Dish Network makes a big marketing mistake

Today I called Dish Network to cancel HBO because I find that I really do not watch it. When I called Dish Network to cancel my account, I was taken through and automated voice system that allowed me to cancel HBO by pressing a button. Quick, easy....and a big mistake by Dish Network.

What was the mistake?

I should have been directed to a customer service rep who asked me why I was canceling HBO. The rep could have learned that I wanted more movies and less HBO programming. Then, the rep could have tried to sell me on switching to a different movie package such as Stars or Cinemax. But, that opportunity was lost. Dish Network could have probably made an easy sale by finding out my problem with HBO and getting me to sign up with a different movie service. I wonder how many hundreds of thousands of dollars (or even millions) Dish Network is losing by using an automated system instead of using customer service reps?

Is your business making this mistake? Are you losing tons of sales because you are trying to automate everything instead of having customers talk to your sales reps?
Peter Geisheker
CEO
The Geisheker Group Marketing Firm