I have often wondered why big corporates get so disconnected from their customers. So much so that their customer service drops in quality or actually becomes non-existent. After all, they have the budgets and entire marketing departments to assist them.
You get the feeling that the big companies are more concerned about where the next sale is coming from, especially given that most of the contact you get from them is "buy this" or "upgrade to that".
Today, Mrs Bell had an encounter with a major petrol station to buy the simplest of items - petrol vouchers. On inquiring about the availability of the vouchers, she was informed that she would have to go up to a "sister" station in the Avenue to make the purchase. Upon explaining that such a policy didn't meet basic customer service tenets, there was a terse response that the current whereabouts of said vouchers was "the best solution for the petrol retailer" due to the nature and extent of inquiries being made.
Are you kidding me? When have internal policies outweighed the needs of your customer group? Especially so when you market yourself as a "service station"?
As a result, this sale was quickly lost, as Mrs Bell has resolved to purchase the vouchers from a rival.
The lesson from the above is treating every customer contact, no matter where they come from or what they are about, as if it's the most important of the day. It is also about having policies and procedures that are set in place, not for your convenience but for that of the customer.
Given that I travel a lot, I purchase an awful lot of petrol. Mrs Bell's experience may see me heading in another direction. Notwithstanding that the retailer in question is often the first to raise its price of fuel and the last to lower it.
On another matter, I have received a lot of feedback on my recent article regarding Sky TV and their unforgivable loss of English Premier League football coverage. Thank you! One matter that I didn't cover in that article - which, again, the "big boys" seem not to realise - is that previously dedicated subscribers are discovering the joys of locating content on the internet. The worrying thing for Sky is that this is not just EPL content, this is all content.
It is natural that people will hunt around for an alternative - just as Mrs Bell did.
This shows why in this ever-increasingly competitive environment, your strategy needs to be completely correct. You cannot rest on your laurels - or take your customers for granted.
I believe there is a "league table" when it comes to customer service. And no one except for your customers is on top of it.
Regardless of whether you are a one-man operation or a multinational conglomerate, you need to accept this and operate on that basis.
Petrol vouchers at all of a large multi-national's service stations would be a start.
If you would like help implementing customer service strategies in a strategic way, give Zenith Solutions a call on 347-9997.