Are You Customer-Averse?

We all know the story of how Comcast went from customer-averse to customer-friendly. It started online with a person, and it's making its way to the rest of the organization. You will agree with me that Comcast went from this episode, to this action, to this thinking.

They went from customer-averse, to customer-friendly. It didn't happen overnight, still it did. Competition helps, too, so we keep our fingers crossed on any one company getting too big to care.

Businesses continue to look for more ways to get new business either from new or current customers -- usually both, in this order. Shiny marketing mailings don't do the job the way they used to anymore.

Customers see through those, and know that many companies take them for granted, losing precious word of mouth recommendations in the process. Companies that don't extend customers the offers, courtesy, and service they created an expectation for in the course of marketing, will continue to see diminishing returns.

Worse, we have learned to notice -- and care -- that those offers are given freely to prospective customers. I've heard of people switching long distance telecom company from month to month to play the offer game. Social media will not cure the problem, if all you've got is message push -- now on Twitter, Facebook, or the next new tool.

Add to it outsourcing even the last mile, that of the human contact, and these behaviors seem to indicate that companies are customer-averse.

5 Characteristics of a customer-averse company

(1.) There is no human to answer the phone -- not the regular handset appliance, nor the social phone

(2.) When someone answers either phone, they're just buying time, not giving you answers

(3.) Offers and deals are extended always and only to prospective customers. Once you're in, you're out

(4.) Loyalty is a one-way concept when it comes to shifting customers around services and products

(5.) When the company connects with customers, it has ulterior motives, never just to "thank you"

You see how these behaviors are not ideal or prudent. Today, customers have more options than all the tricks you may have developed to avoid direct contact.

The companies that get more business are those where people energize the contact, lean into the conversation, make the experience human, find new ways to communicate with customers where they are, and solve a challenge -- they have or take license to impress. Remarkable is easy to achieve when the bar is still set so low.

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Which companies impress you? Why? Name them here, and tell your story. I'll find a way to bring them to the conversation in the coming weeks.

© 2006-2010 Valeria Maltoni. All rights reserved.

Comments

[Dan Naden]

Valeria,

Great post. The Conversation Agent is the highlight of my morning! I am inspired, motivated, and informed on a daily basis.

I wanted to share a recent blog post that I wrote on Home Depot:
http://www.dannaden.com/2010/01/home-depot-raises-this-customer-up.html

As you'll find out when you read it, Home Depot blew me away with their focus on the customer.

If you want to talk more about it, please let me know.

Keep up the great work.

Dan Naden

[Brian Driggs]

I can count the number of companies in which I completely trust on one hand. It's really only 2. I suspect there's a third, but I can't recall at this moment.

T-mobile. I've been with T-mobile since they were Voicestream. After a messy divorce, my brother got a T-mobile phone for me in his name. I've had them as my sole telecom provider since 1999 or so. In 2002, I had the account switched to my name and I've never looked back.

With T-mobile, I've never had to think about how many minutes or text messages I've used in a month. Aside from a tiny corner of remote, north eastern New Mexico, my T-mobile phone has worked flawlessly. I get unlimited *everything* for well under $100/month these days. How does this benefit T-mobile?

- I talked my wife, who had been with Verizon nearly as long, to switch over to T-mobile.
- When the free plane tickets they gave me for being a loyal customer turned out to be of no use (black out dates through their provider), I didn't get upset. I just sent them an email expressing disappointment. I got a letter back thanking me for letting them know how I felt.
- When they experienced a random service interruption a couple months back, I didn't even notice. My phone worked well enough, so I used it to call in and tell one of their call center employees thank you for working so diligently to solve the problem and to hang in there, because not everyone out there was losing their mind with blind, ignorant rage over it.
- When my friend expressed that she was leaving T-mobile so she could get one of those damned iPhones, I spent extra time with her to show her how my Blackberry was more than capable of doing everything she needed and she upgraded to a T-mobile Blackberry instead of binding herself up with the substandard carrier associated with the iPhones.

The other organization in which I truly believe is Netflix. My wife and I haven't had cable (or any) TV in over two years. Netflix has made that dream a reality. Assuming a $50/month savings over a premium tier of digital cable, we've saved over $1200 by switching to Netflix. We order up the TV shows we want to see by the series and turn around on discs is just two days. It's perfect.

How does this help Netflix?
- I make a point of expressing to people how convenient the service is. I can very easily extol the immediate benefits of signing up and using the service.

Beyond that, I guess I'd say Mitsubishi, as I am something of a "fanboi," but I haven't bought a new Mitsubishi since 1996. I have, however, spent all the time since enjoying them in one form or another. Their products are exciting and they are part of a very diverse conglomerate that does everything from cars to airplanes to nuclear power generation to freaking lasers. My passion for Mitsubishi has lead me to create an online magazine wherein we seek to showcase the stories of other passionate enthusiasts from around the world. It's free, positive publicity intended to unite Mitsubishi owners together around the world to share in their enjoyment of Mitsubishi products and to one day present a unified voice of support for the brand. In April, I'm traveling to Cypress, California for the purpose of visiting Mitsubishi and interviewing their staffers who man their Twitter and Facebook accounts to show our readers how they are Mitsubishi owners and enthusiasts too. If I have time, I might even take my own Mitsubishi car out to some local races to show the Subaru guys a thing or two.

A long comment, I know, but it just goes to show. If you, as an organization, genuinely care about your customers, they will genuinely care about you. It's no trouble at all for me to get behind the idea of talking up the joy of being a part of T-mobile, Netflix, and Mitsubishi. In fact, I'd say it's a point of pride.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Dan - glad to be helpful. I know the folks at Home Depot pretty well and will gladly bring them to the conversation here. Thank you for the suggestion.

@Brian - looks like you got the Mitsubishi story covered. As for T-mobile and Netflix, I might just be able to get there for readers here. Good tips and good stories!

[Jennifer Hutcheson @Mami2Mommy]

All I can say is GRACO/Newell Rubbermaid! :) I have always loved their products but what I am most impressed with is their transparency. They really showed me that I could trust them when they had a recall on a stroller and THEY took the initiative to let their customers know immediately through Twitter. Not to mention they answered questions instead of hiding. Not many companies would do that. They know how to relate to their customers and have earned a loyal following because of it.

[Valeria Maltoni]

Jennifer:

They are a good group and I will be delighted to bring them here for a conversation.