Why we are sticking with BT

If you had approached me 3 years ago and asked me to change telephone providers, I would have jumped at the chance.

After a horrible experience when we moved homes in 2007 that cost us a lot of money, there wasn’t a lot of nice things I could say about them. They were very nice when they resolved the issue finally but it took 3 weeks and a bucket load of grief I could have done without.

We are on a site called BT Tradespace and BT Tradespace  have done a lot to change our minds about BT and how they work, Sarah is active on our site over there and it drums up customers rather nicely for us. But that’s not the only reason I am happy staying with BT these days.

In getting to know the staff that work there, I have met a lot of people who are passionate about communications and I have also seen their personal stories. They tell me about the advantages of working for such a big company, they tell me of the small changes that they make that makes a big difference, they tell me the reasons why somethings take longer than other things and slowly I have gained an insight in how it must feel to work in a huge business.

Don’t think for one minute the staff are telling tales out of school, far from it. They are proud ambassadors of their brand.

I often get asked to move across to another phone services provider, but when I had provider problems with AOL at Easter, BT were quick to respond and tell us what was them and what wasn’t. It wasn’t them at all but AOL blaming BT for AOL’s failings. The communication channel is open with and whilst they may take a little longer to get back to you, they do eventually get back to you.

The communication is easier these days with social media, they can be contacted through twitter and Facebook and Get Satisfaction, so if the phone and email are not doing it for you, then use another method. Social media engagement happens, possibly not at the rate a small business user like me would like, we need to remember what it is like to work in the corporate world. Remembering that they are human beings.

I have seen other businesses launch outright attacks on BT for things that are just not their fault, and whilst they have issues in their company I would say tell me what company doesn’t have issues? BT are just a bit more in the public eye and a bit more open about them.

So if we meet and you provide telecommunications services, ask the right questions don’t assume that everyone is out to save money and that everyone hates BT. Some of us like to buck the trend, some of us recognise good service and some of us understand the value of loyalty. When you get it right all the time, feel free to take chunks out of other companies, in the mean time – we are sticking with BT.

Kevin

PS if you are wondering what prompted this blog, it’s the 2 calls a day we get from other companies assuming we want to move. We don’t and we don’t want to listen to BT bashing either.