I’ve got cable internet and digital cable through Cox Communications, and so far have been quite happy with it. The internet is always up, super fast and the cable server hardly has any problems. Usually Cox is great when it comes to customer service, they’re always friendly on the phone and quick to answer questions. However, when I called earlier tonight to ask about a CableCard™ for my new Tivo™ the guy I spoke with was a departure from what I’m used to.
Preface the Pitch
If you’re going to pitch me something, the least you can do is make the experience up to the point of the pitch desirable. This customer service tech sounded like he really wanted to go home (it was about 15 minutes till closing time). He had a pretty bad attitude about the call and I was ready to get off the phone with him before he even got to the sales script part.
Relevance Sells
I was calling to ask a technical question about something related to cable television. I was pitched bundled phone service. The thing is, my wife and I live in the year 2008 and having a home phone is useless to us, had we needed a phone line I would have already bundled it. The second problem of this sales call was that I was pitched something that had nothing to do with my original call. A better approach for selling me something I don’t already have would have been to relate the sale with my question about the CableCard™. “Have you considered ordering the premium movie channels? With your new HD Tivo™ and this CableCard™ you’ll be able to record some awesome movies on HBO™ and Showtime™!”
I probably don’t want premium movie channels, or I would have ordered those also, but this sales pitch has such a better chance of being perceived positively by the customer.
- It’s related to what I’m calling about so I’m not thrown for a loop
- I’ve shown that I’m indulging in a Tivo™ over the Cox DVR so I might be likely to splurge a bit more and get some premium HD movie channels
- It shows that this employee is paying attention to what I’m saying and is actively trying to improve my experience with the company
Instead I got some stupid pitch for $2.05/month phone service.
Pretend to Care
At the very least this guy could have pretended to care but instead he made it obvious that he didn’t care (I wouldn’t either) but undoubtedly there is probably some quota or performance review where his manager counts all of the tick marks next to “BUY PHONE SERVICE” and tells him he’s a good person or a worthless POS.
It was obvious that this guy didn’t want to read his script or make his feeble attempt at selling this phone service, somebody told him to and it was clear. The problem is, had he not said anything and just ended the call with “Thanks for calling…” I wouldn’t have thought much of it. But, instead, he had to pitch me the irrelevant service with his bad attitude and I’m not going to forget about it, I’ll probably be on the defensive next time I call, hoping I don’t have to explain to someone that I really don’t want or need a phone.
Who Called Who?
As Seth Godin frequently reminds us, permission is key. By calling Cox Communications I gave them permission to talk to me. I think they’re aware of this since they’ve got it setup where they answer your question and then pitch. Unfortunately they soured it by having returning a bad attitude and irrelevant offering. If you’re going to accept calls from people and you plan to solve their problem AND give them a reason to open their wallet, you can’t half-ass one or the other (or in this case both). If you can’t graciously help people in a positive way, don’t bother asking for a hand out. There is a word for this that people use to describe peers, acquaintances and co-workers who act this way, “asshole”. Don’t be an asshole, seriously.
