Multichannel delivery and customer loyalty

Yes, we have all heard how important multichannel delivery is too many organisations these days.  This is the ability to be able to deliver your goods and/or services via a variety of mechanisms (face to face, via the telephone, online etc) and to do so consistently.  It is something that has been discussed ad infinitum which makes it even more frustrating when companies still get it wrong.  Here's my ancedote from last week.....

My car insurance was due for renewal.  I took out a policy many moons ago with DirectLine.  The intial insurance was taken out online and each year they send me a renewal notice in the post before it expires.  This year's renewal notice arrived a couple of weeks ago.  All I have to do is ring up and agree the renewal, provide payment details and I am all done.  So far, so good.  However, this year I thought I would check the renewal amount (the one in the letter they sent me) with their website. Just for fun. Guess what!  The online quote was over a £100 cheaper than the renewal notice.  This can't be right, I thought.

When I rang up to point this out, I was put through to the customer loyalty department and they matched the online price.  Apparently, there is an online "discount".

How can this possibly make sense? This episode really underlines how important it is to get multichannel delivery right.  This episode was not about MONEY, it was about TRUST (my trust in DirectLine) and customer loyalty.  As a loyal customer (yes, I have been with them for many years), my reward was an over inflated insurance premium (one that was higher than the online equivalent).  Surely as a loyal cusomter, I deserve the best quote not just one that they think they can get away with.  I can't help feeling let down.  It is almost as if the company is spending all of it's time trying to attract new customers while failing to look after it's existing customers.

All I want is to be treated as a loyal customer.  If you give me your best deal, I will give you my business.  If you give your best deals to your least loyal customers (i.e. those who give their business to others currently), your most loyal customers will reward you - by moving their business elsewhere!

HTC Snap review

I have just replaced my HTC Touch Diamond with a HTC Snap.  I have been using a Touch Diamond for over a year and haven't really been that pleased with it.  Looking back on the review I wrote on it over a year ago, I can see that my initial impressions weren't far off the mark.

My initial impressions with the HTC Snap couldn't be more different.  The unit boots up quickly and is very responsive to use.  I love the QWERTY keyboard - I have had Blackberrys in my work life on a couple of occasions and this is about as close to a Blackberry as you are going to get for a Windows Mobile (6.1) device.  However, the keys are still a little close together for me, but it is still pretty good.  Even some of the Blackberry like UI features (e.g. inserting a capital letter after a fullstop) are present.  About time!

The battery life seems pretty good for a 3G device and in normal use I find it will go 3 days between charges.  Obviously battery life depends on usage, so your mileage may vary.  The GPS works well with Google maps (preinstalled on the device) and if you are a big Facebook user, I recommend downloading the Windows Mobile version (you will find it here).

The overall build quality is great- it feels robust and the matt black finish works really well.  The screen is bright and clear (if a little small compared to some other devices these days).  It locks/unlocks very easily and considerable thought seems to have gone into the UI to make it even more usable.  Somehow all the features that you need are right at your finger tips.  The email was easier to set up and internet connectivity was a breeze. 

I did have a HTC S620 which was the 2G predessor to this device.  I loved it, but unfortunately it had an accident (let's just say it suffered severe water ingress!).  This is a great replacement for the S620 and I feel relieved now that I have retired my Touch Diamond.

Marc Salem Video

I loved this video on Non Verbal Communication from Marc Salem. Very entertaining.

Marc Salem at Gel 2006 from Gel Conference on Vimeo.

Danny Meyer

Hospitality is the key element of success, argues New York restaurateur Danny Meyer. This is a really interesting video of Danny presenting at GEL earlier this year. You will find the presentation here.

He should know: his restaurants are consistently the highest-ranked in Zagat's New York survey. Go to Union Square Cafe, Gramercy Tavern, Shake Shack, or any of Danny's other restaurants and you'll have an opportunity to see how hospitality forms a good experience.

O2's 21202 service

Do you never use up all your monthly mobile minutes and text messages? Well on the O2 network, if you text a blank message to 21202, you will get a return text message with the current minutes and text messages left for this month.

I am surprised that it has taken this long to provide such a feature. From an end user's perspective, it is very useful to know exactly how many minutes/texts you have left. But from an operator's perspective, it also makes sense. OK, you may think that the operators would prefer to see as many unused minutes per month as possible (since users are paying for a service that they then don't need to provide), but giving customers this information we tend to drive traffic onto their network and away from the alternatives. If you can get customers to use their mobile in preference to a landline (or another mobile operator for that matter), then that is a result.

Either way, nice one O2.