This article will be posted on 360 Magazine but appears here first as a courtesy to CXPA members.
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: when I hear “Dancing Queen,” I usually want to run screaming from the room. I can tolerate “Take A Chance On Me,” but only for its kitsch value. Never would I describe myself as even a casual ABBA fan.
That changed, however, when I was working at home alone, minding my own business with Spotify’s “New Music Friday” playlist (even though it was a Tuesday). I gradually became aware of a lilting, reflective but decidedly hopeful song that couldn’t have been in starker contrast to the tracks from Drake’s new ‘Certified Lover Boy” album.
When I checked, I discovered the song I was hearing was “I Still Have Faith In You,” ABBA’s remarkable comeback single after a seeming eternity of being away from the recording studio.
Two things that came to mind right away:
- I loved it. It struck me as the kind of number that might be performed win the middle or near the climax of a Broadway show — that moment when, against all odds, the hero decides to give it one more chance and overcome (insert big conflict here).
- There seemed to be something about the lyrics —as I played it over and over (and over!) again — that could be interpreted as a conversation about customer experience.
I realize this sounds laughable. I’m aware I’m probably the only listener who had this reaction. And yet.
If you were going to compose an anthem based on a duet between the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the Brand, could you possibly do better than this?
Let’s walk through it together. I’ll indicate who would sing which part and the subtext behind what’s sung.
CUSTOMER (reaching out for service and support once again, despite many previous disappointments):
I still have faith in you
I see it now
Through all these years that faith lives on, somehow
BRAND (confident in its ability to personalize interactions and remember the CUSTOMER’s previous account history):
There was a union
Of heart and mind
The likes of which are rare and oh so hard to find
CUSTOMER: (on hold, waiting for their questions to be answered and feeling like there’s no better option, all the bad memories flooding back):
Do I have it in me?
I believe it is in there
For I know I hear a bittersweet song
In the memories we share
BRAND (confidence faltering as it realizes wait times and first call resolution are tracking poorly. Beginning to feel daunted at ever getting a good CSAT score):
But I remind myself
Of who we are
How inconceivable it is to reach this far
ALL (as CUSTOMER and BRAND finally connect via an agent, they work together and experience the utter bliss of achieving a mutually successful outcome):
We do have it in us
New spirit has arrived
The joy and the sorrow
We have a story
And it survived
And we need one another
Like fighters in a ring
We're in this together
Passion and courage
Is everything
CURTAIN
Okay, it needs a little work. No, I would not recommend using this as hold music. I just can’t hear it and think of it having any other meaning. And now, unfortunately (I’m sorry!), you might not either.