During the peak of COVID lockdowns, I worked in an operations role at the Ocado Customer Hub, managing specialist customer service teams that took the lead on social media, live chat and complaints. For anyone not familiar with Ocado (who only deliver so far North, so that is still a thing), they’re an online-only supermarket, and during the pandemic, the grocery sector was quite a tense place to be. I’m providing that background to give context to my frustration with two sub-par customer service experiences this week, both broadband providers, both through live chat and both with the same failings. Chatbot-gated agents, copy and paste responses (one which left “the customer must agree before proceeding” as the last line), and most annoyingly, responses from agents that were obviously being evaluated on speed rather than usefulness, leading to the same questions over and over, and resolution times of over 30 minutes for simple requests. A reminder that in the midst of flashy new technology, getting the basics right can still put you lightyears ahead of the competition.
The Award for Accidentally Well-Timed Campaign goes to…
Round of applause for Task Rabbit, whose Oasis-themed Manchester Bus campaign hit the streets just in time for the news of a reunion tour. Don’t flat-pack in anger is also excellent advice. Thanks to Laura Barker for this one.
Is it time to abandon X?
The steady decline of X (what we fondly recall of as Twitter), means that Meta-rival Threads is slowly building on its early success as a text-focused platform. Sean Adams recently published a summary of his experience with the platform, which is well worth your time. With just 6,000 followers, he has amassed 358,000 views in 30 days. Get the details in his post here
The fast track to engagement
Your most engaged with content usually has a mistake. Think typos in social media posts or the wrong link in an email. Why does it perform so well? Because people love to point out a mistake, well, yes. Or, more positively, because people like to contribute! Now, I’m not saying I’ve deliberately made a mistake or been less thorough in my coverage in this newsletter, but if I have, it’s an excellent example (and a great excuse).
And finally… our five minutes of fame!
Our guest appearance on the MarketPulse: Pros & Pioneers Podcast is live. Listen to our take on prioritising your marketing goals, the importance of a good brief, and being unofficial business therapists. Find it wherever you get your podcasts (or over on YouTube for added expressive hand gestures).
