By: Robert Kobek, RRP, President

Mobius VP, LLC.

If you do social media like I do, you tend to notice there is no shortage of complaints about ‘customer service’. The cable companies, banks, doctors, car dealers and ad infinitum, customers complain and complain and complain about – not the product, but the service.

And it should be no surprise that I am a strong proponent of measuring customer service experience, as I am about measuring the entire customer experience journey. I guess in part to keep them from griping, fix what is broken and they will stop. Ask and they will tell.

Everyone but that guy that who ‘will complain if you hang him with a rope.’

But then, there is that B2B situation that defies logic. It has been said, and verified through experience, that big clients leave. In our case, we have had big clients leave, and without exception, thanking us for the high level of service and amazing capabilities of our software. Recently we were thanked in a ‘so long’ letter for our assistance. We tend to walk across the street for clients, past and present.

Why do they leave? Shiny objects. Like Salesforce or Qualtrics. Those platforms are so complicated that adding head count is the only way to manage them. They are the expensive platforms that are successful because they are expensive. And complicated.

They are exempt from the ‘we have to shrink to grow’ mantra of many CEO’s who struggle with where and how and who to cut. They are the job protection seekers paradise. Shiny object software does not fall into the EBIDA equation of cutbacks.

It is much more in our wheelhouse to work with those companies whose measurement of software will add to their bottom line – show an ROI and not be ignored by Tuesdays EBIDA.

At one time, my only real ask in our business development process was – give us an opportunity to compete.

I love small to medium size businesses. They do have loyalty to products, service and companies.