Saving the Sale

Call me a sucker, but I saw an internet advertisement for a free sample of a dietary supplement that I wanted to try and I went for it…knowing that I had to give my credit card number and if I didn’t call them to cancel, they were going to start sending me a new supply of the product every month, and charge me for it.  I usually avoid things like this, but this was an interesting concept.  It was a pre-workout supplement that came in the form of a tablet, rather than a powder that had to be mixed with water.  I got my trial sample and of course, forgot to cancel before the first non-free one arrived.  I actually liked the product, but it was significantly more expensive than the powder alternatives.  Admittedly, however, I had found that the product was great for when I was traveling and didn’t want to have to mix something with water.  I actually kept it going for a few months to save some supply just for that purpose.  Once I had a couple months’ worth, I was ready to cancel.  Their phone number appeared on my credit card statement, so it was easy to find.  When I called, the agent on the phone asked me why I was cancelling.  I gave her my exact reasons.  I liked the product, especially for traveling, but I thought it was too expensive and even if it wasn’t too expensive, I was getting more of it than I could use.  She actually listened and obviously the management of this service center had ensured that they were prepared for these kinds of “objections” to continued purchase of their product.   First, she offered to lower the price of the product by 25% for me.  I told her that would help some, but that I didn’t need to get a 30 day supply every month…in fact that I already had two months’ supply saved up.  She suggested that they go ahead and take me off the monthly subscription.  This might be perceived as a failure, however, there was no way that they were going to convince me to continue that, so it was really good customer service.  However, she also secured my next order for another 30 day supply two months down the road.  We agreed on a date, she said I’d get it automatically at the discounted price, and from then on, I could just order it whenever I wanted.  So, they may have lost me as a subscription customer, but they got at least one more ordered…and I am pretty sure I will be ordering again, based on the way the whole thing was handled.

Preparing your agents for whatever objections or reasons for cancelling a service is critical to customer retention, but that’s only part of it.  Equipping them with the right tools and giving them the leverage to use them according to their best judgment is the best way to leverage those opportunities to keep customers, at least in some capacity.  Finally, ensuring that they are trained to listen and provide good customer service along the way will help them seal the deal whenever a customer or sale is still able to be saved.

Usually when I write about an experience like this that’s entirely positive, I like to mention the name of the company.  In this case I won’t, at least for now, because I’m not sure if they want all their customers to call them asking for a 25% discount!

Effective Call Routing Equals Faster Service for Customers and Lower Costs for Companies.

It was that time of year…I received the annual “escrow analysis statement” from my mortgage company. For customers in many states who choose to have their real-estate taxes impounded and paid by their mortgage company, this is the statement that shows their forecast of disbursements from these impound accounts, for taxes and/or insurance, along with the associated minimum balances and expected “low” points. They often communicate the resulting change in the monthly mortgage payment based on any adjustments to the monthly impound account contributions required. Sometimes customers have the option of increasing their payment, or paying a lump sum that will cover any projected shortage so their payment can remain the same. The projected tax amounts on mine didn’t look right to me, so I placed a call to the customer service number, which was listed on the statement. I chose what seemed to be the most appropriate selection from the voice prompts and after a few minutes of waiting, I was routed to an agent. The agent indicated that I needed to talk to someone different, so she transferred me. I waited another few minutes, and the agent that I was transferred to told me that there was a separate group handling inquiries about these escrow analysis statements, and transferred me again. After another couple of minutes, I got to another agent, who was able to resolve my inquiry pretty quickly and seemingly without any difficulty.

This wasn’t a bad experience for me, although the various transfers and conversations did turn result in a total of more than 15 minutes on the phone, when it could have been significantly less. My inquiry was resolved, so I was satisfied. However, this was a much costlier interaction for the company than it had to be because it actually turned into three calls (one each with three different agents) instead of just one. The annual mailing of these statements is most likely one that generates a lot of calls. Presumably these go out to a large portion of their customers, at least within certain states. According to the last agent that transfers me, these statements generate enough call volume that they have set up a special group to handle the calls. This can be a smart step on the part of the company because if they have a large customer service staff, it can save them a lot of training costs by only training a portion of them. However, that savings can only be realized if they are able to get the calls to that specialized group efficiently. In this case, given that the majority of these calls happen over a short period of time, a company should consider adding a special option in the voice response menu specifically for callers inquiring about those statements. This could catch a significant number of these callers, provide them with faster service, and help to ensure that the training dollars they save aren’t offset by the handling of misdirected calls. Making a temporary change like this to the menu can often be done relatively quickly and easily.

Everybody Wins When You Offer Customers a Choice

On a recent trip to the Boston area, I was lucky enough to get a low rate to stay at the Le Meridién hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As I was settling into the room, I noticed a card advertising a program they’re offering. The program offered me the option of not having the regular daily housekeeping service for my room and, in exchange, they were offering a $5 voucher that could be used in the hotel restaurant or bar. Furthermore, if I didn’t want or wasn’t able to use that, I had the option of redeeming any of my vouchers at the end of my stay for 500 bonus points in their guest rewards program. As a loyal Starwood Preferred Guest program member, I was very excited about this. I knew I’d barely be using the room other than for sleeping and showering. I was only there for a two night stay and I often opt to not have my sheets or towels washed anyway. I thought it wouldn’t be a big deal at all for me to simply make the bed myself if I wanted it made, and the rest didn’t really matter. Besides that, at three points per dollar, I would be earning fewer than 500 points per night based on my nightly rate. It seemed like a great bonus and I jumped on the opportunity. I found myself hoping that the hotel that I’ve been staying in regularly for work on a client project would start offering the same thing.

This is a great example of how offering choices to a customer can really enhance customer loyalty and repeat buying. Because of this program, this will be the first hotel I look into the next time I travel to Boston. Interestingly enough, the $5 restaurant voucher or the 500 points probably even have a much lower cost to the hotel than that of daily housekeeping service for a room, especially when you take into account the housekeeping labor, laundry costs, and supplies. This is a great lesson that what something may cost an organization doesn’t necessarily translate dollar for dollar in terms of value to a customer. By offering customers a choice, you not only increase their satisfaction by giving them something that’s of value or important to them, sometimes you can actually save money because some customers will choose an option that has a lower cost than the standard service.