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.