We've all been on the phone - frustrated with the customer service rep who we need to dictate all of our information to even though we just typed it in via our telephone key pad. We've all had problems with internet service providers or cable operators who can't seem to fix our problems. The usual response from the customer perspective is that the brand/company doesn't care about their customers. This doesn't really make sense though since the brand/company isn't really a person and thus has no feelings. Surely, there must be someone(s) in some role that is in charge of a particular department that is saying, "screw my customers," right? So, who is it that doesn't care about the customers and why is it that they don't care about them?
I've been on the phone with my internet provider many many times where I wait on hold, get passed around from rep to rep, and repeat the same information to all of them. However, most of the time the reps are empathetic to my problem and they actually sound like they care. I've also talked to managers at my internet company and they seem to care too, is it the manager's boss who doesn't care? Maybe, maybe not. Are there companies out there or executives at these companies that genuinely don't care about their customers? Again, maybe, but I haven't heard of or met any of them. It's actually a bit silly to think that there are people running companies out there who say "eff my customers, let them suffer, muhahahahaha!" In fact, I'd argue that most employees and executives DO care about their customers. Well then what's the problem? If you care about your customers then everything should be fine right? No.
I don't think caring about your customers is enough. The breakdown I believe is in a few areas:
Empowerment
Employees may care about their customers but just don't have the ability to show them that they care. Not every company has an open culture such as Zappos which encourages employees to build relationships with their customers. Not all employees are given the ability to even talk to or engage with these customers. If a wounded patient comes to a doctor but the doctor doesn't have the equipment to heal the patient then there really isn't much the doctor can do, regardless of how much he cares about the patient. Employees need to be empowered to engage with and interact with their customers.
Data/technology
When you give an organization data, that data is oftentimes living in it's own little silo where not every can access to it. It's not the employee's fault that he/she doesn't have your information, they just don't have access it. The data/technology back-end at many organizations just doesn't support a "single truth around the customer" functionality.
Process
I'm oftentimes shocked that organizations don't have processes for dealing with or handling certain issues. If there is no process for how to resolve or escalate something then the problem never gets resolves. Poor processes lead to confusion and lack of problem solving. Again, this has nothing to do with not-caring, it's just lack of process.
Now, I know what you're thinking. If a company really cares about it's customers then it should be able to make all three of things happen right? Sure, but to play devil's advocate how exactly does a large company do that? Every customer has a different perspective and idea about how they interact with a brand or company. Things are always changing and evolving and no matter how hard you try you will never have 100% of your customers happy. So how do you empower thousands of employees, integrate all of your data/technology, and set up solid processes on a global scale?
Herein lies a bit of a catch-22. Customers can't help organizations that much because they don't really understand the inner workings of how organizations function. Organizations can't release too much information publicly because of security, trust, and control issues (among other things). So are we at a stale mate? How can customers work with companies to solve business problems and how can executives empower themselves and their employees to build customer relationships to also help solve business problems?
Do you think it's possible that we will see an agile and dynamic enterprise that can shift how it works to accommodate customers and situations at a rapid pace? In essence will every customer one day be able to personalize their own experience with a brand/product?