Telstra, you really annoy me continues...

Happy New Year to you all.
I hope you had a wonderful break and found Christmas to be as it should; fun, fights, dramas, love & laughter with your family.

I've just returned home from my holidays (back to the office next week) and what was waiting for me in the mail? Yeap, RTS number 30 from Telstra.

January 2011. RTS number 30.

Seriously!! Stop ignoring me Telstra!

Mind you, I do find this ironic given not only my public determination to make these letters stop but also because of the recent outburst from Australia's Godfather of retail, Gerry Harvey who went on record as saying "Anyone who buys products online from overseas retailers is Un-Australian'.

Really?! UnAustralia - are you serious Gerry. Have you ever actually experienced what it is like to try and buy something at one of your Harvey Norman stores? Let me tell you, it's dreadful. Your staff don't know their products, they are rude, unfriendly, unhelpful and most wouldn't know the meaning of the Aussie hard working spirit.

At least when I buy something online from an overseas retailer, I get a 'Thank you' at the end of my transaction and more often than not, I'm given a definitive answer of when my product will be in stock and the expected delivery date. Not once have a had a screen tell me that they aren't sure of the product features, tell me that it is absolutely the right product that will solve my problem only to find that it is completely wrong or try to push me to buy a product I clearly have no interest in (and know they are getting a kick back from the supplier if I buy it).

If it's too expensive, I look else where. I am in control of my shopping experience. I feel no pressure and the onus of liability is solely on me, not on the wrong advice from a shop assistant who always seem to mysteriously absolve responsibility on their 100% satisfaction guaranteed sale.

Perhaps, like Telstra big corporations and retailers should invest some money into Customer Service, ya think?! I want a shopping experience that delights me at every step, from the moment I engage with the store to beyond the time I take the product home. I want guarantees, helpful advice and most importantly, I want to be listened too.

How you treat your customers, the effort you put into this important part of your marketing mix will always be a key driving factor to repeat business. A wise man once told me that you should always exceed your customers expectations, don't just meet them. It's the best business advice I have ever received.

So Telstra, seriously, I would really appreciate it if you could just take the 3 mins out of your day that it will take for you to change this address and stop wasting money sending a letter that simply gets returned each and every month. She don't live here no more!

And Mr Harvey, for you my advice is this: take the $150K you just spend on 3 full page ads in the SMH and invest it in staff training, customer service and gee, I don't know - an quality online HN store??

Here's to seeing some positive changes in 2011.

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