My year long tantrum started when I received a R120,000 (about $16,000) utility bill from my local municipality for water and electricity consumption, of which water constituted 95% of the bill. Now this would not have been that unusual or surprising if I happened to be "running a small bottling plant in my backyard and I was illegally distributing my own private label mineral water" as suggested by a rather unhelpful and rude customer service agent!
However, since I am not the type of character that would perpetrate such a crime, and the fact that I don't spend 4 hours a day in the shower trying to perfect my Pop Idol audition song, then this clearly had to be a billing error that could be resolved with a quick phone call or
email. No problem! Right?
Now before I continue my rant, I never had any preconceived idea that I would have a direct line into the Mayor's office, but I did have an expectation to be able to communicate with someone.... anyone. Boy was I in for a rude awakening!
So where did it all go wrong?
Well unbeknown to me at the time, I actually had a burst underground water pipe. So the first month of "unusual" consumption they simply stopped communicating with me! No statements for 6 months. No alerts to say that an abnormal consumption reading was taken. No payment reminders. No letters of demand.
I'm surprised that they never even attempted to communicate with me by cutting off my lights and water supply – I think I might have got the message then don't you think? No, rather let my account build up to R120,000 and then switch on my statements after 6 months so I can
experience the pleasure of a mild heart attack. Not cool!
So naturally the thing for me to do was to resolve this error as quickly as possible, and herein lay my second problem. Trying to communicate with the municipality!
- Using the Call Centre number advertised on the website – couldn't get through... ever!
- I sent numerous emails to a designated customer service address – no response in 9 months... and counting.
- No other communication channels were available to me like a web form or even a fax number
- My last resort, a visit to the Customer Service centre, not very convenient in the high tech digital age if you ask me.
The good news however is that, I eventually managed to resolve the matter by making contact with the water supplier directly. Who after investigation detected the leak, and duly admitted fault on behalf of the Municipality. They subsequently wrote off the R120,000 charge for
actual consumption, which could have been avoided and rectified if they had only communicated with me from the beginning.
The following questions have to be asked: Why? Why stop communicating with me in the first place? Why was the process so difficult? Why was it up to me to navigate through a maze of
communication channels, departments and companies to have my query resolved?
The fact remains - I don't have a relationship with the water supplier, I have a relationship with the municipality – I consume their products and services, they invoice me, I pay them, therefore I want to be able to communicate directly with them via all possible channels, and
I also want to be communicated to, when the need arises. Simple as that!
The lesson of this experience is this:
Companies run the risk of suffering irreparable damage to their brand and/or significant financial losses if they do not invest in sound direct customer lifecycle communication strategies . They spend fortunes on their Brand Image or Brand Promise which is perpetuated in various forms of glitzy advertising media and platforms at considerable expense.
Yet, when it comes to Brand Action (how the brand actually delivers on its promise), they fail dismally, because they are unable to facilitate and engage directly with their customers when their customers want or expect to have a direct conversation with them. It is a huge #BrandFail if you ask me.
Therefore, the importance of implementing customer communication strategies (including response mechanisms) cannot be overemphasised enough. There are so few companies out there that are doing it, if at all. And with so many good multi-channel eMessaging technology platforms
available to help manage the communication lifecycle, there are simply no excuses for companies, or municipalities for that matter, to not be communicating with you during your tenure as a customer.
Note: Look out for more in-depth analysis on Customer Lifecycle Management in our upcoming posts
Haydn James
Head of eMarketing
www.striata.com
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