With the influx of numerous apps, life has become much more convenient than it was before. Whether you want to book a flight, cab or movie tickets; it can be done with clicks on our mobile devices. Moreover, with these companies luring us consumers with discounts, coupons, and offers – Life could not get any better than this!

“The real question is how far all these companies go to deliver what they promise?

My experience with multiple brands, on a recent business trip, made me realize the old business motto: “Under-promise and Over-deliver” is a flawed/changed concept in today’s age of instant gratification.

“As a customer when you pay for the product/service, all you want to be delivered is what you are promised or committed. Moreover, when this promise is violated, as a customer you feel cheated, taken for granted.

Well, if you do not share this belief, read about my recent experiences with two different app-based services providers and their poor customer services that failed to deliver what they promise.

The Saga of Broken Promises

Case In Point One: Frustrating Experience With A Hotel Aggregator

On a recent trip, I booked a room via one of the most popular hotel booking apps. When I checked into my pre-booked hotel, I was let down by the overall quality of the room.
I was stuck with the room as I had paid in full in advance. The budget hotel where I booked myself promised an AC Room with TV, clean linen, complimentary breakfast, free Wi-Fi and hygienic washrooms. On checking into the hotel, I realized none of the comforts promised was delivered. The AC and Wi-Fi were not working, linen was clean but worn out, and the washroom was far from hygienic.

Frustrated, I called the customer support helpdesk, but they were not ready to listen as I had already checked into the room. After considerable persuasion, they agreed to shift me to another hotel. Next day, when I reached the hotel, I learned that they were completely booked. After intense arguments, I was finally allotted a room.

While I was voicing my concern at the front desk, an elderly man walked up to me and said he had overheard my conversation, and he too was feeling cheated as some of the promises that this brand made to him, were not met. I realized there were others also who were feeling exploited.

As a customer when you pay for a product or service, all you want is to get what you are promised or committed. However, when this promise is unfulfilled, as a customer you felt cheated and taken for granted.

Case In Point Two: Uncomfortable Travel

In a similar case of high promises and low service, was the radio taxi I booked to go to a client’s office. I was charged 2.9X times the normal fare, being peak hour travel. However, when I realized the AC was not working in the car and called the customer support, I have assured a resolution within 24 hours. Even after a fortnight, I am yet to hear from them. With much apprehension when I availed their service after a couple of days, I had no reasons to complain.

“Several calls and follow-ups later I am yet to receive my refund from these firms.

What Is Appening In The Consumers Mind – At Least Deliver What You Promised

With the recent experiences, as a consumer, I am very confused and don’t know what to expect as these brands have failed to deliver what they promise. There is a trust deficit, and this raises questions like:
• Do these brands care about their customers for their business to succeed?
• Is their promise met selectively on select dates and times and with select customers?
• When will they deliver what they promise?
• Are they telling the truth?
• What’s happened to fair pricing?
• Do the different departments/teams collaborate?
• Will they promise less in the future to give themselves some leeway in their commitment?
• Is it safe to recommend them to family, friends, and acquaintances?

“Surprisingly both the cases cited above are related to brands trying to establish themselves in the market, and are spending heavily on advertisements and promotional offers to attract new clientele, but doing little to ensure customer satisfaction.

Impact on Your Brand For Not Keeping Your Promise

According to recent Forrester Research, Majority Of Indian Firms Deliver Merely Mediocre Majority Of Indian Firms Deliver Merely Mediocre Customer Experiences; 3% Rated “Very Poor”,

Other industry reports say 30 % or more of a brand’s customers have poor experiences, but only 2% complain. That is a frightening statistic. If only 2% complain – what do the other 28% do? This 2% who complain, do they have a mechanism to reach out to the brand and get a satisfactory resolution.

“Promises create expectations and when those expectations are not met the results are disastrous.

This results in a breach of trust, and it goes way beyond frustration and disappointment. It alters the way customers perceive and interact with your business and may publicly share negative experiences and recommend people not to use your services.

Why Brands Should Deliver What They Promise – Building Brand Confidence

Companies can establish credibility only when they deliver on what they promised in the first place.

An outburst in the social media if these negative experiences are on the rise, could tarnish the brand image.To build a sustainable business, it is important to gain credibility rather than getting onetime customers over discounts. It is time that companies win the customer for real with their reliable service and consistent experience across the different brand touchpoints or soon may become extinct.!

In Part II of this series, we will discuss How To Figure Out What Consumers Want and How Keeping Brand Promises Can Improve Brand Image And Brand Loyalty.

Innovatus Marketers Touchpoint LLP is a customer experience, marketing, service design, design thinking and business innovation consulting firm, based in India. We offer go-to-market and digital strategy consulting and help our clients rethink and redesign customer and employee value in the digital era. We offer design thinking workshops and consulting, tailored to enable, accelarete or transform your business. We are laser-focused on the problem at hand and your opportunity space, and optimize process to make design thinking and service design principles accessible to your employees who’ve never done it before or stuck-up, and provide “just adequate” theory to help you get moving and achieve outcomes.

You may reach out to Vidya Priya Rao @ +918080015500 or email @ vidyapriya.rao@marketerstouchpoint.com

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