Brian Feener

I admit it - I wear one of those flashing Bluetooth headsets. It makes me look like I’m talking to myself, but it allows me to type and talk at the same time.

If businesses understood that a Bluetooth headset is the example that they should follow for their marketing strategy, their services would be more efficient and more user friendly.

1 - A Bluetooth headset eliminates the inefficiency of a wire in favor a semi-periodic charging time. (Over the weekend, I set up an internet service with Company X in my new apartment. In order to access the wireless password, I had to enter in a universal number while plugged into the modem. I didn’t know that I had to do this, but could have done so on my own with simple instructions if they were printed on the machine. Instead, I was on the phone with cust. service for over 15 minutes. )

2 - Your headset, once paired with your phone, does not need to be repeatedly paired again and again. (Over the weekend, I placed a technical support call into Company X. And then another and another and another. All-in-all, I probably called 10 times. I had to give my phone number at about 2.5 times for each call. If it took me 2 seconds to enter my number and 4 to speak it out to the cust serv. rep., figure that I wasted over 2 minutes on the phone JUST giving my phone number. Now times that by 1000 calls in a week. And a million calls over the year.)

3 - You can buy a headset for $10 (like mine pictured below) or for $150 (like the eliph Jawbone). Both are effective. I can use them with any cell phone with BT capabilities. (As a customer, I don’t care about “unusually heavy call volume.” All it says to me is that you haven’t planned ahead or haven’t found an innovative way to get me off hold, out of the queue, and get my problem solved without destroying your bottom line. It is YOUR fault, Company X.)

To summarize:

1 - Find inefficiencies by breaking down your process. There’s always SOMETHING that can make life easier on your customer and be beneficial for the company, too.

2 - If you aren’t doing anything to develop data past its pure form, then you’re wasting your (and your customer’s) time.

3 - Not everyone is the same or has the same needs. It’s not the customer’s role to adjust to your business - it’s the company’s role to adjust to the customer’s needs.

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