{"id":20821,"date":"2019-08-29T09:13:26","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T07:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dossetenta.com\/purchasing-power\/"},"modified":"2019-08-29T09:13:26","modified_gmt":"2019-08-29T07:13:26","slug":"purchasing-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dossetenta.com\/en\/purchasing-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Purchasing power in the hands of consumers? Not always."},"content":{"rendered":"Tiempo de lectura:<\/span> 3<\/span> minutos<\/span><\/span>

In this world of digitalization and omnichannel,<\/strong> where theoretically the purchasing power has shifted to consumers, there are cases that show this is not always the case. Often, users are trapped by a lack of supply<\/strong> that transfers power back to companies<\/strong>. Hotels in vacation areas during peak season, airlines, and car rental companies are just a few examples.<\/p>\n

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Experience leaves a digital footprint<\/h3>\n

But the user remembers and does not forget, and most importantly, their experience leaves a digital footprint. Digitalization allows companies to set up virtual call centers with countless rules and functionalities<\/strong>. It also enables the use of trendy chatbots (for the uninitiated, chatbots are just automatic response setups for questions asked via chat on websites).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Are companies making mistakes?<\/strong> I believe they are. At least some of them. Creating effective flows that guide users to solve doubts<\/strong> is more than correct. It is the path for companies<\/strong> seeking to be more productive, efficient<\/strong>, and thus competitive<\/strong>. But it cannot come at any cost\u2014it cannot be at the expense of customer satisfaction.<\/p>\n

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CRM usage should improve the experience<\/h3>\n

Besides the technology mentioned earlier, nowadays it is not uncommon for almost all companies, regardless of size, to use some type of CRM<\/strong> (Customer Relationship Management), which is essentially a program to manage customer relationships. In these programs, companies record every interaction or issue with customers, making it easy for another representative to handle a returning call. They allow reminders, task assignments, and thus should improve the quality of service received.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The major failure of some companies is that,<\/strong> when facing an incident, they do not establish processes to anticipate it<\/strong>. This generates a loss of efficiency and productivity, which was initially the goal. Worse still, it harms the brand image, with effects amplified on social media.<\/p>\n

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The United Airlines case of 2008<\/h3>\n

In 2008, Canadian musician Dave Carroll<\/strong> from the band Sons of Maxwell was traveling with United Airlines. Waiting for takeoff, he saw ground staff throw luggage, including his guitar.<\/p>\n

Upon arrival, he discovered the guitar was broken. He filed a claim, and after 9 months, the company denied payment because he did not submit it within the first 24 hours.<\/p>\n

Dave composed a song (shown below) about the incident, which now has nearly 20 million views. It is estimated shareholders lost $180 million due to a 10% drop in stock. Sadly, the airline did not seem to learn, as a similar incident happened again in 2014.<\/p>\n