NetFlix Ends Email Support; Tries Another Disruptive Strategy August 19, 2007
Posted by Bruce Temkin in Call center customer experience, Customer experience, Disruptive customer experience strategies.Tags: NetFlix
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NetFlix decided to stop its email customer service and, instead, beef-up its phone support. According to an article in the New York Times:
Netflix took an unusual step for a Web-based company: it eliminated e-mail-based customer service inquiries. Now all questions, complaints and suggestions go to the Hillsboro call center, which is open 24 hours a day.
My take: Wow! Gutsy move. Okay, now for a more analytical discussion…
NetFlix probably recognizes the realities of handling customer service emails — it’s incredibly difficult to do right. Here are some datapoints to think about:
- Most emails deliver a poor customer experience. In a recent Forrester research report called Best And Worst Of Email Interaction Design, 2007, we evaluated the email service experience delivered by 16 large firms. None of the 16 firms passed our reviews — although Circuit City came closest. The biggest problem: Emails lacked essential content.
- Consumers aren’t thrilled with email. We asked about 5,000 consumers how satisfied they were in handling customer service through different channels. Here are the satisfaction numbers for different channels: in-person (44%), phone (29%), Web (15%), and email (13%). (Forrester Research clients can read: Match Channel Capabilities To Customer Goals).
So NetFlix is just focusing on an area that it can deliver better experiences. And the firm isn’t outsourcing its call center overseas to save money, it’s investing in its Hillsboro, Oregon facility. NetFlix thinks that it can staff that location with empathetic phone reps.
In a previous post, I defined Five Disruptive Customer Experience Strategies:
- Ultrasimplicity: stripping away features to better meet the needs of customers.
- Online infusion: integrating online features into core offerings.
- Service infusion: integrating service features into core offerings.
- Service amplification: investing in distinctly high levels of service.
- Value repositioning: offering a radically different value proposition.
NetFlix has been one of the examples that I use to explain online infusion — it integrates a robust set of online features to deliver value well beyond just DVDs by mail (for another great example of this strategy, check out WebKinz). With this move to enhance its phone support, the company is adopting another one of the disruptive strategies: service amplification. While most companies are looking at phone service as a cost center, NetFlix is investing in it as an experience differentiator.
My advice to NetFlix: Augment this strategy with a strong online chat capability. That will provide a solid option for customers that really want to complete the interaction online.
The bottom line: If customer service drives a key portion of NetFlix customers’ overall experience, then this disruptive strategy could be a great move. If it’s not, then they’re likely to move the call center offshore within 24 months. In any case, there are three disruptive strategies left for them to try!
This is NUTS. I understand them providing phone customer service, but I do NOT understand them BARRING any e-mail customer service. Especially in a web based company!! We should have that option!!! I don’t have the time to screw around on the phone with Netflix over something minor. Maybe that’s what they’re hoping – that most of us will just not report errors on the web site and stuff like that. The whole site will go to pot in short order. I already see so many mistakes in the descriptions. For example, in one description it refers to the author of the novel as a character in the movie!!! Another has 1987 on a tv series from 2005 & 2006! I’m betting 50 people would’ve reported those errors in short order if there was a web way to do it. But we’re not going to waste our cell phone minutes or our business hours or free time to sit on the phone with freakin’ Netflix Customer Service.
Chloe: I think that there are other people like you who still want to have service handled via email. In the ideal case, NetFlix would be able to do handle email efficiently and effectively. But, alas, they probably haven;t figured out how to do that. As for the other items you mention about the content on the site — that’s an entirely different thread of discussion for a different time.
Interestingly, Walmart.com just removed it’s 800 number. Another move that cuts into customer choice — and will likely get many people upset.
Great Piece of Informaton.
Thanks
Samson John
http://www.xanga.com/emailsupport
I just cancelled my account because I spent 5 minutes on hold then the customer service person kept talking in circles and did not help me.
So I will go to the library a block away and rent for free and can get up to 5 at a time unlike Netflix where with the four day turnaround you might get 6 a month if you mail them back the day after you receive them.
So long Netflix and with Redbox you can rent them for a dollar a night and get several at one time. So let see I can use Redbox and rent about nine movies a month for what Netflix charges verus maybe six with Netflix and Redbox is right down the street.
Bye Bye Netflix
I agree with Chloe. I was shocked to find they didn’t accept email. I have one quick question and I also hate to use the phone. For goodness sakes they stream over the internet, but they can’t handle email?
Seeing companies struggle with the right mix of service delivery is fascinating. I’m really curious if it’s generational preferences or just individual ones. Personally, I deeply resent having to call customer service. This is because I expect to be able to fix my problem through webforms and barring that I prefer email or chat, which let me shoot off a question on my own time
.
I love your chat solution – I think more companies should offer chat.
So I decided to call with my issue even though I didn’t think it merited a call but had e-mail been available I would have e-mailed… and that lady was super nice! I called in an annoyed mood and yet after the call I feel fine, even though there was nothing she could really say other than “that sometimes happens, they were shipped at the same time.”
So yeah, I also asked if “chat help” was coming and she said that definitely was a possibility in the future and the idea has been proposed and discussed. Also, they thought they’d get more complaints about no e-mail service than they did, and they think it’s been working out for them.
And I also asked about instant viewing for Macs and she said that should be rolling out by the end of the year! No month or date… but it’s coming soon!
I really hate the no email, webform or chat option. It is an internet company and should offer an internet option for communication.
However, for one of Chloe’s complaints they still do offer a page for reporting errors in descriptions
http://www.netflix.com/Suggest?type=0&lnkctr=cu_tr
They are very clear that the will not handle customer service through it, unfortunately.
I called the 800 number only too end up talking with a smart a** customer support rep. With netflix advertisement everywhere they don’t bother to let potential customers know “OBTW we don’t offer email support so that tells you what we think of you. BUT, you can call our 800 number and talk to someone who hates there job”.
Leon: Sounds pretty frustrating. Hopefully (for Netflix and its customers) your experience with the agent was only an isolated problem.
The lack of email service is a good example of Netflix shooting themselves in the foot. I live overseas (U.S. military) and cancelled because it took too long to get videos delivered. I have a solution for the problem but can’t be bothered to call them from here and wait on hold just to tell them what they should have already figured out for themselves.
Oh, I found contact for public relations and I am just hitting the return and backspace button sending them dozens of emails per minute till they respond to my question, and I have told my credit card to invistagte as a fradulent transaction. I don’t feel the need to waste prepaid cell phone minutes and to try and find a payphone to call netflix. I have better things to do. I am in front of a computer in a place where there are no phones, but if I could speak wisper quiet through a web phone site, it might be ok, but since I would have to go off property to use a payphone or outside to use prepaid cell phone, whats the point
Josh: Sorry to hear about your torment…
I think netflix is ok…I live out in the country and netflix instant streaming to my tv is outstanding..I just wish they had a webpage to select other movies/shows to instant stream ..
After finally locating an actual live person to contact I sent the following to Netflix. I will not recomend them nor will I consider investing in a business with such poor business practices. Please cancel subscription immediately as I am leaving the area and no
longer wish to subscribe. I currently reside at xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx In speaking with Customer service I was also
somewhat disturbed to find that although I had never ordered and never
received any movies, actually I wasn’t even aware I was subscribed,
but the Company refuses to refund the rental fee’s for something I
never received. I will consider notifying the State Attorney General’s
office as well as the BBB regarding such practices, I am disabled and
on a fixed income and will not be subjected to these strong arm
techniques and business practices. – Michael Budnicki
Michael: Sorry to hear about your experience. I hope it all works out for the best…
A lot of technology related businesses seem to be cancelling their email and chat support. When AT&T took over Bellsouth, they cancelled email support. They supposedly have chat support, but never once have I been able to connect with their chat. And when I call, I inevitably get a customer service rep whose first language is clearly no English and whose accent is pretty much indecipherable to me. I hate nothing worse than being limited to phone support.