Customer obsession

Everyone has a list of favorite "not-to-be believed" expressions. Some of the more famous are: "We're from the government, we're here to help;" "The Ferrari is in the driveway;" and the always popular, "The check is in the mail." These all resonate in the popular culture based on peoples' experience. We all know not to expect execution behind certain promises. In marketing communications jargon this is known as having "a proof point deficiency." Telecom vendors, take notes.

Virtually all information industry vendors, and the telecom sector in particular, are busy using terms such as "customer-centric" and "customer focused" to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Attend any industry seminar, read any annual report, or browse any Web site if you have doubts. The 1980s and early 1990s emphasis on "building shareholder value," stressing the importance of "our people" (downsizing killed this one), and touting technologic prowess have all taken a back seat to having a "customer obsession." The problem is that saying you are customer focused and being customer focused are part of a growing disconnect between vendors and their markets. This disconnect is at the root of one of the biggest information industry trends, accelerating customer disloyalty.

Not long ago, I was asked to help a company come up with a convincing way for it to proclaim sector leadership in "customer caring." The audience was to be several hundred of the company's best customers during an executive road show. I said that a simple show of hands from the audience-as to whether they believed this vendor was the best in class at listening to customer concerns and then expeditiously acting on them-would suffice. The point, seemingly lost on most information industry vendors, is that only customers can say that a vendor is customer focused. Repeat that three times.

The computer industry thinks that merely broadcasting the availability of "24 x 7" staffing of their customer service lines makes them customer obsessed. Not so. The communal experience with computer vendor support-if you reach the vendor and not an outsourced help desk-has been less than desirable. It is also extremely expensive and time consuming.

Vendors like to stress the fact that they are more customer-centric than their competitors. I am also urged to stress this with the press when they ask my opinion on what makes company X different, and with customers when I make presentations. In other words, I am an important "customer" of a vendor's marketing communications apparatus.

A large vendor recently invited me to two separate three-day "analyst events" for two of its business units. The events were scheduled roughly four weeks apart. Given that this is the busiest trade show and product announcement time of the year, their scheduling could have been better. Nevertheless, I committed to go. Shortly after, another business unit of this same company called to request my presence on a conference call on an important Internet announcement for the exact time I would be traveling in the air.

Wondering if the right hand knew what the left was doing, I called the vendor about the conflict. The voice mail I got back stated, "We were not aware of the conflict; thank you for telling us about it. Unfortunately, we cannot change our plans since product announcements and analyst events are driven by the availability of our executives. Would you like us to send you the material?" If there is anyone out there who believes this is the proper response, please e-mail me at the below address-we need to talk so I can recommend where you can get help.

There certainly are worse things in life than being courted by vendors. The problem is, what am I supposed to think, given the lack of thought that went into consideration of the way in which I conduct my business, when the "big message" this vendor wants to impress upon me is that it is the most customer-focused company in the sector? The next time this vendor wants to cite me in a press release praising it as the industry leader in customer care, my response will be, "The quote is in the mail.

Peter Bernstein is President of infonautics Consulting Inc., Ramsey, N.J. His e-mail address is 714-9256@mcimail.com.