Tthis is a post about organizations trying communicating with their customers but getting it wrong.
I have signed up for various notifications, typically by text or email. Tragically, sometimes organizations manage to use these in a way that makes me think they are idiots.
- I just received a text from my local library that a book I’ve had on hold forever has come in. The problem is that I picked it up last night.
- I got an email from my Honda dealer that my minivan is due for service – two days after the service was done, by them.
- I get both emails and texts from Target that my store credit card payment due date is coming up — even though my balance is zero.
To me these seem like violations of a simple and obvious design principle: don’t send a notification that is moot. All it does it point out to your customer that your systems are broken. And that means that your organization is clueless and really should not be trusted with my business.
Delay is also important. I have my Bank of America profile set so that I get texts notifying me of ATM withdrawls. I should get them when I do a withdrawl, but never at other times. Often, these arrive within minutes, but sometimes, they take 6 hours or so to arrive. The immediate feedback ratchets up my confidence that I would find out immediately if fraudulent activity were to occur. The delayed feedback? They are having the opposite effect. I obviously cannot trust BofA systems to notify me of activity in a timely way. Should I trust them for anything else?