American English will cost you

When you talk to consumers about customer service – typically technology and financial services – one of their biggest frustrations is phone support. The consumer is talking but the person on the other end just can't seem to get what they are saying. And vice versa. 

I'll do another post on this – related to Gardner – but here is where what consumer's want and what businesses can/will provide are two different things. Consumers want someone on the phone to hold their hand and address all of their issues until resolution, no matter how long it takes or how frequent. Businesses want to be gracious 'hosts' but at the end of the day, support costs money and it's money that is difficult to re-coop due to pricing pressures, competition etc.

Outsourcing customer support has been the 'fix' for that but has raised a new problem – the language barrier. My experience in the UK showed me that while we speak the same language, the differences are sometimes quite vast. I'll never forget a dinner party where the host said "would you like some squash?" I wasn't sure what I was going to do with a root vegetable so I asked, um, what's that. Squash in the UK is a citrus drink. Gales of laughter ensued. 

This disconnect is hilarious at a dinner party but when if you are on a deadline and your computer won't work, misunderstandings like these are frustrating and in the end damage the relationship you have with your customer. 

Dell has come up with a unique (ahem) solution to the problem. You can pay $13/month or $100/year to speak to an American. I wonder if it will work? Would you pay extra to speak to an American? I'm not sure I would. Not because I don't want to keep jobs in this country but it seems rather insulting to be told – if you want to understand the help you are getting, it will cost you. What do you think?