They must have a daily connection to your network to telecommute from home, for their children to conduct research for school, for instant data transfer via facsimile, and for them to stay in constant contact with their office via wireless communications. As a result, customers demand more technologically from their telecommunications service provider than ever before. Customers are overwhelmed by technology. So much new technology has been initiated in the last few years that customers often have a hard time deciphering it all and deciding how exactly it can benefit them. Many of these new telecommunications services seem hard to use, and customers feel intimidated in seeking answers to the way new technology works.
Technology is an intangible commodity to which customers have a hard time relating.
Even though customers use technology every day, they have a difficult time relating directly to it. When they purchase a gallon of milk, they hold a cold, white, plastic bottle of fluid in their hands. Technology is not something they can hold in their hands, which makes it harder for them to appreciate. Many customers have had poor service encounters with other telecommunications providers, like their long-distance providers. Because customers tend to group their perceptions about telecommunications in general terms, these poor encounters can lead to hard feelings for the LEC, even though they have not been involved.