Whose Point of View is more Important

A manager at a mobile phone provider was very proud of the service they offered, bragging about the improved call handling capacity of their help desk and sales people. He mentioned how effective their new approaches had been at improving the quality of their service, reducing average call length, increasing the number of calls handled per person per shift, improving call resolution.

Coincidentally, talked to a long-time customer of this company whose Blackberry had recently failed. She was trying to get a replacement device for the least amount possible. She faced a $500 plus expense for an immediate replacement, yet she would quality for a free replacement five more months into her contract. When I talked to her, she had logged eight calls and two visits to the store to try to find a palatable solution. Without success!

The store thought they were doing a great job; they were cheerfully, efficiently handling calls and providing accurate information. Yet the customer was on the verge of finding another supplier.

Ask yourself this - whose point-of-view is more relevant to the continuing success of your company? Yours? Or your customer's?