I find your lack of Customer Experience disturbing
We begin with three stories:
1. Banking
9.20 am
“Hi, can I cash this cheque please?”
Teller 1: OK sir, I’ll just get the cash from downstairs.
*She disappears downstairs*
I pass the time browsing promotional materials about their new account, that’s soeasy to setup, so easy to use, and includes text messages updates when your card is used. Amazing (!).
*Teller 1 comes back 10 minutes later with the cash boxes for all the tellers.*
Teller 1: Kristine, sir Philip would like to cash this cheque.
Teller 2: OK.
*5 minutes passes with no communication*
“Will it be much longer?”
Teller 2: Coming sir.
*5 minutes passes and they finally call me and give me the cash*
2. Internet
My upload speed is showing as 0.5Mbps on speedtest.net while download is 8Mbps. I decide to verify it against what their website promises.
First step: the website. I open it and find they’ve removed all product information from their site and replaced the whole thing with a promotion for a new campaign they’re running. Great. There’s literally no way at all of finding out the answer to the question myself.
Luckily, they have a telephone number at the bottom so I dial it and…”The number you called cannot be completed as dialled”. Oh, that’s weird. Try again. Same.
Hmmm.
Next to the phone number they have a Twitter handle so I tweet them, “If I upgrade my account to a higher download speed, will my upload speed increase?”. 3 months later, I’m still waiting for a reply.
Next to the Twitter handle, they have a link to their Facebook page so I message them. No reply. I try again the next day. “Oh sir, I’m sorry for the inconvenience, I’ll check with the tech team about your upload speed and get back to you before the day is out.”
2 days pass. No reply.
This goes on for some time and 3 weeks later, I finally find out that there’s no way to increase the upload speed.
3. Ordering lunch
On the telephone:
Hi, can I order for delivery please?
“Yes, sir, what’s your name?”
Philip Smithson.
*I hear her looking through a book going “Smithson….Smithson….Smithson….”, she turns the page….”Smithson….Smithson…..Smithson….”, she turns the page again….”Smithson….Smithson….Smithson….”*
“Sir, what’s your address?”
Ah it’s Valuepoint Building.
*”Valuepoint…..Valuepoint…..Valuepoint…..”, she turns the page….”Valuepoint….Valuepoint….Valuepoint, she turns the page again….”Valuepoint….Valuepoint….Valuepoint*
“Sir, what’s your full address?”
And I give her my full address and finally she’s ready to take my order.
The future
For the last 10 years, companies have focused on mastering social media and using it as a way to engage with customers and differentiate themselves.
CEB found that 94% of customers who have a low-effort service experience will buy from that same company again.
The White House Office of Consumer Affairs found that it is 6–7 times more costly to attract a new customer than it is to retain an existing customer.
But the real kicker came from Bain & Company: 80% of CEOs believe they deliver a superior customer experience, but only 8% of their customers agree.
The success stories of the next 10 years (and there are a lot of companies already leading the way) will be companies who focus on mastering the basics of interactions and who can become successful because of their Customer Experience and not in spite of it.
This was originally posted on LinkedIn.
