Should EE be Charging for Priority Service?

365
Filed under - Archived Content,

Jane Goodayle evaluates EE’s controversial decision to offer customers the option to pay 50p and jump the queue.

EE describes itself as the UK’s most advanced digital communications company. However, it would seem it got its wires crossed last week when it revealed its Priority Answer initiative that lets customers jump the queue if they’re prepared to pay 50p for the privilege.

In launching its new service, EE presumably thought it was improving service by increasing customer choice. Unfortunately, the initiative had the opposite effect.

Social media responses were predictably forceful in their outrage, while a poll of over 3,000 Telegraph Online readers revealed that just 15% of readers would actually be prepared to pay in order to jump to the front of the service queue.

So why did everyone get so angry?

Largely it seems that EE broke an unwritten rule by actually raising the issue of prioritising customers. While we all secretly suspect that organisations have fast-track services that aren’t available to everyone, most consumers would generally prefer not to know about them.

Twitter feedback on the EE announcement particularly focused on how the firm weren’t treating people fairly or equally. Fair enough, but perhaps not really surprising from an industry sector that has always divided its customers into PAYG and Pay Monthly.

So what should EE have done differently?

It would have been far better for the company to have chosen a more intelligent way of routing their customer contacts.

The latest multi-channel contact centres can happily integrate both digital and traditional interactions, and are also able to combine both historical and real-time contextual information to improve contact quality.

Given this, it’s surely possible for an organisation of EE’s stature to take advantage of the increasing level of customer context that’s available to them.

Traditionally, organisations have only thought of context in terms of financial value – or how much money is this customer spending with me. Not surprisingly, high value has corresponded with attempts to prioritise service.

However, context can also now be applied in a much more three-dimensional manner. From EE’s perspective, a customer might have also been trying to get in touch via email or social media. They might have an ongoing support issue that hasn’t been resolved. They may be coming up to the end of their contract. It’s only when all these factors are considered that true prioritisation can be achieved.

Jane Goodayle

What should EE do now?

Probably the best thing is to apologise quickly, reiterate how much they value all their customers, and look again at their prioritisation strategy.

And if it’s best-practice advice on context in the contact centre that they want, then we’re happy for them to get in touch!

With thanks to Jane Goodayle at Sabio

Author: Megan Jones

Published On: 20th Aug 2014 - Last modified: 22nd Mar 2017
Read more about - Archived Content,

Follow Us on LinkedIn
1 Comment
  • I think EE are perfectly in their rights to offer this service…and they are not the first.

    Take Airlines for example, they’ve been offering Speedy Boarding for years…and I’m sure we all remember a nightclub with a QueueJump ticket!

    EE are simply the first, and I respect them for their honesty. If the extra revenue can go towards further Customer Service improvements then every one could benefit from the profits of a few.

    My only advice to EE would be to ONLY offer this service during periods of High Traffic. I recently rejected the option to pay 50p..and still jumped to the front of the queue.

    I wonder how many companies will take up a similar approach soon…

    Guy Hannah 21 Aug at 09:41