The Last Yard: AT&T’s Failure to Fully Satisfy in Spite of A Competition Killing Product
I suspect from the crowd at the Crystal Lake, IL AT&T store on the day after Christmas, that I was not the only person in America that had decided to surprise someone in their family with a new Apple 3G iPhone. While I cannot be certain what it was like at the Verizon store where they do not carry the iPhone, the AT&T location was filled with people seeking to port their numbers and accounts over to this exclusive provider for the iPhone.
Before I get too far, my issue and our learning opportunities come from AT&T’s System for on-boarding new customers with the iPhone. The store team on the ground in Crystal Lake was great throughout the entire process.
My issue is more with AT&T’s seemingly incomplete and poor system (not the store’s) for helping customers ramp up on this season’s ultimate killer product.
Here’s a quick synopsis of what it took.
- I started the process of acquiring a new iPhone for my college-age son a few weeks ago. I use AT&T in my business, but the family was with the other guys. I needed to find out how I could add a phone and deal with the texting, internet and voice needs of a serial texter. I called AT&T and spoke with 2 reps who were completely incapable of confidently telling me what my options were and what the final costs would be to add a second line, switch to family talk and meet my son’s specs for usage. Time investment…approximately one hour and no satisfaction whatsoever.
- I tried the website. Same result…no luck. I defy anyone to pull off this simple transaction using their website. Also, on this prime shopping day during prime daytime hours, the site was down for quite awhile undergoing maintenance. Hmmm. I wonder who scheduled that event?
- I went to the store in Crystal Lake, IL and 45 minutes later I walked out with a new iPhone and Brett’s assurance that I could bring it back after Christmas to port my son’s Verizon number and move all of his contacts. I also had the 800 number for the AT&T porting service in case I wanted to try that on my own. Outstanding! Score one for dealing with real live people face to face.
- Christmas Day…the iPhone was a huge hit and a total surprise. My wife and I had resorted to a little bit of Christmas present cruelty by just mumbling and groaning something about contracts every time my son raised the question of whether there was an iPhone in his future. OK, it was mean, but the kid is tough, the world is not always kind, and it sure heightened his surprise!
- Christmas Day again. I wondered whether AT&T was aggressive enough to have people standing by to help their many, many new customers activate their freshly unwrapped products and start the meter running for billing purposes. No such luck. The recorded message indicated that they were closed for the day. (OK, I feel a bit Scrooge-like here, but if I have a killer product like the iPhone and my success is a function of getting people smiling and dialing or texting as quickly as possible, I might have taken a different path on the holiday.)
- December 26. I power-dialed the 800 number at AT&T, put the speakerphone on and wrote a blog post, answered e-mail and reviewed the latest draft of a presentation. After one hour and twenty minutes of being on-hold, I gave up. The next step was the store.
- We were early, and got right up to the counter. Another helpful Rep efficiently ported over my son’s 245 contacts from the Verizon phone (big score!) and then started the phone number port process. The dedicated line for store reps must have been slammed. He was on hold for 34 minutes before anyone answered. During this time, the store filled, the line grew and everyone was after the same thing. The family next to us had a shopping bag filled with iPhones needing numbers. Before long, every rep in the store was on the phone and customer service ground to a halt.
- Truth be told, once our rep was connected with someone on the AT&T side, the port was carried out smoothly and we were quickly on our way. Probably not a moment too soon, as the people in line were getting a little feisty as the reps continued to be stuck on hold waiting for help.
My Points:
Again, this is not one of those 8 hours on the tarmac with no food or water and the toilets clogged, stories that the airlines are so good at creating. And yet from this experience, I can’t help but think that AT&T doesn’t get it.
- Any opportunity to capture a competitor’s subscribers must be a huge opportunity for the phone companies. There has to be a natural motivation to create happy new customers. All of those Verizon converts are viable prospects for internet, cable and any of the other products that they come up with to slowly bleed consumers dry. The iPhone is the killer-app for converting customers, and its star power may not last forever.
- The iPhone is a resonator…(Tuned In). It is truly a remarkable device that practically sells itself. And while the device offers a remarkable experience (not necessarily for the phone portion), AT&T missed the chapter on creating remarkable customer experiences.
- If you are AT&T, what chucklehead decided that it was OK to staff the call center with a Rep level that had customers waiting for hours on the phone or almost an hour in-store to get their new products up and running? Someone somewhere focused on costs, kept the staff lean and forgot that they were in the business of creating great customer experiences. And oh yeah, I would have had people working on Christmas Day to help satisfy their overwhelming urge to use this great new product.
The Bottom-Line:
Thanks to the team in Crystal Lake for helping us out so effectively, and thanks to Apple for such a great product. As for you AT&T, I can think of other industries and companies that are disappearing because they failed to execute on the last yard. Any leader or any company that is arrogant and complacent about taking care of customers is likely not a good long-term bet. Perhaps they will figure out the “system” to satisfy customers with the next killer product that comes along once in a lifetime.
Tuning In to Leadership (and much more) With A Great New Book
One of the highlights of the past few months has been the opportunity to gain some early insight into the forthcoming new book, Tuned In, by Phil Myers, Craig Stull and David Meerman Scott.
I'm excited about this book on a number of levels. In a pre-release article about the book, Phil, Craig and David make a promise to readers that they will show us an approach to finding "overlooked marketplace problems that, if solved, bring in customers who willingly buy your products and services without being coerced."
From my discussions with Phil and from reading the article and advance materials, I am confident that this promise will be more than kept, offering some much needed guidance for executives and marketers looking to create offerings that resonate with buyers. After 22 years leading high tech marketing teams, I couldn't help but ask myself, "Where was this book was all those years when I needed it?" Well, it's here now, or at least almost here, and marketers everywhere will be well served to read and apply the well-researched and well-developed ideas and approaches in this fascinating and practical new book.
Tuned In presents a six-step process for creating a resonator: "a product or service that so perfectly solves problems for buyers that it sells itself." The examples, approaches and ideas for realizing resonators and for supporting the creation of an organizational culture that institutionalizes the requisite thinking and processes are the heart of the work. The steps: find unresolved problems, understand buyer personas, quantify the impact, create breakthrough experiences, articulate powerful ideas and establish authentic connections offer powerful and practical guidance for marketers and executives everywhere.
Valuable Guidance for Leaders in Tuned In:
We all read and relate to ideas through the filters of our own experiences, and as I've immersed myself in writing, speaking, training and teaching on all things leadership during the past few years, I've started to view the world through the eyes of how great leaders at all levels transform organizations. The Tuned In tagline reads: "Uncover the extraordinary opportunities that lead to business breakthroughs," The breakthrough for me personally from this book is the perhaps unintended but powerful framework that emerges for creating and sustaining the leadership culture necessary to realize a Tuned In organization.
During the research for my book, Practical Lessons in Leadership, my co-author, Rich Petro, and I came away from hundreds of hours of interviews with the perspective that most leaders do not operate with a holistic view of what leadership is supposed to deliver to an organization. Tuned In helps solve that problem by offering clear context for the role and priorities of leaders at all levels as they pursue creating breakthrough experiences for their customers.
The Top Priorities of a Tuned In Leader:
- Creating the environment (atmosphere) necessary for individuals and teams to be comfortable and confident to take the risks and pursue the actions needed to identify and realize offerings that resonate.
- Bringing together individuals and teams with the talents, skills attitudes and sense of adventure needed to succeed as a business that is constantly searching for unresolved problems and applying the discipline needed to turn those into resonators.
- Ensuring that expectations and performance are defined, communicated and measured against customer and market standards, not just internal or competitor standards. Inherent in this activity is establishing a new way of measuring performance that aligns with the Tuned In Process.
- Developing his or her leadership credibility by ensuring that words and actions match and ensuring that associates receive the mentoring, feedback and developmental opportunities needed to grow and to pursue new and greater tasks.
- Constantly searching for, identifying and supporting the development of formal and informal leaders.
- Fostering an environment that encourages action-focused debate at all levels, across all functions up and down the leadership chain.
Armed with these priorities, Tuned In leaders, from the CEO to the front-line managers have a clear view of how they should invest their time and focus their energy. These items define the job descriptions of leaders at all levels and help guide the development of To-Do lists across the organization. There is no wiggle room for misalignment on these activities as an organization seeks to create offerings that resonate and surprise and delight buyers with great experiences.
The Bottom Line for Now:
Phil, Craig and David in Tuned In offer a pragmatic and effective approach for creating and sustaining success, regardless of the size or style of organization. Building on their framework, a Tuned In approach to leadership will help institutionalize the approaches and practices that they advocate.
You can and should read the book for the practical and actionable framework on creating value, but the richest veins of gold here for me are the ideas that the authors prompt for reshaping and invigorating our leadership habits.
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Join me for a webinar on Tuned In Leadership this Friday, June 13th at 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. PDT
Sirius and XM: Does Satellite Radio Resonate?
With thanks to the team of Phil Myers, Craig Stull (Pragmatic Marketing) and David Meerman Scott (Web Ink Now), I'm looking for "Resonators" everywhere I go. And no, "Resonators" are not some new cool gadget, but rather, as defined by the aforementioned authors in their soon to be released book, Tuned In, they are products or services that so perfectly solve problems for buyers that they practically sell themselves. (Full disclosure, I've had a sneak peek at some of the concepts in this great new book, and I am presenting my take on what their book means for leaders in a webinar, entitled: Tuned In Leadership, next Friday, June 13.)
An article in the Wall Street Journal last week entitled "Slowdown Generates Static for XM, Sirius," outlined the challenges that these two (planning to be one) satellite radio companies are having in generating the much needed growth in subscriptions, given a slowing economy and especially, slowing automobile production and purchases (a key source of new subscriptions for both). Now that the companies appear to be moving towards gaining the final OK to merge, they are running into their next hurdle, trying to solve the riddle of profitability by delivering premium content and commercial free music to customers willing to pay. Both organizations have purportedly invested heavily in adding celebrities (e.g. Howard Stern) and major sporting events (NFL, MLB, NASCAR etc.) in an attempt to lure enough subscribers and advertisers and eventually generate profits.
According to the article in the Wall Street Journal, the combined subscriber count for both companies is in the neighborhood of 17.9 million…adding a net total of 3.7 million last year. The article contrasts this with 21 million Ipods sold last year and the fact that 54 million people tune in to internet radio every week. Of course, many more people tune into traditional terrestrial radio—in spite of the mundane and redundant programming and the mindless and endless commercials (this author's opinion).
I have been a subscriber to satellite radio almost since its inception…first XM and now Sirius. I have a subscription in my car, and I have a portable unit that I use in other cars, on my boat or in a boom box when I'm working in the yard. I drive a fair amount, and I love the constant access to CNBC, other news channels and some great talk shows. I also appreciate the opportunity to tune in to commercial free jazz content on the ride home after a day training, teaching or working with a client. I am almost as passionate about my satellite radio as I am about my family's growing number of Apple computers and related products, but I worry a lot about the survival chances for this incredible medium.
I reviewed the afore-mentioned article in a management class of working professionals last week, and the discussion and key points might be germane to the teams at XM/Sirius. In this northwest suburban Chicago class of 15, I was the only subscriber, and while several had heard the names of the companies, there was little perception of what satellite radio is all about. Overall, the class struggled to describe why anyone would pay for radio, although most agreed that the commercial free aspect was nice. After discussing the features and benefits (and pricing model), a few offered that they might pay for Howard Stern or some sports, but overall didn't find the concept of satellite radio solving any real problem or didn't find it exciting and unique enough to place it into the "must have" category. Truthfully, I even let some of my passion for the offering filter through and in spite of this, the reaction to the concept of paying for radio (even premium and commercial free radio) was that it is not doing anything to solve a problem that anyone could identify, although it sounded like a nice luxury. Clearly, satellite radio was not a Resonator with this audience.
The bottom-line for now:
As stated, I'm a big fan. I would be sad to lose my Sirius radio. (It's playing in my office right now as I'm typing this.) However, I've long suspected that this medium has bigger problems than the scrutiny they are receiving over the prospect of merging. The companies (in my opinion) have failed to do what other companies and products like Apple and the Ipod do so well…to create something that is so compelling, that solves such vexing problems or creates such an incredible experience, that large number of buyers cannot live without it. Sirius's new Stiletto 2 combines the best of a portable, Ipod-like device with the ability to play MP3 files, but still total subscriber numbers remain low.
If I'm XM/Sirius, I would be losing more sleep over why people aren't knocking down the proverbial doors to take advantage of their quality offerings. I hope they make it, but if my class is representative of a large part of the potential subscriber base, satellite radio either doesn't resonate, or the companies have failed to communicate the value in a way that resonates. I hope that the management teams are Tuning In.
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