You may have heard about the newly infamous recording of an AOL customer trying to cancel his account, and how AOL refused to honor his request. Instead, the telephone support person did an interrogation (and I choose that word very carefully...it is incredible to listen to) and basically refused to cancel the account.
You can listen to the actual call here, and read the news coverage here. You really, really need to listen to it. It's incredible.
More has surfaced about AOL's sales practices since the recording became news a few days ago. AOL actually has a department that is in charge of "saving" accounts who want to cancel. And, they pay bonuses for saving or upgrading those accounts that are wanting to cancel. And nobody blames a company for making one last ditch attempt at saving a customer - bravo for AOL in that regards. But what happens to this AOL customer (and others, come to find out) is ridiculous. AOL is in the middle of a public relations and sales nightmare, thanks to this customer service representative and their corporate policies.
My sales lessons for sales professionals and businesses:
- As I've said before, everyone in your organization is in sales. No matter what their title is, from accounting to customer service to human resources...everyone is a salesperson in every company.
- Never treat customers poorly. In today's Web 2.0 world, it will come back to bite you in a very public way that will negatively effect your business.
- Anyone who still uses AOL is nuts. Get a cable or DSL service pronto, my friend. OK, so that's not really a "sales lesson".
» Maybe The AOL Phone Rep Could Get a Job With Comcast? from LandingTheDeal
Two horrible customer service stories in one week? First, it was the AOL fiasco. Now, the cable installer falls asleep on your couch. As I've said a thousand times, everyone in your company is in sales. AOL and Comcast Cable... [Read More]
Tracked on: June 23, 2006 12:47 AM | Permalink to Trackback