Brand management - who's stolen your brand?


		home > viewpoint Who's stolen your brand? Recently I contacted a 'world renowned' company - a specialist in CRM - in response to a letter - let's call them Company X. Sadly, my contact 'had left the company'. But, I explained who I was, why I was calling, and was dutifully given a number to call. And here's the first surprise - I had been directed to a call centre - a different company, Company Y - not the one I had originally called. After some confusion, I decided to persevere. Getting beyond the proverbial 'button pushing' I finally spoke to a person - "welcome to Company Y - do you have your reference number?" "No, do I need one?", I asked. Her stilted response to my first question was not a good sign! I explained who I was trying to contact and why. "Just a moment sir". Lift music arrived and I waited. Eventually, a response; "Who were you trying to reach?" I explained again. Then, finally an answer, my details would be passed to someone who could help and Company X would contact me later that day. Surprise, surprise no contact at all. Everyone has a 'horror story' about call centres. And while these are unfortunately all too common, there are more important issues here. Outsourcing 'customer contact' was a deliberate strategy by Company X - but what about its brand? Firstly, good customer relationships are responsive - anticipating, listening and responding to customers - doing what you say, when you say it. Secondly, there needs to be continuity of operations between channels - not true in this case. But, beyond this the brand changed, the sentiment changed and there was a lack of insight and understanding. I was being managed badly by another company - a different brand. Clearly, Company Y was unimpressive. But, company X demonstrated a lack of governance leading to potential brand damage - and who cared? Ť back home next ť		Viewpoint: Why use us? Who needs CRM? Who's stolen your brand? Forget relationships! Customer benefit? Ť home
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