In dealing with my primary bank recently for consolidating my student loans, I came across a disturbing reality. Far too many companies (and usually some of our largest ones) are relying on old business practices like having to mail in forms or do applications over the phone. To an internet-savvy consumer, this is excruciating. With the cost of having a website being so low, and the abundance of developers out there that can create a basic way to take customers information, this shouldn’t happen anymore.
My personal experience was a mind-numbing adventure that almost lead me to move my business elsewhere. First, I decided to put in my student loan consolidation application in online. I gathered all my information and went through the form. I hit submit and received a confirmation number. I thought to myself, “Great, that’s done now I just wait”. Well, the next evening I received a call from someone at the education services division of the bank and they told me that they received an application from me online but that none of my information was present in it. I know for a fact that I filled in everything (as it took me about 15 minutes to do so), so there must have been some glitch with their online application system. I was frustrated (as the primary goal of any system is to work), but I decided to go back online and try it again.
I went through the process again, entered in all my information, and again submitted my application. I received another confirmation number, so I saved it off and waited again. I hadn’t heard anything for about a week, so I decided to call the bank. I told them what happened and gave them my confirmation number. They then told me that they had no record of my application! I was furious as I never even got a call this time. So, the rep apologized (a lot) and offered to let me speak with a consolidation expert to get my application in. Irritated as I was, I agreed.
The consolidation expert offered to do my application over the phone, so I started to give him all the information he asked of me. It was obvious that he was literally reading each piece of information directly off of the website form, as it was the same information I had just entered twice before. About 15 minutes later, we were finally done. Then the consolidation expert says that “for some unknown reason” I’m not eligible to sign my documents online. He then says that I need to print out the documents (with all my personal information on them), sign them, and mail them back to the bank. I wasn’t even able to fax them, I had to mail them. How ridiculous is that?
At that point I had just about had enough. I told the rep exactly how I felt about the way they were doing business. If you’re making it difficult for your customers to do business with you, you’re hurting your bottom line. The goal is to make it easier for customers to do business with you so that they continue to do so. If you can offer them a great product or service for a great price and make it easy for them to do, then they will keep coming back. Don’t fall into the trap that many companies are today of having the facade that they are easy to use when it reality they are not.
