Heres a perfect example of whats wrong with the vast majority of marketers... it pissed me off so much that I decided to blog for the first time in weeks (while sitting on hold)...
The Travelocity.com 888 service line, which for the brave at heart can be reached by dialing 888-872-8356, was simply not designed for/by human beings. The fundamental problem is that the marketing team that created the promotional messages you hear while on hold never actually sat through a typical call. They recorded some friendly messages that cover common topics like...
- What an e-ticket is
- Canceling or changing hotel and flight reservations
- Number of carry-on bags you can bring
- Canceling a car reservation
The recordings you hear while on hold are two people (a man and a woman) talking about these riveting topics. These messages might even be helpful if it weren't for the fact that typical hold times are over 30 minutes and there isn't even any elevator music pauses between them, so essentially you're listening to the same 4 messages all the time! Looped! I've had to call their wonderful India based call center 3 times today for a total of over 2 hours on hold listening to the same looped junk. I estimate that I've heard each of those educational messages at least 50 times.
If someone from their marketing department put him or her self in the shoes of a customer sitting on hold, they would feel the anger induced goose bumps on their own skin and get a grasp for the damage they're doing to their brand. Their goal of reducing call volumes and hence call center costs is a noble one, but the millions of dollars spent promoting the "Roaming Gnome: Denouncer of Travel Myths" have gone down the pipe as far as anyone who has ever called their 888 number is concerned.
Travelocity should spring for a copy of the Purple Cow by Seth Godin for everyone in Marketing. Maybe then they would actually consider what its like to buy what they're selling.
