Customer Intelligence is Meaningless If
You Don’t Tie It to Strategic Action
By Alan See, Seapine Software
Used With Permission
I have three growing kids in the house, so my refrigerator door
gets plenty of action. That explains how the bottom hinge broke,
which prevented the door from closing. My milk was getting warm
and butter was melting. A refrigerator that doesn't keep cold
air inside isn't a good thing, so I immediately called for
service.
‘But the problem is my
refrigerator, and my food will
soon be spoiling!’
Years ago, the future held the promise of our appliances knowing
all about us and calling in for service without our involvement.
Today's world isn't so far off. Businesses have the means to
know about us. And, as you can read below, the ensuing phone
conversation between me and XYZ appliance showed that that the
company that markets my refrigerator is making use of that
information. But you'll also see that the future is not here
yet.
(For quality purposes, the following dialogue was transcribed by
the customer.)
XYZ Appliance:
Good afternoon...is this Mr. See?
Alan: Why, yes. How did you know?
XYZ Appliance: I show that you are calling from your home
phone number. How can I help you?
Alan: (Cool! This is going to be quick and easy
because XYZ already knows me!). My refrigerator door is
broken and is letting all the cold air out. I need to get it
serviced as soon as possible.
XYZ Appliance: I'm sorry for your inconvenience. I show
that you are one of our platinum level customer's and have
purchased several appliances from us. Thank you for your
business! Is this the same refrigerator you purchased in the
packaged deal with your washer, dryer and dishwasher?
Alan: (Great! XYZ understands my problem, appreciates
my business and knows my value. The company already has records
on all my appliances, and with my priority status I'll probably
get immediate service!). Yes, it's the same. Can someone fix
it soon?
XYZ Appliance: Yes, of course. Is Thursday a good day for
you?
Alan: Tomorrow would be perfect! What time?
XYZ Appliance:
Actually, I was referring to Thursday next week.
Alan: But that's eight days away. If this was my washer,
I could go to the Laundromat, and it wouldn't be a big deal. Or
if it was my dishwasher, I could just wash the dishes in the
sink. But the problem is my refrigerator, and my food will soon
be spoiling! Are you sure I can't get service sooner? Didn't you
just tell me that I was a platinum customer?
XYZ Appliance: Yes, but next Thursday is the first
available day. We can have someone there between 9 a.m. and 5
p.m. Is that OK?
Alan: Hold on a minute! Not only do I have to wait until
next week, but I also have to take off from work the entire day
to wait on service because you can only give me an eight-hour
window concerning the expected arrival time?! Gee, if my status
was less than platinum, when would I be getting service? Because
right now, I'm under the impression that platinum is really not
buying much.
At this point I let my fingers do the walking through the Yellow
Pages and called the first vendor listing on the page.
Alan:
Good afternoon, I have an XYZ brand refrigerator, and the door
hinge is broken. My milk is getting warm, and my butter is
melting. Can you help me?
AAA Appliance: Well, warm milk and melting butter can't
be good. Yes, we can service that brand. If we sent someone
early...like between 7:30 a.m. and 8 a.m. tomorrow, we could
adjust our schedules and actually work you in before our first
appointments. How's that sound? By the way, who am I talking to
and where do you live?
How's that sound? You've got to be kidding! I gave AAA my name,
home address and all the other particulars and booked the
appointment. I didn't even ask for the rates. Now get this, not
only did the repair worker show up on time, but he also fixed
the door in the same trip.
So which company delivered the customer experience I'll
remember? A couple of months later, my washer needed attention.
You don't have to guess which company I called. This time AAA
didn't work me into its schedule the very next day. But a washer
is not mission critical, and I didn't have that expectation.
The AAA worker did show up on time and did an excellent job. The
fact that I had to provide my address again for the second
service call seems like a minor point.
Customer Intelligence solutions provide the ability to identify
your most valuable customers and empower your sales and service
organizations to make smart decisions that result in wonderful
customer experiences. Consider XYZ brand, though. It was
collecting the data and using it. The service person knew who I
was in terms of the other purchases I'd made and, so, my
value. Why did the company collect that information? To be
able to sell to me? Perhaps market new appliances at the end of
the average lifetime of the ones I'd bought? To get me to buy an
extended service contract? From my vantage point as the
customer, all the information XYZ was collecting came to
nothing. It was for XYZ's benefit, not for mine.
This breakdown in strategic action is too often the rule and not
the exception when it comes to customer intelligence.
Intelligence without strategic action may very well be worse
than not having the intelligence at all—if it means that you
don't retain your customers and, worse, engender poor word of
mouth. When it comes time to replace my appliances, I'll be
looking closely at AAA. |
