Following its app’s failure earlier this year, Sonos has outlined a turnaround plan to address the issues that were introduced by a recent update. In May, Sonos relaunched its app while adding the Ace headphones to its product list. The update received criticism and backlash from the customers, which led to the revenue loss and layoffs of the employees.
In the Sonos app update, the old user-friendly features were removed or altered to become extremely dysfunctional. The new features that were introduced were full of bugs and faced considerable functionality issues. With this disastrous move, the brand lost the trust of its loyal customers and failed to impress new buyers.
As the company still faces repercussions of the backlash, Sonos outlined seven new commitments on Tuesday to fix the issues of the app update and regain the trust of the customers.
Image: Sonos
The Sonos App’s Turnaround Plan
On Tuesday, the Sonos app outlined its turnaround plan which included “seven commitments.” These commitments ranged from business importance to customer feedback. The seven commitments included being considerate of customer requirements when introducing changes, shifting more focus towards the customer experience, establishing a customer advisory board to have regular feedback from the customers, and a few more assertive yet vague statements.
The company also plans to appoint an ombudsperson, a person who will be responsible for the proper communication and transparency between the employees and executive leadership. This person will ensure that employees can escalate their concerns to executives during production. The ombudsperson will also publish a report to management and employees twice a year regarding transparency and communication.
To regain the trust of the customers, the company has also committed to extend the manufacturer’s warranty for all the home theater and plug-in-speaker devices that are currently under the warranty period. Sonos guarantees that the app will be updated every 2-4 weeks to enhance the user experience and soon, 100% of the old features will be restored.
As per the company statement, the executive management will not accept any bonus payout for the October 2024-September 2025 financial year unless the company resolves all the issues and regains trust among the customers.
Shortcomings of the Sonos App
The app update has faced significant backlash and criticism from loyal customers, and the company has acknowledged that the new version was a major mistake. The many issues of the Sonos app update include connectivity issues with devices, old playlists of users disappearing, the app crashing on Android mobiles, and many features like sleep, alarm, and Wi-Fi channels being removed. Many users were unable to access their MP3s while others faced issues in switching between different devices.
Sonos has a large customer base when it comes to their home theaters and speakers. Even after the release of the disastrous app updates, many users believe in the hardware from the company and they are still waiting for the app to be fixed.
While customers still face some issues, the company is trying its best to fix them, and these seven commitments look to be a great step forward.