John Lewis. We hope that is a little help towards Christmas.

Thanks again. We hope you have a great Christmas.

Fill out our survey and win £100 in time for Xmas

At Plebble we are constantly trying to improve the site by tweaking existing features and adding new. To do this we rely on your feedback. Yesterday we launched a 9 question survey and we've already had a great response. We'd really appreciate your input and as a small thank you we are offering the chance to win £100 of John Lewis gift vouchers in time for Christmas.

You can find the survey here.

Better customer service through Twitter

In February this year, I blogged about whether brands should engage through Twitter. That seems an almost prehistoric question such is the growth and adoption of Twitter. Attention turned to how should brands engage? Well that depends on the brand itself and what they are trying to achieve. One great way to engage is through customer service, which many brands are doing. This is good news for consumers as it opens up a powerful channel. Plebble's Advicecentre has done a article on how to use Twitter to get better customer service. I hope it helps.

First Direct live feedback site - Plebble's thoughts

Earlier this month online bank First Direct launched a live feedback microsite. This means customers can go directly to the live site and leave their comments about First Direct. The site also collects sentiment from social media sources. So forum posts, blog posts, tweets, customer reviews etc... are all collected and displayed as 'live feelings' and 'live words' about First Direct.

It's a pretty bold move by First Direct and one that is taking the lead on all the other UK banks. However it's not surprising as service is a big distinguishing factor for the company. On publication First Direct had a plebble-rating of 3.24 (on a scale of -5 to +5). Compare that to most of their competitors many with negative scores and HSBC (their parent company) with a plebble-rating of 1.08. First Direct's good plebble-rating tallies with their own sentiment score of 75% of all comments being positive. This underlines the message that you can expect good service.

Whilst I think it's good step forward and deserves commending, I think First Direct could have gone further. It's just a one way channel. The site collects feedback but there is no response or engagement from First Direct. Instead a message saying "Unfortunately we cannot respond to comments. If you would like to talk to us please call...". I think this is missed opportunity and doesn't fully embrace social media. By their own score First Direct only have 15% negative comments. That's a small percentage which could be tackled. Not only would it deal with those customers problems it would also openly demonstrate how seriously First Direct take customer service and their commitment to solving issues.

Advertising - customer testimonials on Plebble

Companies can now advertise their customer testimonials on Plebble. We think this is pretty unique advertising and it works because of the Plebble's nature as a customer service comparison site. All Bagged Up show a good example of testimonials in action. As you can see the testimonials are clearly marked as uploaded by All Bagged Up and therefore it is clear to users that they are not independent views.

We think it's a great way of introducing advertising to Plebble, whilst not detracting from the concept. It's also a great way for companies to spread their testimonials online, outside their own website.

Plebble.com site developments...

We've been working hard at improving Plebble.com and we've just uploaded some new site developments. Here is what we've done:

Aggregating content
The biggest addition is that we are now aggregating content from third party sites. This fits with what we are, ‘a people powered customer service comparison and feedback site’. If you take a look at the business listing pages (see Orange example) under what we call the CommentStream™ you will notice four tabs. The second tab is ‘Other views’. This is where we aggregate third party reviews. We display an extract of the content and links to the source. We also pull in the ranking given and transform it into our Plebble-rating™ algorithm.

Why have we done this? Simply because aggregating gives consumers’ greater consensus views on businesses. Not only is it providing more data, it is also providing this from a variety of different sources, making the plebble-rating™ more reliable. Obviously, the more Plebble users rate and the more we aggregate content, the more robust this becomes.

Spread graph
On the business listing page, we have added a ratings spread graph. This simple graph shows how consistent a business is with its customer service. Look at the banking sector for example. First Direct, the top performing bank, has the columns dominating on the right (+5). It shows that you can expect consistently good service from them. This compares to Abbey dominating on the left towards -5.

Comment on comment
Comment on comment lets users comment on individual ratings and build a discussion around them. This helps create more dialogue between users. This functionality is replicated across comments on ratings, news and advice articles.

Nicknames/anonymous identity
From the outset of Plebble we decided to make all our users identity anonymous. This is simply because we want Plebble users to express themselves freely without outside influence. We stand by this, however we think people should have a choice. Under the updated site, users can choose to remain anonymous or leave their nickname. Having nicknames with the comment-on-comment functionality gives users more opportunity to interact with each other.

Sign up / Login process
We have integrated a standard username and password sign in process. Historically we opted for a symbol ID verification process where ratings are simply verified through a valid email address and a symbol. It has worked beautifully to date, making it easy for users to verify ratings and not have the hassle of trying to remember a password. So why have we abandoned it? Simply because now we have more places that consumers can leave content and interact with the site it makes more sense to have a sign in process up front and then let consumers contribute freely. Rather than verifying through symbol ID and email address for every contribution. We are sorry to see the symbol ID’s go, but the site has to evolve!

Other changes and future developments
There are lots of other little additions and design changes. Please let us know what you think about the updated site, by contacting us through info@plebble.com. We have many little developments planned in the pipeline, such as adding sector comparisons to the Analysis sections. If you have any thoughts on what you would like to see on Plebble, then please contact us with your ideas.

The Customer Service approach to Social Media

There's an awful lot on the blogosphere about how brands should engage with social media. I thought I would share my view on a great aproach for brands and why it works so well. The approach is simple: Customer Service. Social media is a mass collection of communities. To be a valued member of a community you have to 'add-value' to the community. How can brands do this? Well customer service is one example. Solving customers' problems is a way of adding value to their lives and they will thank you for it. It's an opportunity to turn a negative situtation into a positive outcome. By solving customer problems brands can turn detractors into promotors, demonstrate their open and proactive approach to customer service and use it as a form of word of mouth marketing.

There are an increasing number of brands taking this customer service approach to social media. For example amongst others Twitter includes Carphone Warehouse @guyatcarphone, BT @BTCare and EasyJet @easyJetCare. We also use Twitter for Plebble through @Plebble_Advice, where we help consumers with their issues. People don't mind us contacting them, in fact they are genuinely grateful of our efforts to resolve their problem. So for any brands wondering how to engage in social media, customer service is a perfect start.

Interview with Plebble and the future of the online reputation industry

I've just been interviewed by the blog 'eBay, eCommerce, life' about Plebble and the future of the online reputation industry. The blog is written by Trevor Ginn. He is an eCommerce consultant at VendLab and also runs Hello Baby, his own online baby and nursery business. Hello Baby is also listed on Plebble.

Top 10 Customer Service Mistakes

In a downturn, customer service is all important - losing customers hurts your bottom line. So we've looked at negative ratings on Plebble over the last month to find the top 10 customer service turn-offs which could end up losing you customers.

1. RUDENESS
Rudeness is the biggest complaint of all. Almost a fifth (19%) described experiencing an unhelpful attitude or rudeness when they tried to resolve an issue - a remarkably high proportion and the most commonly cited grievance.

2. BEING UNREACHABLE
18% mentioned companies not answering calls or emails or not calling back. This complaint was not just directed at smaller businesses with fewer resources for customer service, but spread across big brands, SMEs and online companies. Research done by the complaint management software company, CDC Respond, last year suggested that customers who have a problem which is later satisfied are up to 8% more loyal than those who did not have a problem. We've found a similar trend on Plebble - people frequently visit the site to praise a company for solving their problem efficiently.

3. NOT REPLYING
A further 18% complained about not receiving replies to written communication, particularly complaints. In our research for Plebble's AdviceCentre, we are surprised how often it is hard to find guidance on complaints procedures and where to address formal letters. How many people end up writing to the wrong place and then, when they get nowhere, turn online to vent their frustration?

4. BROKEN PROMISES
15% of people described feeling deceived because of companies going back on their word or providing inconsistent or inaccurate advice. The most common of these was companies confirming items were in stock, taking the money for the order and then days/weeks later informing the customer that it was in fact out of stock. This is not unique to internet business, but is one of the more common complaints on Plebble about online retailers.

5. PASSING THE BUCK
8% described their annoyance at companies passing the buck - not taking responsibility for problems and blaming others for their woes. This was not what people wanted to hear when all they wanted was their problem sorted.

6. INSUFFICIENT KNOWLEDGE
7% complained about call-centre advisors not having the knowledge or authority to sort their problems.

7. NO CONTACT INFORMATION
4% were frustrated that companies had not provided contact information (especially a phone number) to use to sort their problem. The use of online contact forms as the only means of contact is a particular grievance.

8. PREMIUM PHONE NUMBERS
A further 4% complained about having to pay via premium phone numbers to speak to customer service.

9. AUTOMATED CALL SYSTEMS
4% were irritated at having to navigate automated call systems when they needed to talk to a person.

10. TIMELINES
And finally 3% talked about their annoyance at the length of time and volume of contact taken to sort simple problems.

PlebbleSystems is working on a much larger study on this subject. If you would like to receive a copy when it is published, please email research@plebble.com with your name and company name.

Carphone Warehouse signs up to Plebble

Last week Carphone Warehouse signed up to Plebble. Not only was it great to see another brand sign up but more importantly a brand which has such a poor service reputation. I met Guy Stephens, the man behind Carphone Warehouse's move. He is the online help manager at Carphone and is doing a great job engaging with his customers. Guy is not only looking at Plebble but at other forums where he can engage with customers and resolve their issues. He is actively using Twitter to do this, check out his Twitter profile to see all the hard work he is doing.

What I find so exciting about this is here is a company with poor service rankings that understands how important it is to engage with customers on a peer to peer level. Negative comments can act as deterrent for businesses to engage. Nobody likes criticism and naturally we all try and distance ourselves from it. This however is often a grave mistake. Negative comments offer enormously constructive feedback. Left untouched they can be a threat to business, but dealing with them presents a huge opportunity to turn things around. Carphone seem to get this and that is why they are prepared to roll up their sleeves and get stuck into the hard but fruitful work of dealing with customers problems online.

At Plebble, we have seen several of the worst big brand service offenders silently listening to customer feedback but not actively engaging with them yet. This shows that they know it's important, but they don't know how do deal with it. Carphone is a good example of a brand setting the precedent and we believe more will follow.

What's the reason for a shift in attitudes by brands? One big reason is the growth of Twitter, but that's a post for another time...

'Two Left Feet' - a cautionary tale

You may have been following in 'In the News' the story of 'Two Left Feet' - the online baby clothing and equipment company - which went into administration on 24 March, leaving expectant parents in the lurch. The story of how they got there is not straight-foward, but is definitely a cautionary tale on what can happen if you do not get customer service right.

'Two Left Feet' (TLF) started as a small independent family business in 1998 and grew fast to a £7 million turnover business. TLF failed to match the growth with investment in the ordering and customer-service systems they needed and customer experience began to suffer. Complaints started pouring in, mainly about missing orders and failure to pay refunds. Customers struggled to get through to anyone on the phone and TLF finally removed the customer phone line all together, accepting communication by email only. Frustrated and worried customers, desperate for their order or money back, had nowhere else to turn but sites like Plebble and the media to vent their feelings.

The BBC's 'Watchdog' programme featured TLF in 2006 and following an unprecedented flood of complaints, aired another feature in February 2009. Already struggling with cashflow because of lack of credit in the retail system, this was the final straw for TLF. The bank pulled emergency funding and the business collapsed, leaving the owner and staff devastated.

It goes to show that there are very real consequences for leaving customers feeling alienated and not prioritising engagement and retention. This was an extreme case, but as the recession bites, I fear more businesses will be tempted to cut or not invest in customer service. I just hope the story of 'Two Left Feet' serves as a caution to those businesses to put reputation first. I cannot put it better than the ex-'dragon,' Richard Farleigh, commenting on TLF on the Watchdog programme: "word of mouth, that's all there is."

And the cautionary tale for the rest of us... Search Plebble and other sites for other customer's experiences before you buy. Installing Plebble's browser toolbar will help alert you of companies with poor performance.

Skittles 2.0? Close but no cigar...

This is fast becoming old news but I thought I'd add my 2c as it ties in with a lot of what we're saying to brands about what's going on on the Web right now.

So, Skittles have embraced Web 2.0 by putting a Twitter search for the term "Skittles" as their homepage? Brilliant, forward-thinking piece of brand-building or gimic? A serious attempt to engage with customers via the 'social web' or a headline-seeking stunt?

I applaud any brand willing to take a chance and throw themselves open to praise or ridicule in equal measure, whatever the social web wants to throw at it. That's exactly what we advocate - because of blogs, microblogs, social networks, etc, information moves instantly from one side of the globe to the other, from 1 blogger to an audience of millions in a matter of seconds. The truth will out in the end - no matter what your advertising budget. Therefore, you might as well be proactive and the rewards from doing so in terms of endorsement from your customer-base are potentially huge.

So, have Skittles taken up this battle-cry? I've noticed three main reactions from people to Skittles' new Twitter-based homepage:

(1) warm welcomes (and congratulations) for a well-known brand entering our world in an apparently open and transparent way - great

(2) attempts to game/understand the system by swearing and/or dissing Skittles to see whether they'd allow it - "Skittlefisting" was on Trending Topics for a while thanks to a coordinated effort by (apparently) some Australian bloggers - interesting and ultimately (I think) great because Skittles were tested for 'authenticity' and passed

(3) attempts by people to get their own messages/links viewed by thousands when they realised that the 'Skittlesphere' was abuzz - by including #skittles in their otherwise unconnected tweets - not great but inevitable

The question for me is whether Skittles' experiment is a success. Personally, I'd be surprised if it is - long-term. This is for 1 very fundamental reason: they're not actually engaging. All they're doing is trying to push their advertising message using a website, Twitter, that's getting a lot of attention at the moment from the mainstream media. Notice the big ol' banner ad sitting on top of everything. I didn't notice any actual responses from Skittles or attempts to discuss new flavours, health issues, etc.

So, in the end they made a nice-looking playground. People Twittered in for a while and then will Twitter away again. No doubt Skittles got a bit of market research from the things people were saying and some dates of birth (hands up who entered their real one??). No attempt was made to keep people interested though by having a discussion or reaching out on a human peer-to-peer level that characterises the social web. Hopefully Skittles will realise its missed opportunity and have another go...