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Christy’s Laws of Information Technology Leadership Law #3: As a CIO, I’m in the customer service business.

Guest post by: The Osborne Group

Article Overview: Laws of Information Technology

Christy’s Laws of Information Technology Leadership Law #3: As a CIO, I’m in the customer service business.

While we provide solutions that drive success in business, IT doesn’t directly make money for the company – so while what we do is business critical, we are still primarily in the business of providing service to other functions.

So what happens when something goes wrong?

There are two possible responses to a customer service problem. The first response is, “This is unacceptable. This must be resolved immediately”. The second response is, “It’s a problem, but it’s not a big deal. We can figure out a work-around until it gets fixed”.

Now here’s where the light bulb goes on: if you are providing service to a customer, and a problem comes up, you get to pick your response first. The 100% always true no fail guarantee is that whichever response you pick, your customer will pick the other one.

The cool thing is that it doesn’t matter if it’s a broken cellphone or a million dollar piece of software - it still works this way. (It also works the same way if your restaurant meal isn’t satisfactory or you are trying to return something to a store or somebody messed up your tee time – try it and see!)

And when people in your organization see how seriously you take the fact that their blackberry isn’t working properly, they will understand that you also take their big problems seriously, and the next time you have a significant issue you will have their support. It’s amazing how much support you can get from your business colleagues by sending somebody out to the store to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a phone.

Christy DeMont

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Article Tags: CIO, customer service, Information Technology, IT, Osborne Group



Related Forum Posts
Re: Get Improved Sales Optimization - Great Information Jason! As per the online business perspective, every user looking for relevant information and user friendly website structure. You can also provide 24hr customer support to make your customer reliable and easy.
Re: How Entrepreneurs Can Use Technology To Grow - We are living in an era where things are changing every minute and effecting our life and businesses. IMO they can use technology to cut their cost. I.E. they can send invoices on PDFs, use online merchant accounts (PayPal and Alert Pay), and increase revenue for effectively by using product catalogs with home delivery options. Technology also helps improve customer service.
Re: How do you create the WOW factor in business? - I'm usually "wowed" by exceptional customer service at retailers by specific customer service employees. It's a sure way to win my repeat business and referral to family/friends.
Re: Most desirable type of business to start - This may seem intuitive, but the best type of business to start is one with which you have experience and a passion for. The industry is irrelevant. For example, I wouldn't start a grocery store simply because I have no experience in that industry and no desire to do so. So, no matter if grocery stores are the most profitable enterprise ever, I wouldn't succeed. On the other hand, I can make a decent living and have fun running an Information Technology consulting business because that's what I know. Hope that answers your question.
Which major company does a good job with customer service? - Like many entrepreneurs I have run into major customer service problems with some of the large companies - having to spend an hour on the phone, talking to 4 different people and repeating my problem again to each one. As a result I try to work with smaller companies when I can because I know I will get better service. Do you have any stories of a big company that has got it right and does a great job with their customer service?


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