Is anyone listening?

I received a call from American Express last night. They wanted to know how happy I was with the Delta Sky Miles card my wife and I own. It seems they noticed I hadn’t used the card for the past six months and were wondering if everything was ok. “Mr. Doyle, have you had a bad experience or are you dissatisfied with your card? “No, everything is fine,” I lied. “Well Sir, why are you not using your card?” “No reason,” I told her.

Then I decided to tell the truth and the conversation got interesting. “Well, to be truthful, there is a reason. We got the card to earn miles and enjoy some free travel. Frankly, Delta makes it so hard to use that we have given up on the idea.”

In the last year we tried to use our miles to purchase 6 domestic tickets. Once, we tried to buy two international tickets, and then later we tried to use them to upgrade an international ticket. No go. The tickets were not available, our miles could not be used to upgrade. In every instance, we would have had to place our reservations in the late 80s to obtain the free tickets we’d earned.

I will give credit to the AmEx saleswoman; she apologized for our frustration. But then, unbelievably, she told me I was wrong and I was the problem.

She launched into a spiel, saying the reward program was a very good one. She said she had used the program many times and that I clearly needed to plan my trips farther ahead. Apparently the reason I could not get my free seats was this woman had them!

It’s good to know that I’m the problem. Not Delta. Not American Express. The interesting thing was the ease with which she handled my objection. It’s crystal clear this is not a new problem for either company. The only reason I told her my story is I believed she could help put a little pressure on Delta; become an advocate for her customers.

Instead it seems the numerous complaints have only resulted in a new telemarketing script for dealing with these annoying people who want to redeem their frequent flyer miles.

What’s this have to do with business-to-business marketing you ask? Everything.

The same problem that afflicts credit cards and airlines troubles a growing number of industries. Parity. Commoditization. Call it what you will. Products in most industries are growing more similar every year. Service is one of the few differentiators left. Your customer’s experience is becoming more and more the core of your brand.

What do the systems you have set up for customer feedback look like? Are you listening to your customers? Listening is an art; it requires that you look at yourself critically rather than activate your defenses.

When a complaint comes in does it get resolved? It is not enough to resolve it for the customer who called. You must look and see if others are experiencing the same problem. I believe that at least eight people silently stand behind the one who has the guts to voice the complaint.

Rewards systems are common now. It probably is not a free flight but perhaps a discount for frequent buying, maybe a giveaway to a vacation destination for top customers. It might be as simple as lunch out with the sales rep. If you have such a system, how easy is it for your customers to take advantage of it?

There is an often told story about Bill Bernbach, one of the legends of modern advertising. He kept a card in his shirt pocket that he would often refer to when speaking with a customer, particularly an angry customer: it simply said, “He might be right.”