Over the weekend I experienced an "Ultimate Question Moment" in person. In an interesting example of life imitating art...

I was in a social setting with a few other people when a specific subject came up regarding services for elderly parents. No sooner did the subject arise than one of the individuals present began a lengthy oration about the extremely poor service he had received from a well-know supplier in this category of services. What caught my attention was that his willingness NOT to recommend this particular company stemmed from only one poor experience - one that was based on a contact center interaction. (For years we have observed a similar dynamic - that a single poor interaction impacts up to 70% of customer defections) As his diatribe continued, I cringed at every successive detail he brought out.

Among other shortcomings, the all-too-familiar culprits emerged:

1. Inability for the first person he spoke with to completely address his needs (first call resolution/match rate issue)

2. Unwillingness for the first resource to provide a warm transfer (likely under pressure for handle time performance)

3. Disconnected upon first transfer (training/process issues)

4. Lack of context upon second attempt (IVR played full range of menu options, with forced-listening)

5. Second resource reached unaware of prior experience (lack of context - lack of empathy)

6. Second resource unable to completely address his needs . . .(see #1)

7. etc. etc . . .

In classic Net Detractor behavior, my friend (without prompting) announced to our group, "I highly recommend you never do business with ____________," stating the name of a company that I am sure almost every everyone reading this post would be familiar with. What was frustrating to me was that his pronouncement resulted from issues that have been well known in the world of customer contact for many years.

I'm sure everyone who heard the story that day is capable of making their own decisions. But I'm equally sure that, based on the respect and familiarity we have with this individual, we will recall his story when making a decision about a product in this category. And seeing that everyone present had an elderly parent, it's likely that this company lost 6 prospective customers on the spot, without even knowing it.

There are millions of customer contacts every day. And while averages drive the day (ASA. AHT), it's the outliers (both good and bad) that drive customer buying behavior and eventually end up as an Ultimate Question consideration.