MarketingBeyond blog readers may have noticed I have a category called "customer service marketing." Why? Because, as I've pointed out in numerous posts, companies are losing billions due to poor customer care--and ALL industries are impacted from cell phones to computers to consumer appliances.
Cell phone companies. I'll boldly claim that quality customer service will nearly always convince customers to stay with a carrier over everything else. Why? Because if mobile carriers, like any other business, can't quickly solve customer problems or issues, their network size or latest razzle-dazzle promotion will fail. While price and other factors are important, customers want service and solutions.
T-Mobile customer care today again convinced me how true this is in cellular. As a mobile geek, I frequently float from carrier-to-carrier to complete phone reviews and assess carrier service. By far, T-Mobile provides the best customer service of all the carriers.
Today's issue was fairly simple. I ported one of my three lines from Sprint to T-Mobile recently so I could rate T-Mobile's new Nokia 6267, a 3G-equipped phone once T-Mobile launches 3G in the U.S. I returned the phone several weeks ago and received my T-Mobile bill yesterday still showing a $36 activation fee. A quick call to T-Mobile customer care and the $36 was credited to my account.
But that's not what impressed me. I knew T-Mobile would credit me for the activation charge, since I'd cancelled service during the "buyer remorse" period (strange phrase, hm...) What delighted me about the phone call had more to do with the friendliness and helpfulness of the CS rep. Despite my leaving T-Mobile (for the time being), she was cordial and didn't hassle me about staying with T-Mobile. My customer experience was totally positive, reinforcing good feelings about T-Mobile.
Case two: Sprint. I ported two lines from Sprint to AT&T when I was testing the iPhone, then ported both lines back to Sprint after a negative experience with an AT&T retail rep. I knew Sprint was (is) in the middle of merging billing systems; so I expected a messy bill, despite assurance from a Sprint supervisor a while back promising me a $400 credit after porting back. Well...my bill arrived yesterday--a mere $687--without the $400 credit and $75 in data charges, due to a screw-up when I changed from the HTC Touch to the BlackBerry 8830.
Sprint must have hired someone with humor in billing, because the new bill pages have titles like "Hello!" on page one, "Details, details (continued)..." on page 10, "Details, details..." on page 9 and "Want a shorter bill?...Switch to summary format..." on page 11. Humor is always good, especially when your bill is $687.
But I felt confident the issue was resolvable, because I kept copies of emails confirming my $400 credit. So I zipped off a copy of the email to Sprint yesterday and today I received an intelligently written email reversing out the $400, plus $75 in data charges and two $26 re-activation fees. (If you have Sprint, by the way, always use email for customer service, because they're still trying to improve their call center operations.)
Cell phone companies, naturally, are not the only businesses with poor customer service. As I wrote in a MarketingBeyond post recently, bad customer service is zapping all sorts of companies. Technical support is also suffering. (Read my tech chat posts on Hewlett-Packard).
Case three (busy customer service day for me): Cuisinart. My coffee maker filter basket flow control fell off. I quickly called Cuisinart, gave the CS rep my serial number and the company is shipping me a new basket at no charge. Let's see...that's one broken carafe and one defective basket (see my Amazon.com/Cuisinart post.)
The March 3, 2008 edition of BusinessWeek has a rating of customer service levels among 25 companies, including Sprint's continuing struggle to raise customer service levels. I believe it's mandatory reading for anyone serious about customer service in this country.
Until the majority of U.S. marketing executives improve their customer service operations, their companies will continue upsetting their most precious asset--the customer. "Keep the customer satisfied" has never been more important than in today's consumer-driven economy.
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