47. Listen and Respond
Dell Computers was once a company praised for the innovative approach they brought to the PC industry. The company was well-known for built-to-order PCs, competitive prices, and dependable customer service. But when Dell’s sales began to fall and customer complaints were on the rise, it took a long time before Michael Dell stepped in to help stop the bleeding.
The Internet created a very public forum for customers to air their complaints, damaging Dell’s once pristine image. The biggest complaints came from customers who were put off by customer service agents in off-shore call centers. In response to this, and for a price, customers now have 24/7 phone access from trained North-American-based technicians who will respond in two minutes or less.
To Dell’s credit, they eventually responded to complaints, but with mixed reaction from customers. Dell says, “We listened, reacted, and changed. Dell Services offers access to qualified experts, fast response time, and great value.” However, even though Dell professes “We’re Back to #1,” customers continue to log complaints on blogs and forums.
A Google search for “Dell Customer Service” reveals blog posts and stories that are less than flattering. In fact several are hostile remarks made by customers who are not just angry, but want to retaliate. This isn’t the search result any company would want to surface on the first page of a Google search. What drives customers to the point that they want to seek revenge? Is it lack of response from a company or is it because they feel complete indifference or disregard for the bad experience they have caused someone?
What can you learn from this lesson? Customer retention is a whole lot easier than customer win-back. As your marketing and growth strategies succeed, make sure your customer service strategy keeps pace. Keep your finger on the pulse by monitoring both employee performance and customer feedback. How many reports or quarters of lagging sales will it take to get the attention of management? If the culture doesn’t truly honor customers and continuous improvement, it is more likely that more time will be spent finger pointing than resolving problems.
Emotion Is Viral
Dell is not alone when it comes to a damaging public outcry. It can happen to any company whether they are deemed good corporate citizens or not. The key question to ask is, “What drives the popularity of consumer-generated media?” At the most basic level is the emotional need to be heard. People who feel “wronged” want to be heard as much as they want to evangelize what they love. The Internet and social media are accessible and easy to use, and they provide a platform for those who want to voice an opinion—right or wrong, good or bad.
When people have a good experience, they will tell others. When people had a bad experience in the pre-Internet days, they told an average of 9–13 people. Now when people have a bad customer experience, they tell thousands of people. The Internet provides the platform and people provide the emotion and the stories. Why do bad stories resonate so well with the media and other people? Let me answer that question with an example.
Several years ago, June 16, 2006 to be exact, a man named Vincent Ferrari called AOL to cancel his father’s AOL account. The call center agent protested against the request and asked Ferrari to explain his reasons for cancelling the account. Ferrari said his father didn’t use the account and didn’t even have the software loaded on his computer anymore. The agent continued to protest against Ferrari’s request and proceeded to explain how many hours his father had used in the past and asked to speak with him. An infuriated Ferrari demanded the agent to “cancel the account,” saying he didn’t “know how to make it any clearer.” What the agent didn’t know was that Ferrari was recording the call and that he was an avid blogger.
Here’s where the viral nature of the story takes over. Ferrari was so angry he shared his story on the Internet, which was picked up by CNBC. But that’s not all. When CNBC reporters attempted to cancel an AOL account, a representative hung up on them. It took 45 minutes before the account could be cancelled. When Matt Lauer and other journalists conducted interviews and continued to report the story, Vincent Ferrari was launched into stardom.
That was 2006. In 2008, I checked to see if Vincent had become even more famous and a Google search returned nearly 300,000 results. By early 2010, Vincent had become even more famous. Search results doubled to 600,000. How did one guy command so much attention? Can a few call center agents inflict this much damage? Emotion is viral. It picks up steam when other people can empathize with the issue because they have had a similar experience.
It’s also notable that some industries are “easy pickins.” Do you recall our discussion in Section IV? Airlines, car rental companies, cable companies, phone companies, and so on, have a large customer base and have been slow to the draw when it comes to providing customer service. Even though a company may have implemented significant change in a response to prior incidents, the Internet can be rather unforgiving. Consumer-generated media spreads and events become magnified. Search engines have a long memory, leaving a lasting impression on your brand.
In Section V we will discuss ways that you can proactively respond to angry customers, and how to turn even the most hostile customer into a happy supporter.