Netflix: Even the Best Aren't Immune

This one is a bit painful.  Really painful, actually. Allow me to explain.

For most of the last decade I worked for Netflix as Director of Consumer Insights.  I had the great  pleasure of working with truly amazingly talented people who shared a passion for success and commitment to customer engagement and understanding.  So you can understand my surprised reaction when Netflix notified me that it was removing a several-years-old feature of its website experience: Profiles.

Profiles allow an account holder to allocate a certain number of discs to someone else in their household (dvds just for the kids) or to be of a specific genre (horror only).  Each Profile has a separate queue and comes and goes independent of other account households. The benefit to the customer is that it simplifies the management of titles and their distribution, the benefit to Netflix is that it allows for more individuals to interact with the highly user friendly Netflix site, increasing barriers to exit for the household account.

 

On June 18, Netflix emailed current subscribers that use Profiles that, effective September 1, Profiles would be discontinued.  Allow me to be very clear on this next point:  I have neither issue nor argument with the firm’s decision to eliminate the feature.  While I have been a charter and happy user of Profiles, I cannot second guess the decision (I think Rick Aristotle Munarriz raises some compelling arguments on that front in his recent Motley Fool post).  My issue is how the much-loved, internet leader in customer satisfaction, Netflix communicated the decision to its loyal customer base.

 

At 9:18 in the evening of June 18, I received this email from Netflix:

 

 

In the notification they indeed tell me WHAT is happening, WHEN it is happening, WHAT TO DO because it is happening… but for users of this feature, what is the one thing they really care about now that Netflix has told them that Profiles is being eliminated? They want to know the WHY.  And that is no where in their email.  Netflix explains that this “will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.”  But this is a purported OUTCOME of the decision, not a WHY, the thing a consumer wants.

But wait… the email states that if one has questions the answers are just a click or call away.  By clicking on the Help link a user will see the following information:

 

There certainly is new information here. This new information includes:

• Profiles movie ratings and Friends connections (its community feature) will be eliminated
• Transferring any current Profiles information to a new account is not possible
• You can set a maturity filter on the main account 

In essence, it details all that will be lost in more detail than the original email and lets the user know that if they’d like to filter out content for themselves they now have that ability. It also restates all that was in the first communications about the WHAT, WHEN, and WHAT TO DO.  But what’s not there, what is lacking despite being told to go here with any questions, is the WHY. Users still do not know WHY Netflix has decided, after several years, to eliminate this feature.

 

So if we stop the story here, the official words from Netflix lack a semblance of an explanation as to WHY this decision was made.  But wait, there’s more…  Let me share with you two more communications that were made by Netflix (but not communicated to Profiles users at all).

 

At 12:16 in the early morning of June 19, a Netflix product manager, Todd (ID gbiddle616), posted the following to the Netflix Community Blog:

 

 

While a more personal attempt to explain the situation, this posting actually makes matters worse.  How so?  First, it explains that the feature was “difficult to understand and cumbersome” for “too many members.”  A user who reads this and has successfully used the Profiles feature may conclude that Netflix is punishing him/her for actually being able to use the feature; the inability of some is penalizing others.  Additionally, if it is difficult and cumbersome (for some), who made it that way? The successful users? Clearly not.  Netflix did… shouldn’t the firm fix it or communicate a commitment to do so?

 

Second, this was posted to a community blog that, while accessible to the entire Netflix base (in the footer of every page), is not likely read by all Profiles users.  In essence, Netflix found it important to add this additional attempt at fidelity but only for those who seek it out.

 

Bu wait, there’s still one more.  At the exact same 12:16 in the same early morning of June 19, Adrian of Netflix, posted the following to the Netflix Community Forum (not the same as the Netflix Blog):

 

Adrian’s addition to the quandary proves interesting.  Because of the way the site was built and Profiles was integrated into it, the maintenance of this feature – used by a percent or two of the total base – is slowing down further progress for all.  Essentially, a more expanded explanation of the same theme indirectly raised in the original email and Todd’s post of the exact same moment.  But the new piece of information and the likely true reason for the elimination and not the improvement is the one to two percent of the total user base who uses this feature.

Let me summarize what I now personally think, based on these three communications alone, is the reason Netflix decided to cancel the feature: 

 

The effort for managing the existing code-base for Profiles is not warranted based on the low usage of the feature.

 

Let us assume this is the correct WHY that we have been seeking.  Again, allow me to remind you that I have no issue with the decision, merely the way in which it was communicated.

 

How did I come to the conclusion that this is the reason why Netflix decided to eliminate Profiles? Was it because they told me so? No.  In the original email AND related Help section it gave no explanation.  The proactive communication from the company did not tell me this. 

 

I came to this conclusion because I pieced together two separate blogs that contained posts from (what I assume to be) Netflix employees that each contained slightly different information.  In other words I had to seek it out- I was not told.

 

What lessons does this example teach us?

• Be clear and direct in communications to customers. Netflix did not communicate WHY the decision was made in its proactive communications to its user base, the one thing that all consumers want to know when a disappointing decision is made.
• Own the dialog. As a likely result of NOT indicating why the feature is being canceled, consumers reacted to Netflix's decision with more ferocity than normal (more than 400 comments on HackingNetflix.com, nearly 900 posts on the Netflix Community Blog, nearly 1,000 comments on the Netflix Forum blog). People can be disappointed with the decision but will be even more so if they don't understand why. And one can't understand if they are not told. (see this representative blog post)
• Communicate the decision once. As a likely result of negative, vocal customer reaction on the evening of June 19 (and I am completely hypothesizing here), Netflix decided it needed to communicate to the most visible of forums, its blogs (in the wee hours of the following morning). Unfortunately, different messages were put on the two blogs. Furthermore, this would likely only... appease... those Profiles users who actually engage with Netflix's blogs. Don't all Profiles users deserve the same information and explanation at the same time?
• Being big raises the bar.  There is a reason that Netflix is one of the rare companies to have beaten Wal-Mart, foiled entertainment-at-home King Blockbuster, and commands the discussion of the future of downloading movies- they are brilliant, focused, driven, and passionate at every level in the entire organization.  However as a company grows in size, scale, and success, it needs to maintain focus on raising the bar (not just maintaining it) in its care and nurturing of its most valued assets, its customers.  This translates into a true competitive advantage for a company when it is felt by its customers. Apparently many of  Netflix's Profiles users are lacking this today and they needn't have.

I truly believe this is an outlier for Netflix and not an indication of "jumping the shark" or losing its customer-centric focus. But it always wise to step back, take stock, and ensure that the proper focus is placed where it needs to be.  I think this will happen in Los Gatos, California, this week.