Gold - touch customer service
Globally, cable providers are notoriously hated by customers, and it is no different in Sri Lanka. Like some hotels, the larger cable companies become, the worse off consumers are. Unlike in hotels though, there is too little competition among TV providers. Consequently, with no real choice, many consumers are left stuck with their current provider. Adding to the consumer’s predicament is the fact that dealing with this industry is nearly unavoidable - because at some point in time, there invariably will come that dreaded moment, where customers have to take the plunge and interact with them…and that can be stressful.
A few months back, it became apparent that it was our time to make that dreaded move. This was after my wife and I decided to seriously evaluate the need to stick to the cable TV’s ‘Gold’ (premium) package that we were paying for. Not only had the monthly fee increased over the past two decades to a level that we found was untenable, but also due to the fact that despite the 126 channels at our disposal, over 100 that were streamed were totally uninteresting to us.
It was time therefore, to let go of some content, move to a very basic package and mix it with whatever premium channels of our choice that was available in the ‘Gold’ package. We soon realised that this was not going to work. Although the basic “Pearl’ package cost a third of the ‘Gold’ package monthly rate, it provided 80 channels of which only 10 were interesting. When combined with the monthly fees for the 12 premium channels we wanted, the sum total of both exceeded that of the ‘Gold’ package rate. This somewhat reinforced the claim made by someone that “Cable companies are predatory in their practices and take advantage of consumers' lack of choice.” And so, we were back to square one. Mercifully, we had Netflix to bail us out.
The following month, our cable TV invoice for some inexplicable reason was higher than usual. This necessitated another visit to the TV provider’s showroom where it came to light that the Customer Care Agent (CCA) whom we met previously, had erroneously added the fees for 12 premium channels (those we had ear-marked to add to the ‘Pearl’ package exercise which we abandoned) - thus inflating our monthly ‘Gold’ package rate.
CAA Usman who detected his colleague’s mistake immediately removed the additional charges. Once we enlightened him on how this came to be, he informed us that we could switch to another package identical to the “Gold’ package we were using, for a monthly fee that was 20% less than what we were currently paying. Great news indeed, but wait…things got even better.
Ever since we began using Netflix, our internet usage would exceed the limits most months, leading us to add more data (more than a few times). This occurred fairly often and our end-of-the-month internet bill kept going up. When I explained this to Usman, he informed us of an internet package that we could buy, similar to the tariff we were been charged – but one that provided an additional 33% GB usage, with unutilized GB carried forward the next month.
In hindsight, the mistake made by Usman’s colleague was a blessing in disguise. It paved the way for us to meet Usman who did not target us as just another couple of customers like other customers. He treated us as individuals that were seeking something a package that was relevant to us.
What Usman did was to extend us “Gold-touch Customer Service”. It’s a straightforward, yet magical way to improve the guest experience and is a simple practice that can quickly elevate how customers think of a business and it comes in three varieties:
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, Consultant, Customer Service Trainer and Ex-Hotelier
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