I called United Airlines and spoke to a ‘customer service’ representative in Panama. When I called BrightHouse Networks, I spoke to a representative in Mexico.
Common theme? Pseudo American names for service representatives. Strong accents. Profuse apologies for service gone wrong. And finally, a total disconnect with customer needs and challenges in this country. An apology without insight into corrective action is meaningless.
American companies have this wrong. It is bad business to outsource skills that should be core competencies, and developed in-house. How could any individual in Panama possibly understand the frustrations of being stranded at Newark, courtesy United Airlines?
The representatives are not to blame — that blame rests firmly on the shoulders of corporate decision makers.
When a company chooses to cut costs on the wrong things, they also cut customers. My dollar may not be important to them, but how I spend it is certainly very important to me. When a loyal customer leaves after 20 years, the sign is symptomatic of a larger, deep rooted problem.
Service recovery is one critical key to creating value and building loyalty. Unfortunately, very few companies get it. And then they wonder where did they go wrong.
About Hemant Rustogi