So, I have the phone now. I’m still with Vodafone. I’m a no longer irately angry customer. I’m not a happy one. It will be sometime before I am that. I may still move my landline business just to make a point.
But my experience in getting the phone sums up the difference between the CRM success of the Vodafone retail store and the CRM insanity of the Vodafone Retail policy.
No Sims at the Inn
It turned out that though they had a phone in stock they didn’t have microsims in stock in the shop. Not a show stopper. The manager went to Carphone Warehouse and got one from them for me while his team sorted the phone out and upsold me a case.
What a clever win. Very little effort for him to do so. Kept me in store longer. I will buy from them again soon (I need a bluetooth kit for the baby-carrier car). I will tell the story of how they didn’t let a stock issue prevent them from satisfying a customer.
A1 service. It counterbalances my experience on Friday when they told me they had no phones (now I know they were acting under orders).
Tweet happens
Having had no satisfaction over the last few weeks with Vodafone on the phone (or for that matter in store), it took posts on twitter to get the issue resolved. And it was resolved fast. Less than 3 hours later I have the phone that 4 hours ago I believed I was not going to be able to get.
So, Tweet happens.
But it shouldn’t. It shouldn’t take an angry customer writing an analytical breakdown of their customer value and posting it to twitter (and Facebook) to get action. That is just wrong as it requires the customer to push for what they are entitled to, and it means that the loudest shoutiest customer gets things done.
A better way?
As I stood in the Vodafone store today I noticed how they are doing lots of product pricing offers for customers of both mobile and fixed line business. They should perhaps consider using that as a criteria for rationing phones where supply issues exist. If you are a customer of both, you get preferential treatment for stock. Because you are WORTH more. A customer of the mid-tier Perfect Choice Access package for mobile and a moderate broadband package is worth the better part of €2000 a year to Vodafone just in line rental and connection. They should take preference over virtual customers with an unquantified value.
That’s just a thought.