Do you know who I am?
The accepted Golden Rule of business is “The customer is always right” - a catchphrase apparently coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the Founder of Selfridges department store in London. Well… if your customer is a frequent complainer, continuously using business resources, of low spend, engagement, or offers no value (eg. access to a community), you may find that profitability will increase by actually letting some customers go.
However, a non-negotiable Golden Rule has to be “Make the customer feel important” - a sentiment achieved by recognition, language and personalisation. We’ve seen businesses step up the game on this massively across the last few months - points/rewards extensions across the airlines/hotel industry, reduced pricing for those affected by the Pandemic and appreciation and gratitude everywhere. More now than ever, this is a chance to show our customers what values we are really made of.
It was with excitement that I opened reMarkable’s email today (subject line “reMarkable 2 news”) - Was the product I ordered in March finally shipping after a 3 month delay? Instead, I was told “units have already been distributed to journalists for reviews, some of which we expect will be published by the end of the week…unfortunately we’re behind…” - Why was I not addressed by name? Why was the business prioritising journalists over paying customers? Why was the business even going after Press when they clearly could not meet existing orders on time? Why did they think reviews mattered to me when I was already post-purchase? Why was I forced to click a link to see my new shipping date, when it could have been in the email? And why was there no direct email or number for Customer Service?
“It costs 5 to 25 times more to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.” says consultancy Bain & Company - and unhappy customers can become a brand’s biggest advocates if managed right says Inc.com. A personal message, a sentiment of “stay excited - here’s what you can look forward to”, exclusive content and a link to speak to someone could have done the trick.
If you find yourself in the position of delivering bad news to your customers, don’t do a reMarkable - you can do so much more.
*All views my own*
Sources:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/top-5-reasons-customer-service_b_5145636?
https://www.forbes.com/sites/advisor/2020/04/23/how-airline-and-hotel-loyalty-programs-are-responding-to-coronavirus/#680d7bc8ad25
https://www.inc.com/andrew-thomas/6-ways-to-turn-angry-customers-into-your-biggest-advocates.html
