Halloween is once again upon us, which means it’s time for ghosts and goblins and scary customer stories.
Hopefully your company’s experience journey doesn’t qualify as a scary customer story, though research from Acquia shows that nearly half of consumers say the brands they engage with don’t meet their expectations for a good experience, and nearly two-thirds can’t remember the last time a brand exceeded their expectations.
So what’s really scary is how low the experience bar is and yet how many companies still fail to clear it.
The National Retail Federation reports that U.S. consumers will spend more than $11 billion on Halloween this year, with three in four people celebrating. So in the spirit of Halloween, let’s look at some scary customer stories – the “tricks” that companies play on their customers – and the “treats” they could provide instead. These stories can inform and inspire your customer experience strategy all year long.
Trick or Treat
TRICK: A customer calls his or her cable company every year to complain about rising prices. The conversation is always the same: The agent mentions a new plan that offers the exact same features but for less money, the customer asks to switch, the agent obliges, and despite saving money the customer hangs up frustrated.
TREAT: The cable company calls the customer to alert him or her that they’ve identified a matching plan for less money, and that they’ve proactively switched his account for a savings of $XX per month. Can you imagine how the customer feels about the cable company now, even though the result is the same?
TRICK: An airline’s Finance department devises multiple nuisance fees to charge customers in order to improve the bottom line. Suddenly checking bags, changing flights, eating food, using WiFi, redeeming miles, and other parts of the flying experience now cost more money, and passengers feel they are being “nickled and dimed” to death as seats get smaller and planes get more crowded.
TREAT: The airline decides that the Finance department shouldn’t be dictating customer experience, and that happy travelers make their employees’ jobs much easier. Happy employees then in turn provide a better experience for travelers, who now feel they are getting a good value for their money without extra fees.
Don’t Do This To Your Customers
TRICK: Rewards points or miles expire after a certain period of time (thanks again to the Finance department) and the company hopes the customer won’t notice so it can get the liability off its books.
TREAT: Loyalty rewards should include having the company show some loyalty back to the customer. The company, always appreciative of its customers that keep it in business, decides that once earned, rewards can never be lost.
TRICK: A customer complains on social media after a poor experience with a company, and secretly hopes to embarrass the company in public.
TREAT: The company takes complains seriously and responds immediately, seeking more information and demonstrating a willingness to make it right with the customer. The customer’s anger at the company dissipates because of the great service, and other social media onlookers are impressed at the care provided by the company in public.
More Scary Customer Stories
TRICK: A fan finds the perfect seat to their favorite concert at a seemingly reasonable price. But when they go to check out, they discover multiple hidden fees that jack up the overall price significantly. The fan leaves frustrated and feeling misled.
TREAT: Brands that provide clear pricing with all fees disclosed upfront give customers peace of mind and build trust.
TRICK: A customer buys one item and suddenly finds themselves bombarded by daily emails, newsletters, and “urgent” promotions. This aggressive approach feels like an invasion of their inbox and leads to an immediate “unsubscribe” and negative feelings about the brand.
TREAT: The brand actually waits until the customer receives the item to send their first follow-up email, and rather than trying to sell them on something new so soon, they ask for genuine feedback such as whether the customer is enjoying their new item.
Boo! Does Your Company Have Its Own Scary Customer Stories?
TRICK: A customer encounters a convoluted return process, with confusing rules and hidden fees. Restocking fees and strict return windows make the customer think twice about purchasing again from this brand.
TREAT: A clear, easy return policy, like free returns or a satisfaction guarantee, puts customers at ease. When they know they can shop risk-free, they’re more likely to make a purchase and view the brand positively, even if they don’t end up returning anything.
TRICK: A company introduces a new IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system that purposely makes it more difficult for customers to reach a human customer service agent. The strategy is to reduce costs by reducing call volume, but customers end up massively frustrated.
TREAT: Whether it’s an IVR or a chatbot, it’s OK to provide options to customers. But when scenarios aren’t covered in those options, and when customers ask to speak to a representative, they should be connected to a human being immediately.
TRICK: A healthcare provider continues to use jargon and industry terms even though it knows patients don’t understand them.
TREAT: Using simple, easy-to-understand language will help customers (or patients) do more business with you. Every point of communication between a business and its customers is an opportunity to enhance the customer experience. In particular, the language companies use can either educate or confuse.
This Halloween, take the time to examine your company’s customer journey and look for places where you might be, even inadvertently, creating a “trick” when you could be providing a “treat.” Get rid of those scary customer stories! Maybe you could even become the equivalent of the cool house on the block that hands out the full-sized candy bars.
Silhouette image by Nick Magwood from Pixabay.
