Sonos is one of the world’s best=loved audio systems but the release of a new app broke what was one … [+]
When one of the world’s favorite audio brands released a significant update to its app, it upset a swathe of its loyal customer base. The recent overhaul of the Sonos app for controlling the company’s range of wireless speakers and headphones didn’t go down too well with customers. The update broke a lot of the software’s core functionality and missed out on many popular features.
Now, in response to the release and some excoriating feedback from customers, Sonos has announced the launch of seven new commitments following an internal review of the updated app which was released in May. Sonos says the commitments will ensure it continues to deliver the “best wireless audio system in the world and its customers always enjoy the quality for which Sonos is known.”
“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,” said Sonos CEO Patrick Spence.
“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.”
Patrick Spence, CEO, Sonos, has pledged to put right what was broken when Sonos released a software … [+]
Spence added: “To ensure that we always deliver a superior customer experience, we are making these commitments which fall into two categories: addressing the root causes of the problems with the app release and regaining the trust of our customers.
“To ensure we deliver the highest level of customer experience; we will always establish ambitious quality benchmarks at the outset of product development and will not launch products before meeting these criteria. We will also enhance the tools necessary to measure the quality of the experience being delivered to customers to ensure that we maintain the standards our customers expect.”
The statement went on to explain that the company would increase the stringency of pre-launch testing phases. The Sonos beta testing program will now include more types of customers and more diverse setups for a longer testing period. This will allow Sonos to find, diagnose and solve customer concerns more quickly before going to market.
In a demonstration of just how badly Sonos slipped up, the company says it will also demonstrate humility when introducing future changes. In contrast to the all-at-once automated app release it issued in May, any major change to the Sonos app will now be released gradually, allowing customers to adjust and provide feedback before it becomes the default version. For new features smaller in scope, Sonos says it will introduce an opt-in for experimental features option in the app for customers who would like to participate in testing them.
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Sonos has also pledged to appoint a Quality Ombudsperson. The new role is designed to ensure employees have a clear path to escalate any concerns about quality and customer experience. The Ombudsperson will be consulted by the Sonos executive leadership throughout the development process and before any product launches. The ombudsperson will guarantee transparency and publish a report to management and employees twice per year and will present regularly to the Sonos board of directors.
In addition, Sonos also said it is committed to a raft of changes that it hopes will begin to regain the trust of its customers. The changes will include an extension to the company’s home speaker warranties. To reflect the board’s strong belief in the quality of the company’s products, the manufacturer’s warranty will be extended by one year for all home theater and plug-in speaker products currently under warranty.
Other new measures include a commitment to improve the app experience via regular software upgrades. Sonos says it will roll out updated mobile software versions every two to four weeks to optimize and enhance the experience, even when the current issues are resolved.
At its heart, the Sonos system is still an excellent way of listening to music around the home.
A Customer Advisory Board is also being established to ensure Sonos never loses sight of the customer’s voice. The board will provide feedback and insights from a customer perspective to help shape and improve future software and products before they are launched.
Many of these initiatives announced today are already underway and others will be implemented through the remainder of the year. To demonstrate the significance of these commitments to the company, no member of the Executive Leadership Team will accept any annual bonus payout for the October 2024 to September 2025 fiscal year unless the company succeeds in improving the quality of the app experience and rebuilding customer trust.
Since the launch of the new Sonos app in May, the Sonos team has been releasing new software updates every two weeks or so. New features, meaningful improvements and fixes have already been rolled out. Sonos says more than 80% of the app’s missing features have been reintroduced and the company expects to have almost 100% restored in the coming weeks.
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“We’ve made good progress on addressing many of the software issues, and these new commitments will drive us to emerge from this period with an even stronger commitment to quality,” said Spence.
The question remains why there’s been no satisfactory explanation of how such a disastrous software update could have been signed off and released by a company that had, until then, enjoyed such a stellar reputation. It seems that the company has been shocked by customers’ reactions to the new app. The old maxim applies; if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it! When you have a winning system and a good slice of a market, it’s wise to opt for evolution rather than revolution.
It seems hubris might have got the better of Sonos. Despite some negative feedback from beta testers before the launch, the company pushed ahead with the ill-fated update. The move has cost Sonos financially as well as reputationally, but this statement of contrition suggests the board has learned a lesson and will not be making such a costly error again.
