Recently, I started investigating video conferencing systems for meetings with more than 10 video participants and the ability to call into a number from a phone line if you aren’t near a computer. 
PPAI board member Rod Brown pointed me in the direction of FuzeBox video conferencing. I also found BlueJeans video conferencing in my own searching.
I visited FuzeBox, which had all of the information I needed. I made a phone call and had a great meeting. #success.
Then I visited BlueJeans and couldn’t figure out whether or not it met my criteria so I clicked the “chat” option (which was not too annoyingly in my face). When I asked my question, I was greeted with “They aren’t in the office right now so I’ll have them call you back.”
The first problem was that BlueJeans offered chat but didn’t staff it. This is a company that just received $50,000,000 in funding. It can afford to staff its chat at 8 a.m. EST even if it is on the West Coast. Otherwise, it should not offer chat at this time (Another pet peeve was it required me to give my e-mail and phone number before I could chat. I was interested enough that I was willing to do that but I find it tacky).
The second problem was that I asked to chat, and it offered a call back. I reluctantly had given the chat person my e-mail and phone number.
To make matters worse, BlueJeans did call back. In fact, three different people called back within six hours. Not a single one of them knew the other had called. Those were the third and fourth problems (not knowing what others were doing and calling rather than e-mailing).
The fifth problem was that I tweeted and specifically mentioned BlueJeans, and the company never responded.
@BlueJeansNet don’t offer chat if you don’t have the people to answer questions. #Tacky #chat #Fail
— Dale Denham (@daledenham) October 31, 2013
The 6th problem was that I tweeted the company again after the calls and still no one responded.
@BlueJeansNet I’ve had 3 Different sales people call me today.First I sent a chat, not a call, 2nd, coordinate your effort. #annoyed.
— Dale Denham (@daledenham) October 31, 2013
The 7th problem was that when Googling BlueJeans, I found some pretty horrible reviews on Glassdoor.com from employees for both FuzeBox and BlueJeans. Both gave me pause even though I know disgruntled employees are still more likely to post than happy ones, some of the comments were relevant to my search.
So here I am an active interested customer who is so turned off by my experience with this company that I am hoping it doesn’t have what I want. If a company can’t get the pre-sales experience right, what can I expect from them long term?
Here are the primary lessons from this interaction:
—If you offer chat, staff it properly to answer questions.
—If customers send you an electronic message, that’s usually a good indication they want to communicate that way. Try to work with people the way they want to be worked with.
—Have a single channel managing leads or use a CRM that ensures people don’t step on each other.
—Watch your social media feed carefully, and if someone tags you, respond appropriately.
—Google your company and see what comes up. More and more, www.glassdoor.com is coming up in searches and needs to be a part of managing your online presence. It is important to both customers and potential employees. Of course, it’s impossible to get all good reviews, but pay attention to what people are saying and make appropriate changes. Respond to comments by making appropriate changes and over time, the comments will improve.
For now, I’m planning on working with FuzeBox despite a few minor issues I have with the product. The price is great and the service is even better.
Geiger CIO Dale Denham, MAS+ provides practical insights on how you can benefit from technology in no nonsense terms. Follow him on Twitter @GeigerCIO
