I worked for Discover Financial Services last summer and was able to see that their main focus is on customer service. In terms of branding, they focus mainly on being the card used by your average, middle-class card member. As opposed to American Express who targets a higher class member, Discover focuses on the normal American consumer. In its current commercials, Discover promotes that its employees are just like the people calling them. Discover wants its members to know that when they call in, there will be a real person on the other end of the line that can assist them in whatever they need.
Below is a link to the Discover website where you can view some of the current commercials:
https://www.discover.com/company/our-company/advertising/index.html
Discover is known for its customer service. It was ranked a close 2nd to American Express in the JD Power survey on customer satisfaction. Discover was only behind by a few points. They have also won numerous awards for customer service and follow the motto that the customer is always right. During my internship, I was able to visit one of the call centers and listen in on calls. The agents are not only incentivized to answer as many calls as possible, but more importantly they are incentivized to make the calls memorable and about the customer. Discover is a new company and used its customer service focus to get to the top of its industry.
I think there is a strong relationship between brand and reputation. Discover ties its branding of being a company for the average American with its reputation of customer service by providing exceptional service to anyone and not just a targeted class of people. Discover is the all encompassing brand where any customer can call in and feel like they are having a personalized experience. They don't want to be all fancy and technical, but instead treat their customers in a casual, yet still professional, way.
Were you able to find out how Discover built its brand? How did they begin, and how did it become a household name?
ReplyDeleteI must be an abnormal American. I use Visa and Mastercard. Seriously, when I worked full time for the University I had an American Express through campus for which I would put my business travel and I otherwise used my personal credit card for other purchases, where pretty much as long as I can remember the credit card we had gave us points toward something. It used to be frequent flyer miles on American Airlines. Now it is points for gifts at Amazon.com. Would there be a benefit in my using the Discover Card of that sort?
ReplyDeleteLet me hazard a guess here. Normal in your use of the word translates to - carries a positive balance on their credit card from month to month. People in this category have to actively manage the balance and then may call in with some frequency for doing that. If that's right, American Express is not really comparable, because they require you to pay the balance in full. If it is not right, it would be good to know what normal means from the company's view.
We never carry a balance and always pay in full each month. The only time we call the credit card company is when our account got hacked - Schnucks was hacked and all people who used Schnucks with credit transactions had to get new cards - or when I last lost my wallet, which unfortunately happens from time to time but thankfully not recently. Otherwise, having a well functioning call center is not what would drive me to use that credit card. But being responsible for transactions that a hacker rang up until the card was stopped would definitely move me away from that company. In the Schnucks case, I have to say the company blocked the suspicious transactions immediately and we weren't out a dime.
In response to Oliver Williamson: Discover began as a small brand and built up through their customers. Their reputation began because they were all about customer service and became known for that attribute.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Professor Arvan: Discover's principal incentive is cash rewards. Customers earn credits for purchases which can be turned into "cash" by check or towards an outstanding bill. One goal of customer service is to assist customers in monetizing cash rewards. Discover does not benefit from unused rewards and therefore wants to help its customers realized the value of these rewards so they can be used.
According to my father (who currently works at Discover), the typical Discover customer ($100,000 median income) is not wealthy but appreciates value. Their general expectations are relatively low for customer service (i.e., a call center in the Philippines or India). Discover's U.S. domestic agents paired with its approach for individual based delivery called iShine are a pleasant surprise to the average customer which helps build brand loyalty. This strategy has helped Discover achieve a number two ranking (just under AMEX) by J.D. Power for customer interaction which is a composite of five weighted factors, including: Website Interaction, Customer Service Representative Interaction, Assisted Online Interaction, Automated Phone System Interaction, and Mobile Phone Interaction.
I definitely think of Discover as being a company that tries to have a focus on customer service. I think that the fact that my view of their reputation matches up with the branding they want to have means that they are being effective in putting forward the image the want to the public. During your internship did you find that the employees actually cared about providing good customer services, or did the policy appear to be more of a ploy to gain market share?
ReplyDeleteI also interned for a large company who's main focus was on customer service. They were a large hotel corporation, so it came with the territory. And before that, I worked as a bank teller, which of course was all about customer service. So, I understand the strong ties between the way the Discover brand's "customer-centric" service is viewed, and reputation of how they operate in regards to the importance of customer satisfaction. Additionally, I find the appeal to the average American to be quite interesting, as opposed to American Express' target audience.
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