“How many times a day do you pick up your phone to research, buy, book, compare or just browse for something? Your search presents endless pages of possible results of which you rarely scroll past the second page – that’s how impatient we’ve become in the digital age.
Now, think about how many times you think you find what you’re looking for, get that instant surge of excitement, click on the link only to discover that it’s not what you were looking for at all, or they don’t have the size, colour, availability, the page isn’t optimised for mobile checkout, the form takes longer than you have to complete it, the chat bot is offline and the phone number rings out.
If you do succeed in completing your action, how often has your ticket/ product arrived late, or the wrong booking/ size is sent, it’s damaged or it doesn’t come at all. Frustrated, you pick up your phone to make a complaint only to find that the person at the end of the line can’t find your order, isn’t authorised to help or doesn’t really care.
In the next few seconds, your emotions fluctuate from disappointment to frustration, and even possibly anger. The result? You promise never to deal with that company/ brand again.
You may feel so frustrated that you decide to share your experience to ensure no-one else has to experience it. You immediately open your preferred social channel to vent your frustration to the world and warn others to avoid it like the plague. That’s all it takes. That company/ brand’s reputation is instantly at risk.
At this point, if the company is quick enough, they can still recover by publicly answering with an apology, a promise of reimbursement/ replacement, and a voucher for your next visit. Great, your frustration is quenched and you’re satisfied – for now.
However, if the company doesn’t act fast enough and then receives other similar complaints.. It could be game over – the company is at risk of becoming extinct like so many other brands we’ve seen – just ask Blockbuster or Thomas Cook.
That’s the speed of the digital world in which we live.”
The article: The journey to digital maturity, through digital transformation
