Remington Begg
Few companies cause as many outbursts from seemingly nice people than Comcast. It’s pretty much agreed upon to be the most hated company in America, which really says something since we have other companies that are literally responsible for people dying. So why all the hatred? Because it’s expensive and then notoriously difficult to cancel (if you are even allowed to)? We discussed Comcast recently around the Impulse Creative office and decided it’s because Comcast represents many things that are the opposite of an inbound experience. And we love inbound marketing! The American public wants to make a purchasing decision when they are ready, with a company they trust, and then be delighted. This is where Comcast falls short. They embody the old, outbound version of business that grows more and more unpopular every year with consumers. Here’s just a few examples we discussed:
Direct Mail Flyers That Don’t Make Sense
My gated community has a contract with Comcast and our monthly cable bill is factored into our HOA fees. In other words, everyone who lives there has to have Comcast if they want their televisions to work. That should be a pretty sweet deal for Comcast, right? Shockingly, we still receive glossy direct mail flyers about once a week offering to sign us up for Comcast for a low introductory price. As an inbound marketer, this infuriates me. How can they not realize or not care that they are blanketing an area of people who are already forced to use their service anyway?
What You Can Do Differently: Only contact people who want to be contacted. It’s obvious from my story how much money Comcast is wasting by sending these very nicely made flyers to the homes of people who already use their service. Beyond the wasted money spent on sending direct mail to people who don’t want it, it’s also annoying. Irritating potential customers and wasting money is not a good business plan for anyone.
Terrible Customer Service
The number one reason people hate Comcast is their terrible customer service. It’s so bad that it has become what Comcast is renowned for. Between the infamously large service windows (“Be home between 10 am and 5 pm”), having to pay for things Comcast broke, repeated dropped services, charging for service during hurricane-induced outages, useless call centers, rude employees, and more, it’s no surprise that Comcast was voted Worst Company in America last year.
What You Can Do Differently: Customers First. With the prevalence of social media and online review sites, you need to keep customer service a top priority. Word-of-mouth marketing from evangelists is one of the best ways to bring new people in if they hear good things, and keep people out if they hear negative things.
Expensive And Confusing Services
If you’ve ever wondered why a growing number of millennials are becoming “cord-cutters,” those who forgo cable subscriptions in favor of streaming TV and internet options, look no further than Comcast’s pricing. Prices for the exact same package can vary by city, internet speed, and unique special offers. In a report done by Forbes, the author of the piece was offered four different prices for the exact same package at the same address by four Comcast representatives. For a generation of people who really only want to watch Game of Thrones and The Walking Dead anyway, this hassle and expensive monthly bill simply isn’t worth it.
What You Can Do Differently: If you services are too expensive or confusing, people won’t want them. If you don’t have a direct competitor right now, you will soon. Comcast even has a contracted monopoly in some areas and is still managing to lose customers. They’re big enough to handle that loss right now, but are you?
Email Campaigns Without Segmentation
Another team member here said that within five minutes of eachother, he received an email from Comcast thanking him for his service and then an email offering him an introductory price to sign up for their service. “Why don’t they know they are already thanking me for being a customer?” he said. That’s a good point.
What You Can Do Differently: Sending proper email campaigns is one of the big pieces of the inbound methodology. But you shouldn’t be sending every email to every person in your contact list. Sort your email campaigns, segment your lists, & make your emails contextually relevant.
Once Your In, They Don’t Let You Leave
When you’ve finally had enough of Comcast and you’re ready to quit, you’re still not done with them. With any company or industry, calling to cancel your service should be simple. It’s perfectly acceptable to determine if there’s something the company can do to keep a customer, like lower rates or fixing a broken piece of equipment, but in the end it’s the customer’s decision to leave. Recently, numerous recorded calls have gone viral showing how hard it is to close an account at comcast. So much so that there is even a company that will do it for you for five dollars. Now that’s a bad sign.
What You Can Do Differently: Don’t forget, the buyer’s journey doesn’t just end when they purchase. You must continue to delight your customers into repeat purchases and becoming an evangelist for you. Do everything you can to keep customers happy, but if they leave, treat it as a learning experience and respect them. That will earn you a quality reputation in return.
Their Employees Hate Working There
The only people who hate Comcast more than its customers are the employees. While being ranked the Most Hated Company in America, it was simultaneously winning awards for the worst place to work as well. Ironically, the thing Comcast employees hate the most about their jobs is customer service and their feelings are coming through loud and clear...
What You Can Do Differently: Build a company and a culture that your staff can stand behind. Happy employees create happy customers; they’ll provide better service with a better attitude, be more engaged with their work, and be more committed to stay working with you longer.
It’s easy to poke fun at Comcast. They are the corporation that people love to hate. But their business practices represent something serious: not earning potential and current customer’s respect. With a small business, keeping your door open is on the line everyday. This is why attracting, informing, and delighting every person, every time is so important. For more information on how to do this effectively and efficiently, download our free Ebook The Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing.
