Turboing, essentially, refers to the actions of a
customer who goes around the normal
technical support process by contacting a senior person in the
chain of command.
Before you Turbo:
It is
imperative that you exhaust all other avenues of support before attempting to turbo. You should turbo only when you've hit a dead end with traditional
customer service methods. The trick to successful turboing is to turn the normal bottom-up technical support
pyramid on its head. You want to
complain properly to the most senior person possible. To do this, you'll need to find out the following information:
- You'll need to find out where you should compain. Usually its the company's CEO or VP in charge of Customer Service (or any similar position)
- You'll need this person's name
- You'll need the company's main switchboard telephone number
Much of this information can be easily found by
researching the company's
website (which will often contain annual financial reports, among other helpful documents).
How to Turbo:
Before you call, make sure you have a calm, businesslike attitiude. You don't want to sound mad. When you call the main office, ask for the CEO's office by name (example: "Mr. Smith's office, please.") You're going to get the CEO's
secretary or personal assistant. This is a crucial part of turboing; the secretary's job is to make sure dolts like you don't get to talk to the CEO. Indeed, you probably won't end up talking to the CEO. However, if you are sufficiently polite to the secretary, they may put you in touch with a VP or some other high-ranking official.
Again, when speaking to the high-ranking official, it is important that you do not sound angry. Be exceptionally
polite. Explain your problem in
detail, and
clearly, but without unnecessary
embellishments. Be sure to mention how things made you feel from time to time (this is where it becomes OK to allow some
frustration or mild anger out - but remember, you don't want to
alienate him; be polite). Also, try being complimentary with anything you like about the company.
During the course of the conversation, the bigwhig may ask you what you want. Try to start with an open ended answer before getting specific. Get the VP to agree to make things right, then tell them what you want. If your demands are reasonable and your tone is polite, you have a good chance. The VP most likely won't be able to solve your problem right away; they'll have to make some calls to fix things for you. Try to get their direct
phone number or
email address to follow up with them.
Congratulations! You've just turboed a company. If you were successful, be sure to file away the information (names, phone numbers, emails, etc) for possible future use. You might want to send the bigwhig a thank you note, which will reinforce your image as a reasonable person, and possibly help you in the future. Also, be sure not to
abuse your newfound power by taking every little problem to the bigwhig - this will lose you big points. Good luck!
A more thourough examination of Turboing can be found here: http://www.macwhiz.com/articles/art-of-turboing.html