Case Study: Verizon Omnichannel Breakdown
I delve into an unexpected detour I experienced while attempting to upgrade my phone at Verizon, uncovering surprising insights about touchpoints and channels along the way.
A Walkthrough of the Verizon Customer Experience
Several weeks ago, on a quiet weekday afternoon, I visited my local Verizon (VZ) store to add a phone to my family plan. I thought this would be a quick in-and-out visit. But before I knew it, I would find myself walking back empty-handed with no new phone. This "Unplanned Detour" transformed this everyday experience into a drawn-out, overcomplicated, unnecessary experience that took days instead of minutes and could have been prevented.
I invite you to join me in dissecting my Verizon adventure. It's an insightful exploration of touchpoints and channels. Together, we dive into the subtleties of this Verizon customer journey, identifying and challenging the areas that could use a touch of improvement. So, grab your popcorn and prepare for an unconventional exploration of the customer experience!
Key Takeaways From the Verizon Experience
- I wanted to upgrade my phone in a Verizon store but could not do this because of the missing capabilities of the My Verizon app.
- I wanted to purchase a phone in the store channel but was blocked by the My Verizon app, which operates in the app channel.
- I had no idea the My Verizon app was this important to the upgrading process at Verizon. This was never communicated to me as a Verizon customer.
- You could start an exercise to create a touchpoint inventory or build an omnichannel journey map with this type of information.
- I may use terminology that you are unfamiliar with. You can read more about journey map elements such as stages, key moments, customer goals, channels, and touchpoints.
An In-depth Analysis of Customer Interactions Across Touchpoints and Channels
Walk Through the Verizon Touchpoints 👇
Touchpoint: Verizon Parking Lot
The parking lot
My Observations:
- ✅ It wasn't busy in the parking lot.
- ✅ I could park close to the Verizon store.
- ✅ This was great because I had to carry one of my children to the store.
Touchpoint: Verizon Store Entrance
Walking to the Store Entrance
My Observations:
- ❌ The store is missing a digital sign that says it's open.
- ❌ It was hard to see through the windows whether it was busy.
- ✅ But it looked pretty quiet, especially since I was there before 5 PM on a weekday.
- ✅ I did notice a sidewalk sign indicating that the store was open for business.
Touchpoint: Front Entrance
Introduce Myself to the Verizon Reps
- Verizon team: Two staff members greeted me, and the sales rep closest to me asked how he could help me.
- Leo: I tell the Verizon sales rep I want to add a phone to my plan and ask if he wants my number.
- Verizon rep: Are you a Verizon customer?
- Leo: I respond yes.
- Verizon rep: Asks me to walk to the back table with him to continue the conversation at the back table.
My Observations:
- ✅ Verizon sales reps were courteous and to the point. A great start, I thought.
- ✅ Moving me to the back table, I assume this is done to pull customers away from the front door.
- ✅ It's easier to have conversations in the back of the store and guide me through a sales or support process, but I don't mind.
Touchpoint: Back Table
I Walk to the Back Table
My Observations:
- ❌ I immediately noticed the chairs were built for people under six feet tall and looked uncomfortable.
- ❌ I notice the sales reps rarely sit down, which produces an experience where the sales rep looks down on the customer in 90% of conversations. Is this done on purpose?
- ❌ The lights hang so low now that I am standing beside the table that it blocks my view of the Verizon sales rep.
- ❌ Also, the light occasionally shines in my eyes, and I have to squint my eyes when making eye contact with the sales rep.
- ❌ I am aware that if I brought a child under the age of one in this store that it would not work since there was no chair to put a toddler in. I couldn't hold my toddler since I needed my hands to work the phone during the conversation.
- ✅ I stand beside the back table and continue the sales process conversation with the Verizon staff member.
Touchpoint: Sales conversation 1
Confirm Account with Rep
Leo: I give him my phone number, and he looks up my account.
Verizon rep: He confirms that I am a Verizon customer. He asks me what I need.
Leo: So I tell him I want to add a phone and a new number for that phone. (Later on, I decided to upgrade my phone)
My Observations:
- ✅ At this point, everything is going well.
- ✅ I am confident I can get what I need from the Verizon rep and will be on my way soon.
Touchpoint: Sales Conversation 2
We Discuss Pricing
Verizon rep: Mentions I would save money on the two phone numbers associated with the family plan and that each line would drop $15 monthly costs.
Verizon rep: He states the new line's cost is $55 a month. Momentarily forgetting my confusion, I mirror the Verizon staff member and say, "$55 a month for a line?".
Leo: Why are you charging me $55 a month? (My face betrays my confusion)
My Observations:
- ❌ This is where the customer experience encounters its first wobble.
- ❌ The price of a phone line costing $55 a month left me immediately irritated. I did not equate the $55 monthly fee as the proper value for getting an extra line.
- ✅ The Verizon sales rep mentioned that I would receive a $15 discount on the other two lines in my family plan which would create a total of $30 a month of savings.
- ✅ Then he states the $30 (discount) - $55 (new phone line) = $25 for my new phone line.
- ❌ At this point, I am confused why he led with this pricing discount pitch. Why not just offer me a $25/month phone line? (I understand this is supposed to make me feel good about purchasing additional products and services from Verizon.)
- ❌ When I asked the Verizon sales rep why an extra phone line costs $55 a month, he couldn't answer me. (the easiest thing he could have told me was, Leo, you are in Montana, Verizon has better coverage than T-Mobile. But this is because we have more cell towers, and it costs money to maintain them across the state. That's why you are being charged $55 a month. I would have bought this explanation.)
- ✅ I move past the pricing conversation to ask some phone-specific questions.
Touchpoint: Sales Conversation 3
I Decide On a Phone
Leo: I asked the Verizon rep if there was a difference in camera quality.
Verizon rep: He answered that the iPhone 14 had a 12MP camera and the iPhone 14 Pro had a 48MP camera.
Leo: So I told him, let's do the iPhone 14 Pro, and let's get this done (Since I need a phone with a better camera for my YouTube channel, this was an easy decision.)
My Observations:
- ✅ This part of the sales conversation was pretty easy.
- ✅ I wanted to determine what phone I needed and then tally up the monthly cost.
Touchpoint: My Verizon App
I'm Introduced to the My Verizon App
Verizon rep: Looks at me and asks, " Do you use the My Verizon App"?.
Leo: I look at him; well, no, I don't use my Verizon app.
My Observations:
I start to grow suspicious, where is this conversation going?
- ❌ The sales rep introduced a touchpoint that I was not familiar with, nor did I think I should be familiar with.
- ❌ The My Verizon app forces me to work within that channel and different product experiences as a customer.
- ❌ Forcing a new channel on me now felt like I was ambushed. And I immediately got frustrated because now I felt unprepared. It made me feel dumb.
Touchpoint: My Verizon App
I Don't Have Permission to Buy a Phone
Verizon rep: States that I cannot purchase the phone right now.
Verizon rep: Because your wife is the account manager of our Verizon account, and as such, until you've been added, I cannot do anything today!
Leo: Why is Verizon making account access my problem? And why didn't I know about this before I got to the store to do this?
Verizon rep: I'm sorry, but I can't do anything for you here unless your wife adds you to the My Verizon App as an account manager so you can purchase and add a new phone to the plan today.
My Observations:
- ❌ Why did the Verizon rep not prompt me much sooner and ask, are you a member of your Verizon account? I would have figured out quickly that I wouldn't walk out of the store with a phone.
- ❌ All the previous interactions that gave me quick wins and dopamine bumps completely evaporated.
- ❌ ❌ The key moment of me "walking out the door with a new phone" just blew up, and now I was the bad guy because I did not have the right permissions in the My Verizon App. (Remember, customers, judge a company based on the key moments, and this determines whether they will come back to the brand)
Touchpoint: My cell phone
I Downloaded the My Verizon App
Leo: Ok, I say, well, while we've been talking, I added the Verizon app to my phone, and I'm logged in. I can see my account and my wife's name in the account.
Leo: And as I am talking to him, I push my phone over to him with the My Verizon app open, and Im like, ok, what do I need to do here to get this fixed?
Verizon rep: takes my phone and is running through a chatbot-type conversation, and I can't see it that well, so Im just hoping he says he got it all fixed.
Verizon rep: Asks me, "What color phone do you prefer?".
Verizon rep: (Gives me back my phone and states flatly.) Sorry, I can't add you; you must contact your wife to add you to the account.
Leo: I respond and ask him why the burden falls on me, the customer, to remedy this problem.
Verizon rep: He looks at me and says, this is for your protection because people have committed fraud or scammed others by pretending to be part of the account.
Leo:
Leo: I tell him I have texted my wife to see if a) she has the My Verizon app on her phone and b) if she has time to add me so that I can buy a phone and add it to our plan.
My Observations:
- ❌ I thought this was just a hiccup because who cares who the account manager is? I am standing in front of the Verizon sales rep, and if needed, I can provide a picture ID.
- ❌ So now Verizon has "for my safety" and has not enabled someone at a store to solve this scenario.
- ❌ This is irritating because I know my wife is running an errand with our two other children and our new baby, and I don't want to cause any more work for her.
Touchpoint: Sales conversation 4
Advised to Order the Phone Online
Leo: I suppose there is nothing else I can do here, correct?
Verizon rep: I don't want to make it seem like I don't want to help you, but I can't do anything for you right now. (Again, he reiterates that I can order it online and pick it up at the store. He apologizes for not being able to help me.)
Leo: I look at my daughter, who has patiently watched me try to purchase a phone, and tell her it's time to go home.
My Observations:
- ✅ The Verizon rep has been pleasant throughout this encounter and is doing his job.
- ❌ I disagree with his assessment that I, the customer, should pick up the slack in the customer experience where I cannot do anything because I am not the My Verizon account's owner or manager. I did not know this responsibility fell on me.
- ❌ Verizon never prompted me to become an account manager to ensure my next phone upgrade happens effortlessly.
- ❌ Other people committing fraud in that touchpoint is also not my problem. But Verizon made it my problem.
- ❌ Digital transformation can cause breakdowns in the customer experience, as I experienced. Better to transform one stage in the journey than multiple stages simultaneously.
Touchpoint: Leaving the store
I Felt Dejected
As I walked back to my car, there were a lot of thoughts swirling through my head.
My Observations:
- ❌ Im disappointed that this simple task I set out to do could not be completed.
- ❌ I am annoyed that I had to reach out to my wife and interrupt her when I knew she was busy running some errands with our children.
- ❌ I was disappointed by the experience because I thought adding a new phone to my plan would be easy. (It should have been a cakewalk)
- ❌ I learned that some interactions required the My Verizon App
- ❌ The account manager policy, which led to my inability to verify myself in the store, was created to favor internal Verizon policies and organizational design rather than long-term Verizon customers like myself.
At Home
Tasks:
- My wife tried to add me to the My Verizon app but could not complete this task successfully.
- She had to call Verizon and ask for assistance. They were able to help her and get me added to the account.
- Twice she tried to figure out how to get a new phone via the app. She was able to complete the task on the third try.
Store Phone Pickup
Tasks
- Pick up my new cell phone
- I returned to the same Verizon store and picked up my pre-ordered phone.
My Observations:
- Verizon rep was fast and courteous
- I left within 3 minutes after I entered the store.
Summary
What began as a simple task that could have been completed in less than ten minutes became a twenty-minute conversation in the store and morphed into a days-long interaction. Adding or upgrading a new phone was a transaction that spanned three channels and numerous touchpoints. It forced me as a customer to work too hard to complete this task.
Managing multiple sales channels is difficult in the best of times, but implementing and solving the most important and addressable customer pain points will create an unbeatable customer experience. I am positive that over time Verizon will focus on the crux of their customer experience and make it unbeatable for me next time when I add or upgrade a new phone.
Written by Leo Vroegindewey, B2B CX Consultant
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