A few
years back, someone noted the proliferation of similar products and predicted
that as the differences between various alternative options shrunk, companies
would be forced to compete by providing superior customer service. Sadly they couldn't have been more wrong.
These
days complaint letters go unanswered - unless they are public tweets, customer
service reps give conflicting information, and companies don't care about
losing customers until they have already gone.
Apparently aided by software they can now predict your "breakpoint"
and are determined to push you right to it. (Terlep, 2019)
How foolish can you be? Any company seeking a long term relationship
with their customers should consider the fact that pissing people off is not a
good strategy.
So
which is worse - endless stupid prompts,
or reps from foreign countries who barely speak English? Hard to say.
But both are better than simply being expected to interact with a poorly
designed website. Especially when the
companies don't bother to test them to see if they actually function correctly.
But companies
have decided that they don't need to worry about customer service because they
can get more customers by aligning with customer values. And they are probably right.
According
to Nike, "Two-thirds of their consumers (66 percent) say it's important
for brands to take public stands on social and political issues." (Stillman,
2018)
Wow. That's impressive. And clearly acting upon that data and
partnering with Colin Kaepernick is a winning move for the company as revenue
was up +4% (+10% versus year ago) in the last quarter.
But
would it work for Verizon Fios? According
to the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, subscription television services,
internet service providers, VOD, fixed-line telephone services and Internet
social media are the five worst industries for customer service (Terlep, 2019)
But
that may not matter, because all decisions are emotional. So if they could
align themselves with a cause their customers care about they might be
successful.
But if
I were them, I'd worry more about customer service. When an interaction leaves you feeling ripped
off, it's unlikely that you'll continue to be a customer for much longer, and
with cord cutting accelerating, replacement customers could be difficult to
find.
On the
other hand I will give a free shout out to two companies that I deal with that
have made superior customer service part of their DNA - B&H and
Bloomingdales. Kudos to you both. It's one of the reasons that I have been a
loyal customer for over 40 years.
Such a
shame the list is so short. Perhaps we
should start outing the companies who don't do right by their customers on
social media. As I noted in this blog,
people do pay attention to online reviews.
Terlep,
S. (2019, August 3) Everybody Hates
Customer Service. This Is Why. wsj.com. Retrieved August 7, 2019, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/everyone-hates-customer-service-this-is-why-11564804882
Stillman,
J. (2018, September 5) Here's the Data That Proves Nike's Colin
Kaepernick Ad Is Seriously Smart Marketing.
inc.com. Retrieved August 6, 2019, from
Thomas,
L. (2019, June 27) Nike misses on
earnings, but beats on revenues as customers buy more sneakers and sports
gear. cnbc.com. Retrieved August
6, 2019, from https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/27/nike-reports-fiscal-4q-2019-earnings.html
