Can You Hear Me Now?
When I dropped my Verizon Palm Treo 600, I was lucky enough to have purchased replacement insurance. I received a new model Treo 650, an upgraded, improved model which helped mitigate the hassle of being without my precious cell phone for less than 24 hours (thank you Lockline, for your excellent service).
While exploring my new toy, I found that I could automatically connect to the internet without any special settings or software — and I had never ordered any sort of data package with my cell phone plan. My first reaction was, “This is great!” But then I realized that I could be getting dinged big-time for every kb or millisecond of internet access. I frantically searched the paperwork for a rate card. I spent 30 minutes on the Verizon Wireless website only to get locked into a loop that prevented me from sending a form-based email. Then I visited the local Verizon storefront to be confronted by fearful blank stares … “Oh no! an internet question.” So I spent 40 minutes on the phone with three levels of customer service people. One person told me the base rate for people in my situation was “0.015” per kilobyte. I asked whether that, “was 0.015 dollars or 0.015 cents?” and they didn’t know. In fact, I heard it both ways from two different “authorities.”
While I am sure Verizon has somebody who analyzes their customer satisfaction index versus their customer churn rate, at a certain point they must have some sense of pride, honor, responsibility … right? Maybe not? Isn’t that scary?
Even if a company is willing to sacrifice a few customers by underfunding their customer service, there are plenty of common sense things they could be doing to make things better. For instance, adding a dollar symbol to their price list doesn’t cost anything.
The important thing is to figure out how to avoid being like Verizon. How do you have a lean business that still welcomes — and helps — customers? I don’t have all the answers, but I think the way your marketing is done is a major factor. If your public face — ads, logo, website, etc. — is disrespectful, cheap, broken, or dumb, how can you expect the people in your organization to be any better?