Not something most people enjoy doing.  Most people don’t like talking to “angry” customers.  I actually do – because that is my absolute best chance to amaze them – to turn them around – to prove to them that we really are fanatical about support.  To prove I really do care about them.  To make myself feel good by making them feel better.

It’s not easy – and it shouldn’t be easy – you have let a customer down.  A process, or a promise, has broken.

So how do you “deal with” a really angry customer?

First off – you better really care about them, because if you don’t, you are screwed.  They will know it, and they won’t trust you.  Customers know when you are blowing smoke – even if you are REALLY good at blowing smoke.  Set your corporate and personal values high – and live up to them.

Second, it helps if you can put yourself in their shoes – particularly if you have actually been in their shoes.  I manage customer relations for a hosting company (although I am not technically IN support) – so it helps that I have been hosting web sites for well over a decade.  It helps even more that I was a customer of my employer for years before I became an employee.

Third – and most important.  Don’t lie.  Don’t EVER lie.  Customers can forgive a lot – but they will not forgive a liar.  When I can’t tell a customer something specific I just tell them that I can’t answer that.  Simple. And when I honestly don’t know something, I tell them that. No harm in not knowing every answer.  Extra credit if you know where and how to get the answers, and get back to the customer quickly.

Fourth – don’t try to funnel customers into a “system” for support.  Support customers where and when you find them.  They may not like your systems.  They may prefer Skype, or Twitter, or comments on a blog post.  Don’t expect customers with issues to find you – you need to be looking for them – and talking to them wherever (and whenever) you find them wanting help.

Fifth – have a personality.  Be human.  Customers relate to real people.  Be open, and honest, share your contact info – make it VERY clear that you exist to talk to customers.  When you leave a blog comment, leave your entire title and phone number.  I “Tweet” my home phone number at least a dozen times a month.  I *want* customers to find me – taking care of them is my job.  Actually – it is more than a job – it is what I love doing.  And that leads us to #6.

Sixth – if customers annoy you, and you are in the service business – do us all a favor.  Get. Out. Now. I often have my waitstaff at restaurants replaced if they just don’t seem to like their jobs.  Sorry – I am paying for more than food – I am buying an experience – and if that includes listening to someone bitch about how much they hate serving me, I just get a manager to replace them.  I don’t feel bad about it.  If they get fired, they deserved it.  They aren’t suited for this line of work, and better they find out now.  I deserve the experience I am paying for. And that brings me to number 7.

Seventh – don’t put up with bad service.  When you allow a company – ANY company to give you bad service, and you don’t complain to correct, you are setting the new standard.  You are in actuality lowering that standard.  Demand more.  From everyone.  Don’t tolerate mediocrity.  Demand more, don’t settle.  Ever.

Finally – I know customer support can seem like an “expense”.  But when you look at the cost of customer acquisition – a good support representative – one that really “get’s it”, and loves it – they can be a gold mine for your company.

Avoid the burn of churn and support customers where, when and how they want support.  They will love you for it, and you will profit from it.

I woke up early, which doesn’t always happen anymore.  I used to be up at 7 am no matter what.  Lately I’ve been staying awake much later than normal.  Call it part of my job.  But I love waking early.  My problem is that I also love staying awake until the wee hours of the morning

Anyway, this morning I woke to this drawing, emailed to me from my daughter.  She drew it on her Wacom tablet.

My daughter is always thinking of me.  She will make a great artist (and perhaps even a great wife and mother, should she decide to push her skill-sets) some day.   Love her to death.

Later my kids did the grocery shopping, and fixed me a wonderful meal, which they insisted we ate at the table together (at 18 and 20, my kids are rarely home for meals, much less eating together!).

My son has recently started cooking – and he has a knack for it.  Love him as well!

It was a wonderful day.

But not for everyone.

This conversation, which my friend Robert Scoble started, explains why.  Hard to enjoy this day when so much of the world is in pain.

If you can stomach it, here is the before and after photos of one father’s daughter on Father’s Day.  Don’t click if you are squeamish.  She was shot and killed while walking in a peaceful protest with her father.

I am proud that I served my country, and am inspired by all of those in Iran who are doing the same.  Sounds like a cliche, but freedom really isn’t free.

Ask Neda’s father.

Because we can’t ask Neda.

I work for a company built on people, even though the machines we employ outnumber us humans drastically.

We depend on a network, and so do all of our customers – so we employ multiple redundancies in that network.

But mostly, we are a people company.  That is why it didn’t surprise me a few weeks ago when I went to console a fellow Racker who lost a parent – and recognized several vehicles from coworkers that arrived before I did.  Another network.  A human one.  Again – with a lot of redundancies.

That is why our (now pretty damned frequent) birth announcements are always met with congratulations and words of wisdom, humor, and just plain support.

We are a young company – look out though – we are breeding like crazy!

I’ve worked for companies that pretended to feel this way about employees.  Said the right things.  Sometimes did the right things..  Usually didn’t.

Now I work for one that gets it.  Really.  It isn’t BS for investors, or a ploy for recruiters.  The care, concern and affection that exists here is real.  Nothing about it is fake.  These people look out for each other, and have each others backs.  And know each other.

And it is all about building a great community that makes a great place to work, and eventually a great business.  Many companies haven’t figured that out (yet).  They are trying to build great companies at the expense of employees and often even customers.  They have no legs.

That’s back-asswards.

Take care of your employees and let them build something great.  And they will take care of you, and your customers. And your business will grow, and it will grow stronger over time.

I’ve ridden every color of this pony there is, and I like the horse I am hitched to now.

Build by hiring caring people that are passionate about customers.  And let them show it.

And you will win – and you will have employees blogging about you – using their real names, because they are proud of where they work, and what they do.

Enlist them instead of enslaving them.

Rob

First, it’s all about the people.  From the Rackspace Chairman (Graham Weston), who I met long before I started working here, to the Racker I met in a fast food joint at lunch – there is an immediate sense of “family”.  We are Rackers.  We speak the same language.  What specific JOB we do isn’t really important.  We know we have the same customers – the same goals.  And we all understand the goals.

That is actually an interesting fact about Rackspace – every employee is treated as a trusted friend.  We see the books.  We know the numbers.  We know how we are doing, and how we depend on each other to get better, and to do better.

And we let people find what they are good at, and where they best fit in.

Think that is bullshit?

In 11 days I will have been at Rackspace for exactly one year.  After one year I’ll feel more comfortable calling myself a Racker.  I feel like one – just don’t feel as if I have “earned it” yet

I was hired in the Cloud division.  To manage developers.  I now work for Rackspace proper – doing something MUCH different then I was hired to do.  Many companies would not have worked with me to find that “sweet spot” – they would have parted ways with me before they put that effort into the relationship.

Instead, Rackspace let me go try something new (to us).  I took over our Cloud blog, and our Twitter account.  And it worked – pretty well.  They let me build an event for SXSW in Austin – which was amazing, and very well received.

And then they let me do something really out there – I hired Robert Scoble and Rocky Barbanica.  And then we built building43.com, which is yet another experiment.  One I have a lot of passion for.  One I truly believe in, and am passionate about.

And I think that’s the key that Rackspace has figured out – they let people follow their passion.  And they work with those employees to find a way to make that passion make sense.  For the Racker, for Rackspace, and for investors.

So I was hired to manage developers.  Instead I am managing emerging media, building a truly unique web property, and trying to find a completely new way to do both marketing and PR in a public company.

Not bad for the first year.  Wonder what they will let me try in the second?  Guess that depends on how these current projects work out!

But it is pretty damned cool to be able to TRY – to do something totally new.  To have the company see if it fails instead of demanding proof it will succeed before they even try.

If you think hosting companies are boring, you haven’t worked at Rackspace.  We are anything but boring – we are pushing the envelope in ways most companies aren’t.

And that’s why I love it here.

Join us   We’re hiring.

Always.

Rob

It’s been 8 years since I got custody of my kids – about.

Recently my daughter graduated, Summa Cum Laude, High School – from a Magnet School. Two years ago my son graduated from the same school. Amazing school: ISA.

I haven’t screwed them up!  Below is a picture of my beautiful daughter on this wonderful day.

So soon she heads off to college.  Although she has the choice of several schools, she chose to stay local, at UTSA – for the first year anyway. She doesn’t want to change her life that drastically in one year.  I think that is a mature decision on her part.

So I will soon be child-free.  No dependents, except my faithful border collie, Yoshi, (of course).

That opens a lot of opportunities – for where I want to live, what lifestyle I want vs. what I had to provide to keep the kids (and the courts) happy.

This is what they cal a game-changer.

Where to live?  Warm is good.  But it is 102 in San Antonio today,  that isn’t warm.  That is brutally hot.  And you people in Arizona with your “but it’s a dry heat” bullshit, just shut the fuck up.  It’s brutal.  You aren’t fooling us.  Especially when you greet us that way as we melt off of the airplane!

Anyway – a lot of options. Kinda like when I was 18 – and the choices were all mine.

No clue what I’ll do.  But I know I’ll do what makes me happy.  I am at the point in my life where I refuse to accept anything less.  Wish I thought that way 25 years ago.

Hope my daughter always does.

Lauren – your Daddy loves you.  And always will.  Even after you marry some undeserving guy

Best of luck, doll.

Always be happy.

Love,

Dad

First, it is “building43″ one word, all lower case.

Second – we never had more than two full time people on this project – Robert and Rocky. The rest of us are passionate about B43, but we have other roles as well. Including some being contractors. No dedicated five person team.

Third – no – I cannot hire you for building43. We are getting enough offers of help from people that just want to help. Please don’t ask to get paid – we won’t do it. Better material comes from those that are just passionate, I think.

Fourth – I am not the “lead engineer”. Been a long time since I considered myself an engineer. Probably goes back to 2004 or so. I was the guy that tried to make sure we were all focused on the same goal – nothing more.

I hope you like building43.com. It took a lot of effort from a lot of people.

Rob

Lately my time has been consumed by a new project.- building43.com.  I’ve been building it with an amazing team of friends – some I’ve not even actually met yet.  That’s the power of the Internet!

I’ve even got a post on the new site.  But it isn’t my site.  It belongs to the community that builds it.  You can join that community.  Learn how here.

It’s been a blast working on the site.  This is something completely fresh – from the graphics to the design.  The content and the idea behind the site – all new.

My employer, Rackspace, is backing the site.  It is an interesting challenge.  It has been from the day we decided to hire Robert Scoble and Rocky Barbanica.  Interesting because the idea is so unique that it is hard to describe.  A site that has no revenue model.  No marketing message.  It exists to help people use the new Internet to improve their own websites.  Particularly businesses.  If we help a business increase sales 10-15%, perhaps they will hire another employee.  Perhaps the increase in their sales means on of their vendors needs to hire more help.

Perhaps we can help the struggling economy one helpful post at a time.  Who knows?  Since it’s not been done in this way before – nobody knows.  But we have sure busted ass trying to find out!

I encourage you to go look at building43.  I am very proud of what the team has built.  I am proud to have my name associated with it.  And I am very, very happy that Robert and Rocky are with us on this project.  On paper, they work for me – but in actuality, we all work for the same purpose.  We all have a burning desire to build something truly meaningful – something truly helpful.

Let me know what you think!

Rob

Below is a job posting from my employer.  I didn’t see it until it was already posted – and customers showed it to me.

We screwed this posting up in a couple of ways (at least).  We wrote it like we were hiring someone impersonal and or detached.  And we didn’t consult the people already doing this work.

We’ve made great strides in Social Media/ Customer relations over the last months – but this shows we have a bit to learn.  We don’t have an overall corporate strategy on social media (yet).  We haven’t driven the message internally on who “owns” this (yet).

These are the things I get to help with.  This is why I think I have one of the most awesome jobs ever.

This is why 100 hours a week doesn’t feel like work.

I work for a company that is letting me influence these things – and they are listening, and giving me not only a voice, but a mandate.

In fact, they think I am moving too slowly

How cool is that?

Every time I have found myself boxed into a very narrow role, I have both failed at my job, and hated my job.

I like a lot of diversity.  Some say I thrive on chaos.  Fine – I agree with them.  But it isn’t exactly chaos I enjoy so much. Chaos is chaotic!  I do like things to be in some control, but I also like to change things up often.  I have a short attention span, but I can have very sharp focus when I need to… just not over a lot of time.

I love the fact that in my current role I may be planning an event, or talking to a large new customer.  I may be helping a current customer, or discussing Cloud Computing on a podcast.  I may be acting as an evangelist, or courting a new one.

The fundemental thing that never changes though is that I love learning and teaching.  That’s why I find Building43.com to be such an intersting project.

Our goal is to teach real companies, real businesses, and real people how to use the Internet “for the win”.

You run a small business?  Have a web site?  Does it suck?  I bet the answer is yes.  Most do.

But what if you could bring your site to life?  What if you could populate it with real people.  With your customers?  What if you could make it truly “alive”?

Is that hard, or expensive?  Turns out it isn’t.  It isn’t even complicated.  It IS a bit confusing.

Building43 aims to clear that confusion – to show you how simple it can be to turn your static website into a dynamic community for your customers.  We want to help you make more money.  We want to help every business grow.  Lofty goals, I realize – but if you fail to shoot high, you will fail to deliver much.

This won’t be easy.  At first, some won’t trust us – fine, we will earn that trust.  Some won’t believe us (and some never will).  Won’t waste time on them.

But if you want to join us – in a community of teachers and learners – stay tuned.  We’re close to launching!

Rob

Yes, I work for a public company, and yes the economy sucks.  I’ve been through a lot of public companies – one used to trade for over $100 and now trades for $1.33.  Been there. Done that. Got the options at the bottom of the bird cage to prove it.

I care about building a great company though – I care a great deal.  That is why my focus is on how to serve customers.  My role at my employer has changed a lot over the last year – but I have increasingly built an infrastructure that lets me help customers.  It is just what I am good at.

The last company I worked for was arrogant – the one I work for now is completely different.  The company I work for now both values the customer and LISTENS to them.

That’s all I want to do.  It is all I care about.  I figure that if I make customers happy, we’ll make money off of it. Sooner or later.  And if we build  a great company, later is good enough.

And really – that is all I want to do – and being empowered to do so at my current employer has made me very engaged, and passionate about what I do.

I just want to stay that focused, even as I have a ton of other things going on.

And there are some very fun other things going on

But my heart is with the customer – and exceeding their expectations.

Having some fun.  Focused on two thngs right now – customers and Building43.com.

Two things I am passionate about – customers, and the people that are building the Internet.  I’ve helped both for more than a decade – why stop now?

Realize most of you are bored with this space at this point, but I’ll continue to ramble here from time to time.

But I am really more active and accessable on Twitter: http://twitter.com/kr8tr

Rob

Unless you are just really, really lucky.

I am.

About ten months or so ago I took a position at Rackspace, in their Cloud Computing Division.  A LOT has changed in that division in that amount of time.  It has grown like crazy – both in the customer base and the headcount.  We’ve brought on some new roles, both technical and in management.  I went from being the Director of Software Development to the Director of Customer Development.

I’m in a better place now – for me AND for Rackspace.  Why?  Because I’ve always been a customer guy.  I’ve always talked to more customers than almost anyone else I have worked with.  Why?  I just love it.  I love hearing what customers are thinking, what they wish for, how we can make them more successful.

And I absolutely love to help.  I really get paid by helping people – meaning it is every bit as important to me as money.  I need money to eat – I need to help customers to truly live.  I know that sounds corny as hell.  But it is true.  A painter needs to paint.  A customer guy needs to help customers.

So why is Rackspace a great company to work for?  For me, the most important thing is that NOBODY argues with anyone who is trying to care for a customer.  It is just a given that if you are working a customer issue, you are doing the absolute most important thing you could be doing at that given moment.  This isn’t BS, or a marketing gimmick – I’ve worked in companies where it was.  At Rackspace it is ingrained in what everyone does every day. And since I spend a LOT of my time working customer issues, it is nice to know that the entire company is behind me – everyone wants me to succeed.  Everyone wants to win that customer satisfaction battle.  It is NOT BS.  It is what we strive to do.

I also love how Rackspace has let me experiment – even to lead them, in some ways.  Our Mosso Twitter account is extremely popular with customers, competitors and prospective customers.  You have a question at 9am on Sunday morning, it is very likely going to be answered quickly on Twitter – either by us, or by our cast of customers that love helping each other out.

I wanted to do something big at SxSW – and Rackspace made it happen.  I am NOT taking credit for that – it took a LOT of people to make that happen.  But the fact that we went from virtually no presence at SxSW last year to one of the best events at SxSW is amazing to me.  Our turnout was huge and the response to our “Mediterranean themed” party was wonderful.  If you have an idea, it won’t get swept under the rug here – people listen.

I’ve had some challenges at Rackspace – I’ve slipped a bit here and there while trying to find my footing.  I’ve had to prove myself and have had to prove things TO myself.  It hasn’t been a cake-walk.  But it has been a walk worth taking.

My senior leadership team has listened to me bitch, and whine, and moan, and perhaps even throw a temper tantrum or two.  But they stuck with me.  They believed that I added value and they, along with me, were convinced that we just needed to figure out the “where and how”.  Finding the right position is always difficult.  Finding it for someone like me, who is considerably difficult to work with, is a challenge.  I am pretty demanding.  Mostly of myself, but also very much so of my employer.  I need real work to do – meaningful work that actually benefits customers… or I quickly lose interest. Rackspace has worked hard with me to find that place.  That place that makes sense for both of us.

So Rack and I get along pretty well – we are both demanding.  We both expect customers to just be taken care of.  We expect to challenge and question each other – we expect to learn from each other.  And honestly, I am not sure we will ever be completely comfortable with each other (perhaps it is best if we never are).  But I think we both benefit from the challenge of finding how to work together – and to do so in the best way for our customers.

And finally, Rackspace is a very human company, which I appreciate a great deal.  Just a few weeks ago we lost our first Racker – in almost ten years the first active Racker passed away – in an auto accident.  I won’t go into details because it is a personal thing for Rackers, and his family.  But Rackspace stepped forward and did more than the right things.  For Rackers, and the family members.  Today I wear a wristband that speaks to that fact.

I don’t care where you host your website.  But if you are a customer advocate, and you want to work someplace where that trait is well-regarded – then look at Rackspace.  They really are Fanatical about their customers – and we love employees that push us to make that true, to keep it true, and to make it better every day.  We can always improve.

And I am living proof that Rackspace is always looking for new ways, new people, and new methods of thinking to make that a reality.

I am a Racker.  And I am quite happy about it.

And yes, this was a big deal, and a great thing for Rackspace (my employer).

There is a back-story to this that you wouldn’t believe, so I won’t tell it.  Unless you are buying me a beer   Let’s just say I set long term goals and sometimes achieve them.

Anyway, I have a huge amount of respect for these two guys – and I wanted them both at Rackspace – we wanted the team.  They need each other for the magic to be fully extracted.  My Leadership Team made it happen – and quickly – I thank them a great deal for the trust they have placed in me, and in Rocky and Robert.  We won’t disappoint.  We have a lot of hard work to do, but it is good, honest work.  And Rackers are not afraid of honest work – never have been, never will be.

Speaking of odd back-stories (and I need to write a post about SxSW!) – I met the Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh.  We have an interesting historical connection we never realized – we both ran dial-up BBS’s in the Bay Area in the 80’s.  We both know some of the same people.  As a customer focused guy I am awed by what Zappos does.  And I joined Rackspace because they have the same dedication to “customer experience”

I’m hoping to have a public conversation with Zappos soon about Social Media – and how it helps take care of customers — and the bottom line.  Details coming soon.  And of course – Robert will be there.  Moderating, perhaps.

Rob

So I should be sleeping.  And will be soon enough.

But something I have worked on for well over a year gets announced later today.

Really, a year?

Yep.

And it isn’t even a product.

But I’m pretty pleased with it.

Someone I knew from 7 years ago shared that with me tonight.  Why, I wondered.

The reason, it turns out is stupid – I was a single parent raising two young “teens”.

“That creeped me out”!

Really? In 2002 a father raising his kids creeped you out?  You must be going totally bat-shit now then – there are SO many of us compared to then.

Guess what?

You creep me out.

Deal with it.

I send a lot of emails on Fridays.  On the one day I get the fewest emails.  But there is a reason I send so many on Fridays.

On Fridays, I work at home, and try to dedicate the day to talking to potential customers.  The rest of the week I dedicate to helping current customers.

But Fridays are different – on Fridays I try to talk to the people that can influence other buyers – basically trying to extend my reach.

So I learn a lot on Fridays.  And that causes me to send a lot of emails that I am sure my bosses wish waited until Monday.  But I write them as they come in, and send them as I can.  Which generally means a flurry of late-night Friday emails on a number of different ideas/prospects.

Sorry, bosses.  But Friday is a good day for this.  People are willing to talk more on Fridays.

If that is really what you want, I really hope you get it.  It’s a complex position, at least in the role I fill for my company. But it can also be a great deal of fun.

I don’t “just do Twitter”, or “manage the blog”.  It isn’t a simple position.  It certainly isn’t as simple as that.

To be successful in this role you need a lot of things – like a voice.  If you can’t affect change within your organization, you can’t affect change for your customers.  Period.  If you take a Community position that does not allow you to control resources then you won’t win – you can’t win.  And you will be stealing money from your employer, since there is no chance you are actually earning it.

I spend a lot of time managing our corporate Twitter account – and a lot of time planning/writing/perfecting and posting to our blog.  But that honestly takes about 10% of my time.  Mandatory meetings take another 5-10% of my time.

That leaves me with 80-85% of my time that do NOT revolve around Twitter, or our blog.  So it seems I should have a lot of “free time”.

But guess what?  I don’t have much free time -  most of my time is spent doing plain old fashioned business – talking to customers, solving problems, and SELLING.  Yes, I am in Sales.  AND Marketing.  And Support, Engineering, Management, Finance… it is a complex role.

It can be amazingly rewarding.  If you are empowered to call in resources, even at 2am on a holiday weekend – if you have that level of trust and authority – within your own organization – then you might just do ok at this position.

If you absolutely love talking to customers – even the mad ones (especially the mad ones!) – then you may even love this job.

But don’t expect it to be MON-FRI 9-5.  You won’t win that way.  You need to be available for your customers when they want, how they want, and where they want.  And you need to talk to them about WHAT they want to talk about.

If you are the Community Manager it should never be about you.  And you should be able to call anyone – even the Chairman – even at 2am.  Whatever it takes to keep a customer happy.

I can – but have never needed to.  But if people KNOW you have that ability you will probably NEVER have to wake the Chairman

Some random pictures I just wanted to stick up here.

	My New Hobby: I wasn’t really looking for another motorcycle but a co-worker pinged me about a bike he was selling.  It reminded me so much of the first bike I ever owned that I just had to buy it. This is a 1978 Honda CX500.  Unlike my 900 pound BWM R1200CLC, this is a light little bike weighing in at just under 500 pounds (dry). It needs some work to make it road-worthy, but it is mechanically pretty sound!
Geoff Livingston, author, blogger and really nice guy.  He came to a Tweetup I organized.  This is on the San Antonio Riverwalk, not far from my office.
	Rocky Barbanica is a  Senior Producer at Fast Company.  He is also the camera genius behind Robert Scoble’s work at Fast Company TV I’ve had the pleasure to meet Rocky on 4-5 occasions now, and he’s a great guy to hang out with! Also, in the background you can see John Engates, CTO of Rackspace.  The pictures were taken at the Austin City Limits during the Rackspace Cloud Event
Backstage at Austin City Limits you can find some interesting stuff – including a few cans of Bud Light!
	Bob and Esther Cole with their daughter Melissa/  Melissa had just graduated from Texas Tech University. I’ve known “Mo” almost her whole life, and she’s like another of my own children, so I was very proud of her!
A couple weeks ago we went to New Orleans.  We took a trolley out to the cemeteries.  On the way there a car crashed blocking the tracks for about 15 minutes.  As we boarded the trolley to return I joked, “I wonder what happens on the way back”. Well, this is what happens – this car cut in front of the trolley and we nailed it.  We decided to leave before the police showed up as we were sitting in the back of the trolley and didn’t really see what happened anyway.  We walked the mile or two back to our hotel

No embed for this, so I got to send you over here.  Worth the ten minutes.