Build A Save Desk

Irate customers are nothing new to any business. While many companies have save desks to help retain customers, few achieve their full potential.

Do you have a “save” desk?

Recently I had a conflict with a credit card company. It was an company I had two accounts with – and I was so frustrated, I cancelled both accounts.

A Save Desk would have kept me as a customer.

This company had an annual fee. When I got my statement, I noticed the fee and called to cancel the account. My 2nd account with them did not have the annual fee. The representative told me that not only was she unwilling to waive the fee, but I didn’t call in time to not be liable for the annual fee already billed. I would have to pay the fee.

I hadn’t used the card in over a year. The reason I knew this was when I pulled the card from my wallet—the card was over a year expired. So, I paid the fee on a card last year and never even got a current card.

In frustration, I cancelled the 2nd account—even though there were no issues, and the 2nd account didn’t charge an annual fee.

I sent off a letter describing the situation, expressing my concern, and asked for both accounts to be cancelled. I sent along a cheque for the amount owed, the 2nd account had a credit balance.

I thought the company might call, waive the fee, and with very little convincing, I’d remain a customer. The credit card company offers some benefits I liked. Instead, I received a cheque for the credit balance on the one account, and a cheque for the annual fee I was obviously erroneously told I’d have to pay. I also received a letter confirming my account was cancelled. No apology, or thank you for your business. Ironically, prior to the discussion, I was considering opening a 3rd account with this bank, transferring $25K into a CD account.

A “save” desk would have corrected the misunderstanding and kept me as a customer. But before you create one, set out to research what makes a good save desk.

McKinsey recently did a study of 14 save desks operating in five industries across 11 counties. It found that most were staffed by people from the call center. This was least effective. Those employees were used to scripts, and were traditionally rewarded for the number of calls they field and for keeping calls short. They found that save desks that sought candidates with superior listening skills had save rates 2 -3 times higher than those of more experienced people from the regular call center.

Besides the function of customer retention, a save desk offers valuable feedback and learning. The best desks conduct sessions where agents reenact difficult calls, sharing insights and learning from the group, and management.

It costs more to attract a new client than get retain an old one. Polaris, a company who conducts customer satisfaction surveys, lists the #1 reason being service issues, citing poor or confusing service. Telecom, banks, and other subscription based businesses (like Cable TV) have long maintained save desks. An effective system will lower churn rates, boost profitability and even provide feedback for developing new products.

Comments

[Carol]

Hi Tom-- Follow this link to most of the report.

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1862&l2=1&l3=24&srid=7&gp=1

Carol

[Tom Vander Well]

Great post! Is the McKinsey report published in the public domain? I would love to read it.

You make such a great point. The best reps for a job like a save desk are not going to be crusty old CSRs from the Customer Service queue!