My daughter’s phone stopped working (at least that’s what she told us) and we decided to get her a new smartphone for her birthday. The problem was that the contract ran until August, which meant we would have to pay full price for the handset.
According to the customer service agent, since my daughter’s phone is on my wife’s plan – and my wife was eligible for an upgrade – we could apply the upgrade to my daughter’s account. In order to avoid a $20 charge to transfer the upgrade, I needed to complete the transaction online by first registering the account. A relatively simple task of inputting basic account information became a complex headache. The information I was inputting didn’t match existing information that the wireless providers had on file and the customer service rep couldn’t tell me what was incorrect. Frustrated and irritated by what should have been a quick transaction, I was now headed for a local retail location (sales channel #3 if you’re keeping track).
I explained my situation to the store associate who said I could only get the upgrade by going online, so off to the in-store kiosk we went. She figured out the registration issue, but then ran into another problem trying to use the upgrade promotion. That prompted a call to telesales and another in-store sales associate who overheard the conversation to join in.
All three sales channels were now all involved with an existing customer’s “rebuy” transaction; a textbook example of “channel stacking.” Two retail reps, a telesales rep, and the web working on converting an “upgrade” that was intended to be a web transaction completed by the customer. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the fact that they are putting the customer first and saved me the $20 fee, plus another $50 rebate on the phone (which was another promotion that complicated the deal), but this is the kind of situation that makes a CFO’s head spin.
A multi-channel sales model is essential in today’s environment, both for businesses and consumers. The problem in this situation was that the offer did not fit the channel. And this is a critical point for effectively and efficiently managing a multi-channel approach.
The promotion upgrade, phone rebate and price were available only as online offers. And that’s fine, unique offers aligned to single channels entice customers to use them. The offers on there own were simple but when combined they became too complex for the channel that carried them. When that happens customers will cross channels when given the opportunity.
To effectively use a multi-channel sales model you must:
- Align the product, offer and/or both to fit the channel - In the case of the web that means simplifying them. The web is intended to be a self-directed user channel. If you can’t simplify the product or offer, then it’s the wrong channel.
- Map the customer buying process – learn, shop, buy and support. This will help define the user experience, which will be helpful for the next step.
- Anticipate user issues - add coaching points and/or use existing customer information to auto-populate fields. This will require testing...it's worth it.
