Not surprisingly customer service in the telecom industry is in the news again.
Wireless carriers are not known for their customer service – most marketing messages are about having the cool new phone or cheaper family plans – but perhaps they should pay more attention to it. It seems that Telecoms are struggling to handle complex, changing service demands.
The result is that in the telecom market, Poor Customer Service Drains Brand Equity. According to a new study by Sametrix Inc., word of mouth (WOM) has a significant financial impact. Vince Nowinski, Sametrix’s director of methodology, puts it like this.
A lot of the emphasis in the industry is around technology and customer acquisition; there isn’t a lot of energy spent in customer loyalty. But you can’t really overcome having a large number of people saying bad things about you.
In the wireless industry the top two factors for a positive WOM are the strength of network (i.e., the product) and the ease of doing business. Detractors’ negative word-of-mouth behavior represents a significant hidden cost and net drain on the bottom line.
According to the study, a customer who recommends a company and its products (a Promoter) is worth about half a new additional customer in terms of WOM marketing value. A Detractor (i.e., someone unlikely to recommend the company) accounts for a loss of about one-and-a-third customers in terms of losses in customer retention.
The other item points out rather provokingly that Customer Service Overkill Can Kill You.
I was recently raving to a friend about the wine selection at a local wine shop. He told me he knew about the place and agreed it was top notch, but he also said he no longer shops there. Turns out my friend feels the wine shop staff is “overly nice.”
That also perhaps is linked with a pushy sales person who will not leave you alone, when you really prefer to take your time.
It all comes back to those fundamental words of Peter Drucker, “Help is defined by the recipient”. The only way to find out if your customer service is right is to ask your customers. .. that is provided you as CEO have the nerve to really listen and the intention to act on what they are asking for.
It is not rocket science: what is needed is really very obvious. If you need any further ammunition to get all the troops on side as you transform your organization into one that serves (an increasing number of) customers, here are some useful references:
- The Benefits of Being Customer-Centric
- 7 Habits Of A Truly Customer-Centric Selling Organization
- The CEO Also Has to Be the Customer Experience Officer
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This is so true. I know many people who are more than willing to pay more for cell phone service when they perceive the company’s customer service to be better than other providers. It seems surprising that after all this time and all this talk about the impact of customer service, the major cell phone providers are still lacking in quality in that department. I think customer service should be a primary focus for them, as that is the best way to retain loyal customers.
It seems to me that the place the wireless carriers fail is that they don’t understand what customer service is.
Is customer service my being able to always get a signal on my phone no matter where I am?
Is customer service friendly, caring person on the other end of the line when I have a problem with my bill?
Is customer service a knowledgeable person who can explain how to operate a phone to it’s full potential as they become more and more complicated?
Or is customer service all of the above? If you said all of the above, you understand why it’s so hard for any company, not just wireless companies to provide good customer service. As the customer, I can tell you exactly what good customer service is. It’s whatever I say it is.
You are exactly right. Good customer service is what the customer thinks it is, and different customers have different needs and demands so it’s very difficult for a company to provide good customer service for everyone. However, I think it is still very doable. For example, there could be better specialization, where some people are experts at phone usability and some are experts at the billing system and so on. That way, the customer could receive great service, if not all from the same representative.
I will say I found one of the worst service company for wireless it is ATT they do nothing and say they are helping you. I have 2 New Blackberry Bolds that are only 2 months old now and all they will say is they will replace them with rebuilt Phones like the ones thay are giving away now and I paid $800 for the two phones. had problem from the start with one phone and told the sales people why were trying different thing to get the phone to work well you guess it it ran longer the the 30 day trial so you get nothing and can not get out of contract . second was 9 day late with payment and they turnoff the service even after i had talked to one of there people on the phone and told them it was comming as we just forgot to send it. that was the first bill for the company great service to me from them. I left Sprint for ATT worst i could have done.
According to comScore, Verizon has been rated the best carrier in terms of coverage and also customer service. Only six percent of their customers break their service contract.