A national brand believed they were doing everything they could to keep customers satisfied. They thought they sold an incredible product that performed amazing tasks. They offered warranties and even extended warranties. They spent money on advertising, a call center and factory operations. What more could customers want?

Well, customer service, for one.

A customer purchased a product from a local retailer and almost immediately had problems with it. The retailer notified the brand, as they handled warranty claims and repairs/replacements. The retailer couldn’t get through to the brand for weeks (the phone calls and emails weren’t returned).

During this time, the customer received emails and phone calls from the brand, not regarding their defective product, but with offers to extend their warranty or to purchase additional products.

Now, the marketing team is more than likely separate from the customer service department, but the customer, and rightly so, sees it as one company. If the organization is reaching out to a customer that currently has an issue, they want the organization to speak to them about their existing issue, not be given a sales pitch. Why would a customer purchase additional products when the one they now have is causing problems? It’s tone deaf.

Tone deaf communications aren’t good Customer Experience. Instead, it demonstrates to the customer that your organization only cares about making money, not making the customer happy. Or producing quality products. This isn’t a way to retain customers or to create repeat customers. In fact, it does the opposite.