The business that nuked a 20-year relationship
Act #2
(If you missed the first post, see here: https://lnkd.in/gvtajpt6)
A few weeks after the initial interaction, the client showed up for their appointment.
The client was told that the therapist was sick and not available.
They were then told that when this happens, they have a policy to call and leave a voice message. The client looked at his phone and sure enough there was a message. But this person has received so much spam that the very start of their voicemail says: I do not check voicemail, please send me a text or an email.
Whoever was calling clearly decided to ignore that message, leave one anyway, and mark the task done.
The company clearly has the ability to text. They proved that when they sent the abrupt message about the penalty payment they expected to collect.
And here is what I learned about the Direct to Consumer world. You will have to answer them on the platform they prefer or risk losing the customer – text, Instagram, email, phone, inside the app, facebook, etc…
Now you can decide that you’re not going to interact with customers through their chosen platform but then you’ll have to ensure you find a way to “onboard” your customers.
Also, text is probably the most important vehicle for information sharing and marketing. While email has 21% open rate where text has a 98% open rate (over 90% within 3 minutes).
If you can get your customers to interact with you via text, it is pure gold in terms of driving responses.
Personally I despise companies texting me. UNLESS it is a repeat service like the dentist, a restaurant, or Massage Therapy.
This error, in and of itself, would have been relatively easy to recover from. In fact, they could have gone over and above to make sure the rebooking process was smooth, their customer preferences we’re updated, and a nice little coffee to apologize for wasting their time.
Combined with the first mistake, and in such close proximity to the last experience, this client is now moving their business to a new clinic.
There is a lot to learn here.
1. Can you see the Customer Journey Map? Do you know the touch points that matter? Does your team understand them as well? (See Kyle Racki‘s comment on the first post)
2. Do you know how to personalize the service for the individual?
3. Are your processes robust enough to either specifically onboard a client or cater to the many ways a customer may want to interact with you?
5. Do you know how to recover from errors? (See Jay Fisher‘s comment)
The customer is not always right. But as a business owner, you have to decide which customers are right for your business and then build your capabilities to deliver to those clients.
It is that simple and it is that hard.
These are the conversations we have with technician-led businesses to help them build a business that serves them. This is what our Levership program was designed to confront and tackle.
