As happens from time to time, when phone contracts run out, we consider switching companies to reduce costs and improve services.
Although I work in a coworking space, we have a home office to work with more privacy, create videos, podcasts, and so on.
That is why we considered two key things:
- A good internet connection (speed and stability)
- And in the case of TV: Original version with subtitles
What can I say? I grew up in the Americas and I am used to watching everything in the original version, whatever the language.
I cannot stand dubbing because the film, series, or documentary loses a lot of meaning. Although some make us laugh, like the Galician translations! (see Terminator).
NOTE: For that reason, I stopped going to the cinema in Spain.
My colleague Isabel García from SEMtido usually takes care of these formalities because she is good at negotiating.
I was happy with Movistar’s service. It is not cheap, but we had almost 600 Mbps real download speed, 200 upload, and lots of entertainment options in the original version.
At Vodafone they made my colleague an incredible offer (price-wise) and promised to meet those two requirements: (1) the original version and (2) internet speed.
I am not usually suspicious of these promises. Maybe that is naive of me, and I had been with the same company for many years, so I found no reason to doubt the offer.
After a 3-week delay, they finally do the new installation. And the decline begins: poor service, excuses, and a series of problems in the workflow, explained by the excessive fragmentation of the service among companies that are not really part of the parent company.
Bad connections: we did not reach 50 Mbps download, or 10 upload. A strange event: almost always at the same time in the afternoon, we would lose the connection intermittently (almost an hour failing continuously and then it would return to normal) and, of course, the only thing in the original version was HBO included with the service, but the TV and entertainment offering was all in Spanish.
We tried to be patient. They replaced the first router, which was faulty, and the connection improved a bit, but even plugged directly into the router, we could not reach the promised speed. The maximum we managed to record was 110 Mbps download.
How did we solve it?
Since technical support did not solve the problem and our work was being affected, we went to the office that sold us the service and where we negotiated the contract.
The friendliness from the offer was already nowhere to be found.
They treated my colleague in a dismissive way (nothing like the first time we went) and simply pushed the problem to the technical department, since they are not “responsible”.
At the time of signing the contract, they had me go into an inner office and I noticed they had a cork board showing dashboards with monthly sales targets.
They surely have certain conditions with the parent company and only need to focus on sales. The most old-school style of the smooth-talking salesperson.
But when the service is not what was promised, for reasons I do not doubt, it will not depend on the office; it is easier to wash their hands of it and have the responsible department take it on.
In the end, we spoke with a sales rep we trust at Movistar and she explained that we could cancel the contract within the first 15 days if we were not happy with the service.
She handled the process and, after two more weeks of paperwork, we were able to return to our original conditions with Movistar—actually better, since they gave us 2 months of Netflix for free and reduced the rate we were paying. 😉
Cheap ends up expensive.
It is not about companies, but about ethics
You may have Vodafone and your experience may be very good. Something similar or worse may have happened to you with Movistar, Orange, or any of them. It is not about companies, but about their practices and their ethics.
Obviously, once the contract was cancelled, Vodafone did not take long to demand a penalty from us for breaking it.
We replied that we were terminating the contract within the legal period due to non-compliance with the conditions, and of course we took the case to the consumer affairs office.
A month later, the expanded contract arrived at our home explaining that, even if they do not meet the promised speed, they are not obliged to do so, so they intend to charge us the €200 penalty.
Even if I could insert that clause for my clients, as a matter of principle, I could not. How can I charge if I am not delivering what I offer?
Beyond whether they charge the penalty or not, it all comes down to one idea: Responsibility to your customer.
Selling as a transfer of feelings
I always quote Zig Ziglar, when he points out that:
“Selling is essentially a transfer of feelings. When you believe in what you are selling, you honestly feel that the prospective customer will be the big winner in the transaction, you show a genuine concern and interest in the customer (…) everybody wins!”
Zig Ziglar, 2011
The sales teams in customer service stores are so focused on sales that they lose perspective on the user’s real gain.
I understand that expectations can be different. There can even be misunderstandings, such as the original version. I assume it is not common in Spain to demand it.
However, a minimum of concern and help to manage technical problems (even if it is not their responsibility) shows human quality and good manners.
Even more so when we explained that we are a family that depends exclusively on the internet connection to generate our income.
Digital transparency
I liked a reflection by Javi López in his post titled: “The future is transparent“.
It is a paradigm shift, but the work and technological changes that the internet has enabled have a positive consequence: greater transparency from companies in everything—procedures, services, prices, profits, etc.
Many sales teams, such as call centre agents, still operate as they did 10 or 15 years ago. I am still surprised by unexpected calls at siesta time or the typical flyers left on cars.
I understand that if they still exist, it is because they still generate some kind of result.
For me, it is the worst kind of communication: an unexpected and intrusive message in my life. It is also true that my view is not objective; I work in the world of search marketing.
The people my clients target already have an interest in certain products or services and start through the search engine. That is why I think it is more effective.
Either way, whether you sell in digital sectors or more traditional ones, if we simply applied the ethics of offering the best service and, as far as possible, trying to meet customer expectations, we would already gain a lot.
It is not that difficult, is it? That way, sales would stop having such a negative image and would become part of the essence and engine of any project (online or local).
And if we are not able to satisfy that specific customer, there is nothing wrong with saying we cannot. I will value your honesty and I will be able to recommend you based on the principle of reciprocity.
