Merge Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

It’s all around us and there is nothing anyone can do. Today companies are merging at an alarming rate. Alarming because I believe companies are after that monopoly money, and I’m not talking Milton Bradley, and not thinking through the effects it may have on their company. Everywhere I turn I see a billboard announcing the newest merge. Every channel I turn to I see a new commercial announcing things like “Sprint now together with Nextel.” Below you will find just a few of the latest mergers in the telecommunications market:

Sprint + Nextel
SBC + AT&T
Cingular Wireless + AT&T Wireless
Verizon + MCI

What will be next, the four-company merger, uniting and elevating already very powerful companies to super human type strength?

I have, on one level or another had to interact with most of these companies before the merger and ultimately left them because of their service. Now that they are even bigger, what do you think will happen to their service? Do you think they will be able to manage all aspects of their brand as well and make sure things run smoothly from the highest executive all the way down to the customer service reps? This is alarming to me for a number of reasons. The first and most important reason quality of service. I’d be willing to stick my neck out and say that days of great service and the satisfied consumer are slowing slipping away, especially if this merger business continues. I’m sure you all have started to see it for yourselves. How many times have you had a problem with a bill or question you needed answered only to be treated like a stepchild? Hey you don’t really matter they have millions and millions of customers so losing one won’t matter. I know I have on numerous occasions. Once or twice I got really upset and I even threatened to take my business away, the customer service people did everything except laugh at me and tell me to “go ahead and do it then.” They don’t care about us individually just as a whole or target number. I also don’t think it’s a large stretch to say they see dollar signs and lots of them. This is one reason I believe small business will start to take over and brand experience is so huge. I like to feel like a company values me and there is a relationship where both parts try to make the other happy, I pay my bill and they treat me with respect and help me when I’m having problems with any part of their service. After all without us there is no we.

The second reason this trend is alarming to me is the threat the rebirth of category monopoly. Right now, if we are not pleased with service, we can take our business elsewhere. We still have the ultimate freedom and power. If things continue to shift the power will be in the hands of those providing the service and if we want in we will have no choice but to abide by their regulations.