I\u2019ve switched internet and TV providers more than once, and I\u2019ve gone back for seconds on at least two of them, but I\u2019ll never go back to\u00a0the\u00a0company that pulled a \u201cDodge the Disconnect\u201d on me. \u00a0The representative took all of my information and promised that my service would be canceled, but a supervisor later told me that the rep had actually erased all traces of the conversation so that it wouldn\u2019t count against her quotas.\u00a0 Because I had to start the cancelation process all over again, I won\u2019t ever do business with that company again.<\/p>\n
As I picked up the phone on the second cancelation call, my blood began to boil as I dreaded the long hold time I knew would come once I told the automated system I wanted to cancel. \u00a0No one likes having to insist and resist a representative trying to persuade you to stay, but most companies don\u2019t want to make it easy for you to leave because they want to do all they can to maintain loyalty. \u00a0This sometimes manifests itself in misguided practices like retention incentives that are not tempered by long-range strategies or policies.<\/p>\n
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For example, a telecommunication provider promised to waive the cancelation fee when a colleague of mine relocated because the\u00a0telecom didn\u2019t offer service in the area she moved to.\u00a0 Not only did the telecom not remove the fee, my colleague had to call several times over 2 months to finally get it reversed. The telecom has since started offering service in her\u00a0area, but her\u00a0loyalty was lost in a bad service break up. Was that fee worth the lost business?<\/p>\n
The hassles over cancelling a service or purchase are not limited to telecoms.\u00a0 I recently had to repeatedly call and email an electronics company over a two-week period to return a printer that cost a little over $100.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I finally got through to a representative and explained that I had also purchased a much more expensive computer and was upset with them that the company snapped to attention and processed the return.\u00a0 However, I\u2019m still unlikely to buy from them again.<\/p>\n
So, this begs the question, when is it a good idea to let your customers go?<\/p>\n
During the re-design of a financial<\/a> institution\u2019s IVR<\/a>, a member of the loan department requested that the option for paying off a loan be buried deep in the menu structure to make it harder to find.\u00a0 She thought it might prevent some customers from leaving, and no-one else saw the danger.\u00a0 After the application deployed, customer satisfaction ratings dropped and angry customers complained that \u201cthe automated recording says \u2018payoff,\u2019 but doesn’t give the option to actually pay off a loan,\u201d that \u201cit just makes you go in circles,\u201d and \u201call I wanted to know was how much money I had left to pay off on my loan. I was not able to find out.\u201d\u00a0 At the first opportunity, the application design was changed to make the loan payoff option easier to find, and customer satisfaction ratings went back up.<\/p>\n In 2004, AOL settled two class-action lawsuits for failing to process cancellation requests.\u00a0 Apparently, in some cases, the representatives were not processing the requests (more disconnect dodgers), and in others the cancellations went through and then service was started up again without the customer\u2019s permission.\u00a0 The negative publicity was significant at a time when competitors were ramping up their services.<\/p>\n In the first case, although the financial company\u2019s application deployment triggered a drop in customer satisfaction ratings, a fix was implemented quickly because the organization was surveying its customers and was able to detect the shift in satisfaction.\u00a0 In the second case, the fix only appeared after an expensive lawsuit and significant damage to the company\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Although some companies may sell one-offs, the financial institution that tried to bury the option for paying off the loan is tied to a product that\u2019s known for quality and brand loyalty – so customer satisfaction is crucial and should never take a backseat to temporary customer retention.\u00a0 Repeat customers are critical to the product\u2019s success. Therefore, if paying off a loan means that the customer is able to buy a new product with a new loan from the same brand, a smart loan company will light the exit path for them and hope they come back for seconds and thirds.\u00a0 The same logic applies to any industry that relies on repeat business and brand loyalty.<\/p>\n \u201cCustomer satisfaction is crucial and should never\u00a0take a backseat to temporary customer retention.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The smartest companies not only allow for graceful exits; they take the time to ask customers why they are leaving on the way out.\u00a0 Not only does this provide good fodder for making improvements, it also tells the customer that the organization cares and wants to do better.\u00a0 Exit surveys combined with customer satisfaction surveys are a powerful one-two punch.\u00a0 A Netflix customer noted that Netflix makes it super easy to cancel \u2013 you can do it right online. On top of that, they have a quick survey that asks the reason for canceling service. Since it\u2019s so easy to come and go, customers eventually come back to Netflix and reinvest in their service.<\/p>\n As I was canceling my cable service with Time Warner a few years ago, a \u2018retention specialist\u2019 asked me why I wanted to switch providers.\u00a0 When I told him we were big baseball fans and needed to see our San Diego Padres, there was nothing he could do because Time Warner stopped carrying the local baseball games over a dispute in rates.\u00a0 Although they had to let me go, they were clearly keeping track of the number of baseball-related deserters because several months later they agreed to carry the baseball games again \u2013 and we are back with them today. This just shows that having a 360\u00b0 voice of the customer is important to all departments: marketing, sales and service.<\/p>\n For instance, when a marketing manager chose to stop service with a marketing<\/a> automation software provider because it didn\u2019t have the functionality she needed, the customer retention specialist told her it was good evidence to take to their product managers to improve their product. \u00a0\u00a0Any time an organization connects with a customer who wants to leave, at a minimum, it should be an opportunity to learn or improve.<\/p>\n \u201cTell your customers what\u2019s most important:\u00a0 that you care what they think,\u00a0that you hear what they want, and that even if they\u2019re calling to leave you,\u00a0they might find themselves asking you to take them back one day-\u00a0because\u00a0you are only going to get better.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The key to avoiding significant issues when deploying a new or remodeled application like the financial services company that hid the loan payoff option are to put the research, time, and investigation in during the design phase of a project.\u00a0 In addition, monitoring and checking in after deployment help you adjust quickly to any unexpected issues or bumps. \u00a0At PTP<\/a>, we recommend that organizations\u00a0take the following measures to ensure that they are not introducing friction to any stage of a customer purchase:<\/p>\n While there is no way to guarantee a perfect experience or a wrinkle-free application for every caller, these measures mitigate against major surprises and tell your customers what\u2019s most important:\u00a0 that you care what they think, that you hear what they want, and that even if they\u2019re calling to leave you they might find themselves asking you to take them back one day – because you are only going to get better.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/strong>When should an organization let go?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
When should an organization try to keep customers?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How to prevent a nasty surprise?<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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