“Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”
- Theodore Roosevelt
Tuesday night TOA Technologies was named No. 1 on Weatherhead 100 List. We were totally excited about being honored with a position at the top of the list of fastest growing companies in NE Ohio and Irad and a tableful of enthusiastic TOA employees were there to show that enthusiasm and accept the award, which was sponsored and presented by none other than Time Warner Cable – the company whose service in New York City lit the spark that became TOA. In his acceptance speech, Irad thanked TWC and mentioned to the 1000 person present at the awards ceremony that Time Warner Cable could still benefit from TOA’s service…and the crowd roared in approval.
Today I’m in NYC to attend a breakfast honoring Susan McLaughlin, our dynamic Vice President of Strategic Sales, who is being recognized as one of the 100 top women in cable tech. What an amazing achievement.
Susan is singlehandedly responsible for helping TOA introduce its service to the US Cable industry – she helped us win some of the biggest and best names in the industry as customers – Cox Communications, Bright House Networks, Suddenlink, Cablevision…and is no where near done. Susan is the best kind of professional: tireless, creative, engaging, always there for you and never willing to give up. She is always ready for another call, for one more trip, for one more strategic conversation into the night about how to move a process forward or dreaming what we can do to help a client. Susan is an indispensable part of TOA’s success.
Susan had just left Charter Communications when Irad and I were introduced to her. It was a true meeting of the minds. Susan ‘got it’ immediately, seeing the potential of what Irad and I had developed and what we had to offer when we were just two guys, a good prototype and computer and nothing else. From that first meeting at a cafe in St. Louis to today – to be named one of the top 100 Women in Cable Tech for her work at TOA by the industry magazine of record – is an amazing accomplishment and an honor that Susan truly deserves.
TOA has been blessed by many highly intelligent, visionary, dedicated and tireless employees who are our collaborators in the grand sense of the word. There focus on innovation and on truly caring about our customers are the secret sauce behind TOA. And I am sure Susan would agree that this honor that is hers today belongs to all of them too.
Congratulations, Susan, we could not have done this without you. Thank You!
Today TOA Technologies released the 2010 Annual Cost of Waiting Survey. It’s a comprehensive look at the effects of the in-home appointment event on consumers and the businesses that serve them.
There are many interesting things that the survey uncovered – and you can access them all here – but I want to focus on one aspect which I think is particularly fascinating and that’s the effects of waiting on brand equity and what is commonly called Net Promoter Score (NPS). In other words, how people answer the question “How likely is it that you would recommend the company to a friend or colleague?”.
What the survey found is that there is a profound negative effect on brand equity when a company shows up just 15 minutes late. That’s all it takes to change the perception of the customer from a 60% satisfaction rate for on time arrival to only 19% satisfied when reps from your company arrive late. Even if you find a way to overcome the issue of momentary dissatisfaction – the real effect on your brand comes when people were asked the NPS question, i.e. the number of people who would recommend a company to their friends plummets when companies are late to arrive. In fact:
58% of respondents said they would recommend a company with an on-time arrival.
However, if the company is just 15 minutes late the number of respondents who said they would recommend the company drops to just 10%.
What does that mean to you?
So much money is spent on acquiring new customers and so much money is spent on creating, maintaining and growing the brand. Yet all of that can go down the drain in one moment: The moment a customer feels disrespected. Especially with the ephemeral issue of time.
I know from my own experience (that instigated the creation of TOA) - when my time is taken for granted, whether it’s waiting on the phone for more than 3 minutes for a customer service rep to answer or waiting at home for hours for an installation, service or delivery appointment – I am unforgiving in my reaction. And I based on the survey results so are the majority of other consumers. And unforgiving means that these consumers will ultimately leave you when they find the first viable alternative. Even if that is not immediately – they will ultimately leave.
And not only will they leave – they will tell everyone about it. And THAT is the biggest problem of all – because telling people that the virus, and it’s contagious – especially in today’s social media driven world where every consumer has a voice. The consumer is your ultimate marketing machine and they can either work for you or against you. Not only will they take their business elsewhere and but they will spread the word and take many others with them.
What’s clear is that adhering to some very simple ideas and a relatively humble investment, can help keep a lot of customers loyal and help you assure a lot of future revenue for the long term. All you need is make sure that you are focusing on what is most important to your customers – their time and their dignity – and you can win.
This Cnet article highlights the very clear parallels between the collapse of Blockbuster (over the last 10+ years) during the rise of Netflix and the Cable industry’s response to the rise of what is called ‘Over the Top’ – people who watch video content over the Internet without a cable subscription for video.
Changes in the technology world are pretty amazing to watch. They are truly like a tidal wave. They start small and seem very distant and minute – but they gather strength and power quickly and suddenly what seemed like an innocuous tiny wave on the far horizon to a person standing on the shore looking out – turns out to be a humongous monster wave that overruns the beaches of the status quo and leaves the landscape redrawn, redefined in its wake.
It happened when the Internet to swallow up traditional businesses like travel agencies, brokerages, books and music sellers (Dean Witter, Barnes and Noble, Tower Records, Virgin and HMV… where are they?). It happened to Microsoft and Yahoo! when out of nowhere Google emerged and took over the leadership in technology and it’s happening now. Yes, we are witnessing a tidal wave like that now – with the emergence of Apple and Google’s IOS and Android and the revolution of the mobile internet and its devices – and the water has not receded yet, so we don’t know what they landscape will look like after it does… but clearly… nothing in the world of human communications technology and computing devices, and actually nothing in basic human interaction will be quite the same as it was pre- January 9, 2007.
(I will be publishing two separate blog entries on this subject of the IOS/Android juggernaut, one by me and one by Irad soon, so stay tuned).
The rise of ‘Over the Top’ - which uses a broadband connection rather than the existing cable systems to view video content – has been long feared in the cable business. But now it’s a reality and gathering steam – a veritable tidal wave on the horizon that still looks small – but as it gets closer it does have the potential to permanently change the media delivery landscape. I believe that it’s not too late for the cable companies to avoid the Blockbuster Collapse Syndrome described in the Cnet article – but cable companies will need to focus their energy on rapidly pursuing change by doing three things to keep their business relevant for the long long term (cause no one thinks they will be disappearing tomorrow… but what about the day after tomorrow???):
1) Abandoning the addiction to the bundle. This has always been a sore point with consumers – especially those who know that they can get a lot of what they need elsewhere and on-demand. The model from time immemorial has indeed been bundled content. But a lot of consumers truly dislike this model and will abandon it to pay less for ‘less’ content (the ‘less’ being facetious because most of the ‘more’ that people have they don’t actually consume – most people watch only a few channels regularly). The younger generations of video consumers (those under 30…I mean) will be the hardest to acquire to the ‘old way’ and unbundling content could go a long way to helping them get over the hump of skepticism about that model. Unbundling content, offering it a la carte and doing so FAST – will convince consumers that the cable cos. actually understand what is going on and are not burying their head in the sand of current fees.
2) Drastically reducing fees. There ARE ways to get content for less… and if Net Neutrality holds – then there will be more ways to get content for free or, at least, for less. What this means to a whole generation of people growing up on the Net (those under 30-somethings mentioned above) – and those that are avid and proficient Net users (who didn’t fully grow up on the Net but use it like they did – meaning above 30 and below 60) what this means to them is that they don’t see any reason to pay more for less content. And this group is not small (it’s a prime demographic) and the phenomenon is not a trickle – it’s a major and growing trend and like cord-cutters to the wireline world – these people will discover they can live without paying exorbitant fees and will never come back. Reduction of fees, along with unbundled content a la carte, will alleviate a lot of the pressure that most consumers have to find alternatives.
3) Dramatically improving customer service and enhancing the customer experience. For too long, consumers have had the short end of the stick because the companies providing them cable content were basically monopolies. That is no longer the case – we all know – consumers have choice. One of the most annoying aspects of the relationship with the CCs is the in-home appointment – still one of the most reviled consumer events in America. Until all the cable and broadband companies wake up to the fact that they have to make the installation, repair and upgrading of service dramatically less painful to customers – people will look for, and find, a way to cut their cord. The alternative being Satellite (which needs less maintenance) + Wireless 4G Data (which needs none).
It’s amazing how fast technology (and the companies who deliver it) becomes obsolete. It’s scary to watch a tidal of change just wash over the current familiar ways. But change is accelerating. And sometimes the writing, clearly on the wall and well in time to do something about it, is a blessing – it’s probably a good idea not wait too long to read it and take action.
“Besides perhaps a root canal or a tax audit, few things can be more frustrating than making an appointment to have a cable technician visit your home. You’re given a four-hour window and find yourself waiting and waiting, with no idea when the technician will arrive. Inevitably, it seems, he does not show up until just before the window expires. Or, despite the four-hour time frame, he arrives late.”
- “Cable Contract Has Fines for Late Service”, Fernanda Santos, New York Times, September 14th, 2010
In honor of TOA’s 7th birthday last week – The New York Times reported eloquently that the City of New York (the place where the idea for TOA was actually born) gave its citizens a long needed present by officially recognizing “The Cable Guy Problem” and codifying into law that cable companies have to provide a Time of Arrival (TOA) and then need to arrive on time or face a serious penalty (losing a month’s subscriber fees).
As all those who read this blog know – TOA Technologies, my company, has made it its mission to solve this problem : i.e. the problem of customers stranded at home, frustrated, waiting without knowing when, or even if, the cable technician will arrive. TOA’s advanced technology solution helps our clients manage customer appointments and the technicians in the field serving those customers with one goal in mind – to make sure that customers’ time is respected and customers’ needs and preferences come first. Our patented solution has been adopted by many companies around the country and the world to specifically address the problem (including some in the NY Tri-State area).
Irad Carmi (my partner) and I recognized years ago that this problem was not ‘just another customer service annoyance’ but rather a greater sociological, economic issue that reflects a deep systemic operational problem that most service providers who run a mobile workforce have ignored. It is ingrained in their legacy systems and processes and based on just plain taking the customer and their time for granted. But it ultimately ends up backfiring and producing a lot of inefficiency along the way.
This problem isn’t trivial because it ends up costing many millions of people, the customers waiting at home, a lot of their precious time, their hard earned money, vacation time, their freedom, etc. It produces aggravation, at the least and, many times, even animosity towards these service providers and their employees. It also actually costs these companies their brand equity, the goodwill of their customers and a lot of wasted revenue money lost on missed appointments, unproductive technician time, unnecessary calls to the call center and, most of all, the ultimate price: customers leaving them when better service is offered by someone else.
[In fact, TOA just completed its annual Cost of Waiting Survey, which we will publish shortly and which I will be blogging about. This survey examines this very issue and its economic and social effects in three countries (US, UK and Germany), and the results are incredibly interesting, so stay tuned].
TOA has been blessed by many visionary clients who ‘got it’. They are the trailblazers, the early adopters, who gave us a chance at every point along the way, and who like us, just could not sit around and see their companies waste tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, of dollars AND not provide great service to their customers.
There are always visionaries in every company. But all it takes is one person. One person, I know, can change a culture, a company, the world entire. And we have met many of these. These visionary leaders know that they had to make a change and they were and are willing to fight for that change themselves, against the machinations of their organizations. They do this because they know that they are right. They know that there is a better way – and using a cross section of technology and mind to transform the customer appointment experience (using TOA, of course) – and they KNOW: if it is there, then they have to make a better experience available to their customers. It takes a lot to make change in big companies, but there are always people who do.
We are grateful to them (and you know who you are…) for standing up to the status quo and for giving us a great opportunity to (in our small way) help make life better for your customers in many places around the country and the world. So it is to these leaders that I am dedicating this post, and about them that I am actually writing the response to the NY Times article AND today’s editorial about this issues (yes, the Times wrote an editorial about this). Because these clients of ours did not need legislation to choose positive change for their companies and their customers.
We have a lot more companies and many more leaders to convince that we have THE solution for them. But with the help of my great team and the help of our fantastic set of current bold visionary clients (who all become evangelists too…) I know that we will.
"It's About Time" is the blog of TOA Technologies CEO Yuval Brisker. It offers Yuval's thoughts on customer service, customer experience management, mobile workforce management, software and technology, and other musings of a technology company leader
