Sonos Promises to Recommit to Software Quality and Customer Experience After App Disaster

Sonos today announced a series of new commitments that are meant to demonstrate the company’s “renewed focus” on software quality and customer experience. The announcement and an accompanying video from Sonos CEO Patrick Spence come as Sonos tries to ameliorate the negative experience customers have had with the May Sonos app update.

Going forward, Sonos says that it isn’t just going to fix its app mistake, but also build a better Sonos experience. To that end, Sonos made seven pledges:

• Unwavering focus on customer experience with ambitious quality benchmarks, and a promise to not launch products that don’t meet the standards customers expect.
• More stringent pre-launch testing with a broader range of customers to resolve issues before new software comes out.
• No more all-at-once app releases. Any new major changes to the Sonos app will be released gradually, and customers will be able to opt-in to test new features before they become default.
• There will be a new Quality Ombudsperson role that will give employees a clear path to raise concerns regarding quality and customer experience.
• Home speaker products currently under warranty will have their warranty extended for an additional year.
• App updates will come every two to four weeks to “optimize and enhance” the app experience. This includes after the current issues are fixed.
• Sonos is establishing a Customer Advisory Board to provide feedback and insights from a customer perspective to shape and improve products before they launch.

Sonos says that its Executive Leadership Team will not accept any bonus payout for the October 2024 to September 2025 fiscal year unless Sonos is able to improve the quality of the app and rebuild customer trust.

According to Sonos, more than 80 percent of the missing features from the app have now been reintroduced, and the company expects to be at close to 100 percent in the coming weeks.

Recent reports have suggested that Sonos employees raised an alarm prior to when the redesigned Sonos app launched in May. The app was an immediate disappointment to customers because it was riddled with bugs and missing many key Sonos features, and there was significant outcry over the downgrade. Sonos was not able to roll back the changes, and has spent 2024 trying to fix the app.

Sonos has delayed new product launches to focus on software, and as a result, will miss its annual revenue target by $200 million.