#customerretention — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #customerretention, aggregated by home.social.
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How Can Content Marketing Help a Business Grow Without Spending a Fortune on Advertising?
Advertising can produce results quickly.Pay for an advert, attract visitors, and hopefully generate sales.The challenge is that the moment you stop paying, the traffic often disappears.Content marketing works differently.Instead of renting attention, you build assets that continue attracting people long after they have been published.This raises an important question.How can content marketing help a business grow without spending a fortune on advertising?The answer begins with trust.People […] -
Why Do So Many Small Businesses Fail Within Their First Five Years?
Every year, thousands of people decide to start a business.Some dream of becoming their own boss.Others want more financial freedom or the opportunity to build something meaningful.Starting a business has never been more accessible, yet many businesses close within their first few years.This naturally leads to an important question.Why do so many small businesses fail within their first five years?One of the biggest reasons is that many businesses begin without solving a real problem.A clever […] -
How Do You Build a Newsletter Business That People Actually Pay For?
Newsletters have become one of the most powerful business models on the internet.While social media platforms continue changing algorithms and reducing organic reach, email remains one of the few channels that businesses truly own.Every subscriber represents a direct connection.No algorithm.No platform dependency.No middleman.This raises an important question.How do you build a newsletter business that people actually pay for?The first step is understanding that people do not subscribe to […] -
How Do You Build an Online Education Business That Scales?
Education has always been one of the most valuable industries in the world.People constantly invest in learning new skills, improving their careers, starting businesses, understanding technology, and developing personally.The internet has made education more accessible than ever before.Today, a single educator can teach thousands of students across the world without opening a physical classroom.This raises an important question.How do you build an online education business that scales?The […] -
How Do You Build an Ecommerce Business That Keeps Customers Coming Back?
Starting an ecommerce business has never been easier.Launching a store can now take hours instead of months. Entrepreneurs have access to powerful website builders, online payment systems, print-on-demand suppliers, digital product platforms, and global shipping networks.The challenge is no longer opening a store.The challenge is building a business that customers return to again and again.This raises an important question.How do you build an ecommerce business that keeps customers coming […] -
How Do You Build a SaaS Business That Generates Monthly Recurring Revenue?
Software as a Service, commonly known as SaaS, has become one of the most attractive business models in the modern economy.Instead of selling software once, SaaS businesses generate recurring monthly or annual subscriptions while continuously improving their products for customers.This creates predictable revenue, stronger customer relationships, and significant long-term growth opportunities.It also raises an important question.How do you build a SaaS business that generates monthly […] -
How Do You Build an Online Course Business That Lasts?
The online education industry has grown dramatically over the past decade.People are learning new skills online every day. Entrepreneurs study marketing. Designers improve their creative abilities. Developers learn programming languages. Business owners explore artificial intelligence, leadership, and productivity without ever entering a classroom.This demand has created an exciting opportunity.Knowledge itself has become a business.That raises an important question.How do you build an online […] -
How Do You Build a Newsletter Business That Generates Recurring Revenue?
Email has existed for decades.Despite the rise of social media, video platforms, podcasts, and artificial intelligence, email remains one of the most effective ways to build lasting relationships with an audience.Many of today's fastest-growing businesses rely on newsletters to educate customers, share updates, promote products, and generate recurring revenue.This has led many entrepreneurs to ask an important question.How do you build a newsletter business that generates recurring […] -
How Do You Build a Membership Business From Scratch?
Membership businesses have become one of the most attractive online business models in recent years.Instead of relying on one-time purchases, membership businesses generate recurring revenue by providing ongoing value to members. This creates greater financial stability while allowing entrepreneurs to build stronger relationships with their audiences.From education platforms and private communities to exclusive resources and professional networks, membership businesses now exist in almost […] -
Why Are Communities Becoming More Valuable Than Audiences?
For many years, building an audience was considered one of the most important goals in business.The logic was simple.More followers meant more visibility.More visibility meant more opportunities.More opportunities meant more growth.This approach helped countless creators, entrepreneurs, and businesses build successful brands online.Today, however, another trend is emerging.Communities are becoming increasingly valuable.Many business owners are discovering that a smaller, highly engaged […] -
This phone call could have been a form on a site
My research for the latest update to Wirecutter’s guide to WiFi hotspots technically concluded in December, but this week treated me to an annoying but useful sequel to that work: canceling service on the AT&T hotspot I’d bought (with later reimbursement) after my editors and I got tired of trying to pry a loaner hotspot out of the PR departments of that carrier or the hotspot vendor Franklin Wireless.
I should have known that AT&T’s site wouldn’t let me end service on the hotspot. I should have known that calling to accomplish this task would take longer than I’d predict or like. I should have known it would take more than one call. And yet…
I gave myself a few days to recover from CES to try to get this over with, then called 800-331-0500 (saved you a search!), entered my account number and PIN as asked by the IVR system, and was greeted with a suggestion that I request a callback instead of staying on hold.
Fine, I thought, even if that meant I’d have to pay attention to the next incoming call instead of letting it go to voicemail. The call back came at about the predicted time, I told the rep my name and account number, she said she was going to verify my account–as in, the thing that AT&T’s site does when I log into my account–and then silence ensued. After 10 minutes, I gave up and decided to try again later that evening.
My second call led to the same automated gatekeeping–say my account number, enter my PIN, etc. (FYI: If you don’t remember your PIN, AT&T will text a temporary one to you, which is not such a great experience when the wireless device in question is a hotspot that may require you to log into its admin page in the browser of a tethered device to see that message.) This time, I decided to stay on hold to see how long I might wait to have a human rep pick up.
Forty-two minutes later, one did. After she asked for my account details like the previous rep, we got stuck in a loop when she asked for my number to confirm my account. I thought she meant the contact phone number saved in my account, but she was looking for the phone number of the hotspot. That’s a meaningless data point for that category of device, but I can see a wireless carrier assuming that a customer will have a phone with a number they can recite from memory.
Six minutes later, we had that squared away–but not the canceling-service part. The rep had to check something else that wasn’t clear to me, four minutes of silence ensued, and then she returned to ask if I had any other accounts with AT&T. After I said no, she said she was escalating my request–as if I was making an unusual demand instead of trying to conduct a routine business transaction.
As politely as I could, I told the rep that we could skip the customer-retention part because I had only bought the hotspot for a work project that was now done, and that she had zero chance at selling me on anything else. She informed me that canceling service would result in my account being closed; I said that would be fine. A few more minutes of back-and-forth later, she said she had processed my request.
Time elapsed for that call: 1:02:37. That’s an absurd waste of time to inflict a customer experience that will only make the customers in question want to avoid the company in question from now on. And it is not inevitable, because streaming video services make pausing or canceling service a simple online process.
I’m left with two questions. One is whether AT&T is actually no worse than other wireless carriers–have I only managed to avoid similiar experiences by not having switched wireless carriers on my own dime since 2013? The other is whether my AT&T hotspot line actually is closed after all that phone time. As in, since I have yet to get an e-mail confirmation of that and see no indication of it when I log into my account, will I need to visit an AT&T store to drive a stake through the heart of this account?
#ATT #CRM #customerExperience #customerRelationshipManagement #customerRetention #cx #hotspot #onHold #WiFiHotspot #Wirecutter