Inside Small Business | Small Business & Home Business Marketing
Quick Profits vs. Building Customer Loyalty
BY JOEY DEMPSTER
Earlier this year, a misunderstanding about a change in my mobile phone plan caused me to go over my peak minute limit by several hundred minutes, which in turn cost me several hundred dollars in “over” charges. I understood, and agreed to the terms of the contract when I signed it, so it would be impossible for me to claim that I didn’t owe them the money. Still, having my phone bill jump from $60 to over $600 in one month because of a simple mistake left me feeling like the company was taking advantage of me.
An appeal to their customer support department to work out a compromise that would reduce the penalty for my mistake and allow the company to increase their revenue over time from me and extend my contract period fell on deaf (or, at least, unempowered) ears. Resisting the temptation to prey on my mistake for a quick windfall would have made me a loyal customer for a long time to come, perhaps for life. Instead, I feel taken advantage of, and I certainly feel no loyalty to this company. Yes, they got an extra $500 from me, but as soon as my contract expires at the end of the year, I will be taking my business (and my phone number) elsewhere, and years and years of recurring revenue (not to mention years of glowing recommendations) were forfeited.
It has been said that in this new era of short attention spans and impersonal customer service, customer loyalty is a thing of the past. Fortunately for astute businesses, it is not. People still respond to being treated fairly, to having their concerns addressed through mutually beneficial agreements, and to feeling like relationships are more important than quick profits. Whatever your business model or industry, making your clients feel like partners instead of targets will pay dividends through years of loyal patronage.
Joey Dempster is the co-founder of LogoWorks and manages the technology behind-the-scenes.
Posted on Wednesday, June 9th, 2004 at 11:58 am and is filed under Sales, Small Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
