The pointless gift that says so much

A call from BT:

"We've reviewed your account and you are paying £4 a month too much for your phone and broadband service. For the next 12 months we'd like to reduce your monthly charge. And to thank you for your loyalty we'll send you a BT Vision box. Is that OK with you?"

"Let me just check what you are offering: I commit to a 12 month contract and in return get a £4 a month reduction in my bill, and a BT Vision box. No other commitment. Is that correct?"

"Yes, Mr Hancock, that's absolutely correct".
 
"Sounds great, but I already have Sky so don't want BT Vision. Can you reduce my bill but not send me the box?"

You know how the story ends. I can have the price reduction only if I agree to take delivery of the box. I now have a BT Vision box that I will never use, to accompany the BT Home Hub wireless router that I was sent when I moved house, and that I also don't use. 

BT clearly is concerned about customer retention, and has come up with a deal to entice people to stay. But it commits the cardinal sin of customer management: focusing on the product and not on the customer. The message they intended to convey was "we care about your business". What they actually have communicated is "we aren't listening to you, and we don't care about the unnecessary impact of our activities on the environment".

All my experience tells me that if you focus only on the outcome - in this case increased customer retention - you will achieve less than if you focus on being the best at what you do. Rather than dumping unwanted boxes on its customers to lock them in for 12 months, if BT were to focus on finding out what they would value, meeting their needs and taking greater responsibility for its impact on the environment, it would surely see a more positive impact on customer retention - and on customers' perception of the BT brand.

The brand that can afford to ignore customer loyalty

It should be one of the most exciting purchases in your life. Deciding what to buy, working out what you can afford, prioritising, selecting your options, planning for the delivery date. Then there's the question of finance packages. And after-sales service. Sometimes, though, it's more stressful than exciting, which really shouldn't be the case. After all, for many of us, it's the second largest investment we'll ever make, after buying a house. I've just been through the process:

I've always been something of a mainstream buyer, but this was heralded as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, with very limited availability. This was the deal: once I had worked out what I wanted, I was to submit an application. I would be told whether I had been successful and, if so, exactly what had been allocated to me (they were available in just three metallic colours) and where I could take delivery (distribution centres were being set up in various locations, mainly in the South of England, but also in places such as Manchester and Newcastle). But the supplier would take my payment before telling me what I would take delivery of, and where. My head told me I was being taken for a ride, but at this point I was so caught up in the hype that I went through with the deal. I had my heart set on the gold one: 0 - 100 in 9.6 seconds, with awesome styling. But in the end they told me I hadn't been allocated anything, although I can apply again for one of the lesser-known versions that no-one else wants. And to do that I have to join an online stampede at 6 a.m. this Friday.

I feel let down. I won't be buying from them again. No business can afford to treat its customers this badly and expect to survive. We all know that customer loyalty is critical to long-term business success. Unless you are a unique business that doesn't expect to be around beyond next year, and doesn't need to concern itself with issues such as reputation, advocacy and customer retention. And I can think of only one of them. I've heard they'll be out of business by the end of August next year. Here's a picture of the salesman who got me hooked.