6 months after getting the iPhone 4 I took it rock climbing and put a nice big crack in the front. Everything worked but needless to say I’ve been counting down the days until the new version was announced… 5, 4s, 2011… As much as I wanted the curved design, the features were almost irrelevant.

But while my upgrade decision has been stable, my carrier choice, not so much… Not [just] for the usual AT&T complaints but because half of my new apartment flat out doesn’t get a bar of service. So, while my contract may not be up, it seemed worth the termination fee to make a jump.

And then came an [unexpected] great customer service moment

After reading tweets from @DannySullivan and some “unknown” friends, I prepared for a battle on the phone, to push through a wall of counter arguments from one of AT&T’s “resolution specialists” [seriously, that’s their I.V.R. greeting]  and all the usual drama you expect when calling a company. My experience has always been that these “service” battles actually make it easier to cancel out of sheer frustration, but none the less, it’s a painful experience to know you’re walking into.

But after a few minutes on hold and giving out all of my personal information again the rep didn’t fight me. Instead he merely asked what the issue was and when I explained the lack of signal coverage, he apologized. Rather than going into a pitch, he then told me the cancelation cost [$325 - $10 / month of service was $175 for me] and how to cancel to insure a smooth transition of my number, how to get a hold of AT&T after the change for any issues, etc. Only as he was finishing up did he finally throw in a “I realize this won’t fix your signal issues but if you want to stay I can offer you a small credit off your bill, if not…”

Attitude. That’s what good service is about.

The rep offering me $75 wasn’t a deal breaker; heck that’s well less than a month of service between my minutes, texting and data + tethering package. Verizon’s service doesn’t work great here either [why there’s poor coverage in a “upscale” apartment community with 750+ units is beyond me] but between their trade-in programs, a better service reputation, and just being a different experience I was willing to jump ship despite the added cost until the rep, and thus AT&T, demonstrated commitment to me as a customer. Sadly commitment has become a rare thing these days.

The rep did everything other than what I expected. He was polite and legitimately apologetic. He provided the information I wanted first, an offer last. And when I took him up on it, he made the process seamless, taking the order, getting the right information, providing the little details [like the fact that the phone may just show up after the 14^th despite what websites say]. As icing on the cake, he also noticed that – for a reason which he didn’t know – I’m getting another $75 credit from AT&T in a few months for having an iPhone with my particular history… a retention bonus… we all know keeping a customer is far cheaper than replacing them.

iPhone ordering makes for great case studies because, between millions of experiences, you have the best and worst service scenarios all coming together around one constant. The apple website should be a prime example to every single etailer of how you make a shopping experience – the selection process is about a solution, not a shopping cart; the up-sells appear as value-adds and never stand in your way; the form fields are minimal and rarely error on a legitimate entry [like a special password or unique address]; and between split payments, multiple-financing options, and gift cards, it’s just as flexible as shopping in store. On the other hand you’ve got stories from the carriers of nightmare hold times, conflicting upgrade information, insanely high costs, near arguments over account features, discrepancies in warranty offerings & information… all in one ordering experience.

I didn’t expect to have a blog-worthy experience in upgrading a phone but what AT&T did goes beyond their service, iPhones or the cell industry – the sad reality is that we, as consumers, have come to expect our opinions to be practically ignored, to be hard-sold by someone reading off a script with 3 different levels of service and to be brushed aside with generic response. Despite all the talk of being social & transparent, most of customer service is still about getting the issue to a “closed” status rather than actually engaging to understand, acknowledge and learn from the issue.

The truth is you can’t always fix the root problem a customer is having but when you allow your reps to be honest, friendly, informative, and let them decide how to handle a negative based on their expertise doing this hour after hour, you do what customers don’t expect… care.

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Unfortunately I didn’t get the rep’s name; but if anyone from AT&T reads this, email me and I’ll give you the order number as he deserves a thanks.

1 – Store Finders.

The scenario: Here I am out doing errands when it hits me, I need that new super product you’re selling but where is your store again?

If you have any sort of retail presence be it your own stores or retailers you sell through it’s absolutely essential that people can quickly locate them using a mobile device. Google Maps is a great tool but when someone really wants to find one of your stores there’s a good chance they’ll end up on your site looking. If they can’t get around game over.

Example:

- Here’s target.com from my iphone. As you can see the store locator is one of very few options.

- On the other hand here’s blockbuster.com where I have to zoom in and pan around just to find the link. It works but it’s not optimal, it’s not user friendly.

2 – Product Description, Ratings & MRSP.

The scenario: I’m talking about making a purchase and a friend recommends a competitor’s product. Being the smart shopper I want to get the scoop on what you sell and what they talk about.

If you sell products people want to be able to learn about them. This use to mean pulling up to the home computer and doing some research but there’s no longer any need to dock to a monitor. Now consumers are doing research on their couch with a 4-inch screen or even more importantly, while they stand in a store ready to make a purchase. Every company needs to show their listings, what they cost and ideally what people think of them. This is comparison shopping at the point of purchase.

Example:

- I’m looking to buy a BluRay player but don’t like the selection at Walmart. Luckily bestbuy makes it easy to compare a few options.

- On the other hand I’m lost with Costco and have to search around, scroll and try to understand what if anything they offer.

3 – Customer Support.

The scenario: I’m on the road headed to my flight and the snow starts kicking up… do I turn around or keep going? [While at the side of the road] I pull up your mobile site to get a hold of a human.

Mobile is all about actions and customer service is all about accessibility so mirroring up the two is a no brainer. Most sites already have service numbers but if a mobile user can’t find it in a click or two it may as well no exist. Just as importantly the information you present needs to be actionable – phones highlight numbers they can identify so be sure yours is in a common format using text.

4 – Drop the flash.

Scenario: I’m looking up show times for the new hit film you just released but there’s no way for me to get to it on your site – all I see is a big box with a question mark icon. Next activity.

Flash isn’t going away but it also isn’t really something mobile has got down yet and while we will be there one day it’s never going to work the same as it does on a desktop (screen size people). If you can’t build a true mobile site you need to insure the one you have works without flash, with minimal javascript and without any sort of crazy dropdowns or validation.

5 – Search & PPC.

Scenario: I’m googling your company and the first listing is for an offer only when I click it I get to a landing page that’s 3 pages long on a normal monitor. Next.

The whole point of having a mobile site is to make it easy for mobile users to get to it without having to do research. So while you may be promoting your mobile site in every email what really matters is that your normal site detects mobile and redirects to it automatically. Otherwise what’s the point.

Example:

- In California I get directions from Sigalert who has both mobile and iphone optimized options.

- United Airlines has a whole set of mobile features but as my iphone shows, I don’t get to them unless I know the special url.

Wrapping it all together.

Today mobile is about quick tasks, simple information and moving from a to b. The 5 features I’ve mentioned are all important parts of any mobile site but they mean nothing if your mobile site isn’t mobile friendly to start with. The biggest part of designing mobile is to make it light and friendly… yes phones are getting smarter and can view more and more content but that doesn’t mean they should be made to. If your site is optimized for a new 20” monitor with 9 navigation options they’re going to be the size of a pinky on an iphone or blackberry which means that clicking them will require multiple levels of zooming. Fail.

Keep your mobile site basic. Use a simple logo, a few colors and links that are to features people want. That’s all you need – not fancy promotions, not cool looking designs, function first, aesthetics that support it.

And one more thing, since more phones can support full site browsing be sure to let people get back to your main site so they aren’t jailed in mobile forever.