Gambling on Red
Posted by: Andy Hearsey @ 27/01/2010 12:01:56 PM
Having recently returned from a holiday in the US that covered three cities, including casino capital Las Vegas, I was constantly surprised by the challenges that a number of companies presented when using their services during our trip.
From tour operators, hotels, shuttle companies and airlines, we had cause to call various organisations to check details, make bookings and reconfirm trips. On almost every occasion that called, we were presented with a telephone obstacle course to work our way through, in order to complete what were generally very simple tasks.
The majority of these companies, we were using for the first time; they had been booked by a local tour operator in the UK. If they didn’t already have our money, it left me wondering whether I would have bothered trying to navigate through their endless menus, and even on one occasion, disappearing down a dead end and being cut off, just for making “wrong” selections.
Asking customers to navigate lengthy, complex menus and reams of irrelevant messages in order to map their needs into the correct “buckets” that a company has devised, creates stress and loses customers. Enabling customers to express their needs in their own way creates happy, loyal customers and increases revenue as a result. This is why it is so important for companies to get their communication channels correct – created from a customer, not a business perspective.
As consumers, we all have a choice about which companies we want to do business with. Having companies make you red with anger when you’re just trying to carry out simple tasks with them, makes you think they’re gambling on whether they’re worth your business.
Comments
Leave a Comment
- Display Name:
- Comment:
-
Did You Know?
47% of those interviewed in a recent study were uncomfortable providing personal details over the phone to a call centre representative.