{"id":334,"date":"2011-11-07T00:07:31","date_gmt":"2011-11-07T07:07:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/?p=334"},"modified":"2011-11-07T11:33:02","modified_gmt":"2011-11-07T18:33:02","slug":"netflix%e2%80%99s-communication-style-a-study-in-what-not-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/2011\/11\/07\/netflix%e2%80%99s-communication-style-a-study-in-what-not-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Netflix\u2019s Communication Style: A Study in What NOT to Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I must confess that I have a soft spot for Netflix. I worked there briefly eons ago when the company was in its infancy and I had briefly toyed with joining the dark side and leaving consulting. \ud83d\ude09 Back then, Marc Randolph was CEO. I liked Marc. I liked the product. And I just knew the company would do well, and it did\u2014something my husband likes to remind me of from time to time, since I didn\u2019t stay long enough to vest.<\/p>\n

So, given this fondness, I was sad to see Netflix make such a muck of things these past few months. Some say its arrogance. Some say its greed. Some say Netflix is just moving too fast. The latter is not new.<\/p>\n

I get the need to \u201cmove at Internet speed,\u201d but even back then I thought Netflix could benefit from a little more thought before public action. Now, it\u2019s even more imperative, because they’re big and everything they do is noticeable. An interesting quote from Hastings in a New York Times<\/em><\/a> blog post on the latest reversal, speaks to this moving too fast:<\/p>\n

\u2018\u201cCompanies rarely die from moving too fast, and they frequently die from moving too slowly,\u2019 Mr. Hastings wrote in a blog post that night. His implication then was that Netflix had to act aggressively to expand its fast-growing streaming service by severing its older, slower DVD-by-mail arm.<\/em><\/p>\n

In a sentence that now seems like a bit of foreshadowing, Mr. Hastings also wrote, \u2018It is possible we are moving too fast \u2014 it is hard to say.\u2019\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

However\u2026whether Netflix is moving too fast or not really isn\u2019t what\u2019s causing their reputation problems. Their communication style is.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Communication Breakdown # 1: Being Less Than Forthright<\/h2>\n

On the surface, the pricing increase wasn\u2019t out of sync: $7.99 per month for unlimited DVDs, one out at a time, or $11.99 to have two out at a time, while streaming would be $7.99 per month. Blockbuster is $11.99 for one, $16.99 for two, and $19.99 for three.<\/p>\n

Previously, streaming and unlimited DVDs (one at a time) combined was $9.99, so $15.98 for both is a big percentage increase, if not a huge amount of money on its own. However, at least one satellite provider that I know (who will remain nameless) charges $5.99 per pay-per-view movie, so $15.98 for unlimited streaming and DVDs sounds like a steal.<\/p>\n

Sure, for some it\u2019s too much. And they will, as expected, drop the service in favor of more affordable options, like Redbox, even if less convenient. But why this intense, over-the-top backlash?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Quite simple: Netflix said the pricing change was for their customers, when it was obvious it wasn\u2019t. To a large percentage of Netflix subscribers, the post on the Netflix blog<\/a> was nothing but marketing fluff. And it made them angry.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Communication lesson:<\/strong> Be up front. Don\u2019t package any messaging\u2014especially in social media\u2014in fluff designed to make it look like you\u2019re doing your customers a favor. They may not like the decision you made, but they won\u2019t ever get as mad as they will when you try to pull the wool over their eyes. It increases the irritation factor exponentially.<\/p>\n

Communication Breakdown # 2: Ignoring the Conversation<\/h2>\n

Other than the blog posts announcing the price changes<\/a> in July, apologizing and announcing Qwikster<\/a> in September, and announcing that Qwikster was a no-go<\/a> in October (and similar emails to customers and announcements on Facebook and Twitter), Netflix has pretty much remained silent on these topics at all other times. Bad idea.<\/p>\n

This deafening silence doesn\u2019t appear limited to the current communication crisis either. On their Facebook wall, for example, I didn\u2019t see any response from them to any follower posts in the last 72 hours. Positive comments, complaints, queries, customer service questions\u2014other followers commented, but Netflix was missing from the conversation. Again, bad idea\u2014and a big no-no in the social world.<\/p>\n

Communication lesson: <\/strong>Don\u2019t ignore the conversation. Let me repeat it in case it wasn\u2019t clear: DON\u2019T IGNORE THE CONVERSATION. Embrace it and let it be an opportunity to strut your customer service responsiveness.<\/p>\n

Communication Breakdown # 3: Not Tapping the Pulse of Customers First<\/h2>\n

One gets the feeling that Netflix communicated very little with customers prior to the announcement in order to understand how the changes would be received. If that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s not a good idea. Consumers are used to having a say and don\u2019t hesitate to voice their displeasure, making gaining customer insight prior to implementing big changes a must in the social age.<\/p>\n

Communication lesson:<\/strong> Test the waters before making big changes\u2014and test them well. My friend and talented colleague Jennifer Berkley Jackson of The Insight Advantage<\/a> is very good at helping companies do just that.<\/p>\n

Communication Breakdown # 4: Waiting Two Months to Apologize\u2026<\/h2>\n

\u2026and wrapping that apology with an announcement that \u201cHey, we\u2019re now breaking these two separately priced services into two companies and websites.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reed\u2019s apology<\/a> started off on the right foot, \u201cI messed up.\u201d He even offered an explanation, although it didn\u2019t come across entirely as a mea culpa and many felt it a backhanded apology. But he made it worse by tacking on another \u201cbig\u201d announcement at the end. It was like Netflix learned nothing from the fiasco two months ago. And what was the community response? The exact same thing as occurred with the pricing announcement.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Communication lesson:<\/strong> Fess up. Right away. Don\u2019t wait, because you think it will blow over. In today\u2019s social world, it likely won\u2019t go away. If anything, it will gain momentum, because customers will just get angrier over being ignored and your perceived arrogance. So, take a lesson from the politicians\u2014especially since they seem incapable of learning it\u2014if you fess up and apologize, things will go a lot smoother.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t tie your apology to another announcement, as any genuine intentions in the apology will be colored\u2014from your audience\u2019s perspective\u2014by the \u201cthing\u201d you\u2019re announcing, unless, of course, it\u2019s undoing whatever upset them in the first place.<\/p>\n

There are other breakdowns and lessons to be learned from Netflix\u2019s pain, but who wants to read a blog post that long? This one is long enough. I will, however, go over a few of the social media no-nos Netflix committed throughout this almost four-month-long communication spiral in my next blog post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I must confess that I have a soft spot for Netflix. I worked there briefly eons ago when the company was in its infancy and I had briefly toyed with joining the dark side and leaving consulting. \ud83d\ude09 Back then, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[12,40,23],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":361,"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334\/revisions\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/aveconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}