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August 2, 2006
Rage: A New Brand Attribute?
Outsourcing certainly has its proponents as well as its foes. But with call center interaction being such a critical Touchpoint in the overall “post-purchase” customer experience, it pays to understand your customers’ hot buttons.
Apple, Dell and other technology companies are routinely vilified for the abhorrent quality of their outsourced call centers. And it gets worse: as this article from the San Francisco Chronicle points out, call center employees are regularly abused themselves. As a woman from Texas recently told 22 year-old Saurabh Jha – thanks to outsourcing, "You are getting money, food, shelter. You should be starving."
Nobody wants customers like this. But face it. If these are your customers, you need to know what’s driving them. Forcing callers to India and elsewhere, when rage against outsourced tech support or an inability to listen to anyone with a foreign accent is a driving emotion, will kill your satisfaction levels and negatively impact your brand. Psychographic and demographic research can help you segment based on attributes other than recency, frequency and zip code. No, this is NOT a red state/blue state issue, it’s an issue of understanding your customers and what the hard and soft drivers of brand loyalty are. (Hint: Rage at your outsourcing policies does not engender strong loyalty. Maybe somewhere in Alberta is a better choice…?)
After all, if someone is predisposed to get angry easily, they’re going to do it no matter what. You just want to make sure it’s directed at someone else.
Posted by MCorp. at 02.08.2006 20:12 | Permalink
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