In The News

 Can This Customer Be Saved?

Act I: A friend has been with a national wireless phone company for over five years. She pays her bills like clockwork. Recently, she called Customer Service to ask for a replacement phone that she misplaced while traveling. The first thing the rep mentioned was that her bill was overdue. My friend acknowledged that the payment was in the mail, but questioned the rep about the due date, which was still two days away. She asked the rep to review her account and said, "Have I ever been late?" Even though the rep acknowledged that she had always been on time with her payments, she still pressed to take a credit card payment over the phone. My friend again stated that her payment had already been mailed and there was no reason to make a double payment. The rep then said she was unable to help my friend with a replacement phone until the bill was recorded as paid. She then told my friend (the loyal customer of five years) that since she hadn't paid her bill, she would have to visit a wireless phone store to get a replacement phone.

Act II: My friend goes to the phone store and while waiting to be helped, she overhears a customer next to her who is also getting a phone and has just found out he qualifies for $100 off that phone. When the service representative approaches my friend, she asks about the $100 off a new phone and is told, "Oh, no, you don't qualify. That's just for new customers."

Act III: My friend is now stopping by a RadioShack store to pick up a battery and as she is checking out, the service representative asks one question: "Happy with your cell phone service?" After 5 years with one company, she switched in a heartbeat.

This scenario would make a perfect sales/service team meeting case study, wouldn't it? What went wrong? How could this customer have been saved?

Quoted by permission of: Laura Benjamin International, Colorado Springs CO Phone: 719-266-8088. Fax: 719-785-5768. http://www.laurabenjamin.com (C)Laura Benjamin International 2005