Dive Brief:
- Sonos is working to earn customer trust back after a disastrous app release in May. The company released a seven-point plan Tuesday to address the root causes of the app failure and to rebuild customer trust.
- The company plans to appoint a quality ombudsperson, increase the stringency of pre-launch testing and establish a customer advisory board.
- “Our priority since its release has been — and continues to be — fixing the app. There were missteps, and we first went deep to understand how we got here, and then moved to convert those learnings into action,” Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said in a prepared statement.
Dive Insight:
Just under five months ago, Sonos released a new app. Customers were irate.
“They removed the volume numbers so you can't exactly know where you're at. Sigh,” one customer posted on Reddit. “This interface is a nightmare,” another said.
The fallout didn’t just hurt users, but led Sonos to reduce its fiscal 2024 guidance in its Q3 2024 earnings statement.
Through its new plan, Sonos hopes it can win back customer trust in the company through an “unwavering” commitment to customer experience.
Sonos announced that unless it can improve the app experience and win back trust, no member of the executive leadership team would accept any annual bonus payout for the current fiscal year that runs from October through September 2025.
“We are committed to making changes to get us back to being the brand people love by offering the best audio system for the home and beyond. We must always do right by our customers, and I am confident that, with these commitments, we will,” Spence said in a statement.
As part of the changes, Sonos said that it will gradually release changes to its app to provide time for customer feedback, instead of doing so all at once like it did in May. It will continue to release software updates every two to four weeks, even after the current app issue is resolved. The company will also extend its warranty on home speakers by one year in a bid to regain customer trust.
Sonos CFO Saori Casey said on a Q3 2024 earnings call in August the company would invest $20 million to $30 million in “fixing the app, supporting our customers and regaining their trust.”
