Posted by Jon
What is it with hotel TV these days? I switched on the set after checking in the other day, and was faced with a complex menu of options, offering me:
What is it with hotel TV these days? I switched on the set after checking in the other day, and was faced with a complex menu of options, offering me:
Parental control
Language
1 TV & Movies
2 Music & Radio
3 Internet
4 Adult
5 Special Offer
6 Pause-Stop-Play
7 Guest Services
All services for one price of £18.99
Charged on your bill as Communication Services
Novotel Hotels
Now, all I wanted to do was to watch the TV. So I found the right option, and found my way to the BBC News channel.
Then I went out for dinner. I came back to the room, and thought I’d check the late evening news before going to bed. On with the TV set. And guess what? There was the menu again.
The following morning, waking up? Yep, the menu. After breakfast? You guessed it. Arriving back from running a course the following day? Why, I hadn’t seen the menu for a while…
I know they want to make money from me. But this is a triumph of supplier-centric thinking – the inability to understand my preferences, as the customer, and to provide content that meets my needs. They clearly think it’s more important to push their various products in the hope I’ll give in and they’ll make some money from me. “Hey, I don’t want to watch the news after all. Let’s go for some Communication Services.”
I see a fair few proposals that follow the same principles: let’s list our products, rather than finding ways to respond to the customer’s requirements. And the frustration for the buyer is similarly increased as the the chances of them making a purchase declines.
Then I went out for dinner. I came back to the room, and thought I’d check the late evening news before going to bed. On with the TV set. And guess what? There was the menu again.
The following morning, waking up? Yep, the menu. After breakfast? You guessed it. Arriving back from running a course the following day? Why, I hadn’t seen the menu for a while…
I know they want to make money from me. But this is a triumph of supplier-centric thinking – the inability to understand my preferences, as the customer, and to provide content that meets my needs. They clearly think it’s more important to push their various products in the hope I’ll give in and they’ll make some money from me. “Hey, I don’t want to watch the news after all. Let’s go for some Communication Services.”
I see a fair few proposals that follow the same principles: let’s list our products, rather than finding ways to respond to the customer’s requirements. And the frustration for the buyer is similarly increased as the the chances of them making a purchase declines.
RSS Feed
