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The Problem With Customer Service
09 Sep, 2008
Sprint issued a press release today that highlights a new customer service initiative for its retail stores. The new focus will be “a revolution in the wireless retail experience.” I think we can all agree, if there was ever a retail experience that needed revolutionizing, it’s the wireless retail store. But I digress. The real issue here is why do companies like Sprint seem to put the focus on customer service when times are bad? Seems to me that if customer service were a priority when times are good, the chance of those good times turning into bad times is lessened. Shouldn’t excellent customer service be a priority ALL THE TIME? Sprint goes on to say that this initiative is “Part of Ongoing Plan to Revolutionize Customer Service One Customer at a Time.” Good for them, but the sheer fact that Sprint is admitting that their customer service has to be “revolutionized” speaks to the problem. Memo to large conglomerates who service consumers with a product or service – take good care of customer service all the time and customers will take care of you. You won’t need to execute an expensive PR campaign to convince people of your new found focus on good customer service.
This is not a sweeping indictment on all service providers (or a rant on Sprint - I applaud them for addressing the issue). Some large service providers seem to be doing ok with customer service. I don’t know one that I would characterize as doing well – at least from a customer point of view. From a boardroom view, I’m sure many large conglomerates are patting themselves on the back relative to their perceived view of customer service success. And certainly smaller service providers tend to do much better with customer service. In fact, most of them use customer service as a competitive weapon against larger competitors. I also recognize that customer service does not scale well. The larger you get, the harder it is to do. But I guess the larger question is, why didn’t Sprint decide to make a customer service “covenant with new and existing wireless customers,” when they weren’t hemorrhaging a million plus subscribers per quarter?
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Should Telephone Service be Free?
12 Oct, 2008
Comcast announced a new promotion last week that offers 12 months of free basic cable service for new customers who also sign up for an additional service. Customers who don’t want an additional service can get Comcast’s basic service of about 20 -30 channels for $10/month. The promotion is tied to the digital TV transition of February 2009 and entices potential customers to avoid the transition “hassle” by getting “free” cable service. “The simple fact is that basic cable is the easiest path through the digital transition and now consumers can get it for free,” said Derek Harrar, General Manager and Senior Vice President, Video Services for Comcast in a company statement. This move is similar to strategies pursued by other video service providers, who are hoping to leverage the digital TV transition for new subscriber additions.
But is this strategy a leading indicator for the future? Should basic core services like basic cable and basic telephone service be offered for free, used as a “carrot” to entice customers to buy “more important” services like broadband? Maybe a very basic phone service, with no LD, access to landline 911, and maybe outgoing service only (to avoid telemarketers) should be a free component of a bundled offering. Such a wireline service may appeal to a customer who previously cut the cord for wireless only, but also needs broadband. There is a growing portion of the population who find the value of traditional wireline phone service elsewhere – either through wireless or broadband/IP services. But, if they could get the security of landline 911, and an extra dial tone in their home as a free value add for subscribing to broadband (or video from a telco’s perspective), maybe a telco’s bundled offering may look more attractive than a comparable cable offering. I realize this idea is not appealing to the hundreds of ILECs who are a part of the current access/settlement system (in fact, it couldn’t work in the context of today’s regulatory structure), but I wonder whether it’s inevitable. In this possible future scenario, the current settlement system adapts to broadband as the underlying service, as opposed to voice.
This scenario cuts both ways. From a cable company’s perspective, a growing portion of the population is turning to the Internet as a source for their video content, and no longer see value in paying for a broad package of video as a part of a traditional subscription pay-TV service. But, if they could receive basic TV (which includes local broadcast affiliates) as a free value add for buying broadband, maybe the cable bundle is more attractive. In a true IP/broadband world, very basic phone and video service is relatively easy to deliver, and has little impact on bandwidth and network performance. Maybe the digital transition is opening the door to a future where free basic services are a regular component of a bundled offering. Thoughts?
We appreciate the honesty in
We appreciate the honesty in your critique of customer service in leading wireless companies, including ours. We are continually refining our customer service offerings in order to address the challenges brought by offering more and more complex phones and services. As you mention in your posting, one example of this commitment is our new "Ready Now" program, which will offer our customers the opportunity to personalize their phone (either the basics or more advanced services) in a comfortable
environment with one of our trained sales associates with a formalized approach to device setup. In addition, we are also responding to online queries and discussions outside of our traditional infrastructure, as I am doing now. In short, our end goal is to make the entire customer experience a positive one, and we are confident that our new service will play an important part in making this goal an achievable one.