Why Counting Every Dollar Is Ruining Your Customer Experience
You wouldn’t want to go to lunch with a friend who is cheap, just like customers don’t enjoy being around companies that are stingy. On a recent United Airlines flight from Australia, I was excited to try the highly touted new coffee brand, Illy. The news about the switch from United’s old blend to the Italian brand had been highly publicized, and I believed it was just what I needed to get through a 14-hour flight. However, when I asked a flight attendant for a cup of the new coffee by brand name, she said the airline had to use up all of its old coffee before it could serve the new brand, which meant I was stuck with a watery cup of mediocre coffee instead of something that could have really improved my experience. It was disappointing because United is such a rich and powerful brand that it seemed ridiculous to have to serve old coffee after announcing a new program that could be great for customer experience. A seemingly simple act of frugality greatly impacted my view of the company.
So many companies will do whatever it takes to save a dollar, but they do so at the risk of losing customers. Every bad interaction a customer has with a cheap brand is a negative mark in that customer’s mind against the brand, which moves them one step closer to switching to a competitor. In fact, the reason many companies don’t start customer experience programs is because they are too worried about what the programs will do to their revenues. What they fail to see is that spending money on customers is an investment in the brand and in the relationship—when customers see that brands are willing to go above and beyond to improve the experience, even on little things like coffee, it makes a big difference and will keep them coming back for more. Even though companies are spending money to build customer relationships, they are getting that money back with improved customer interactions, referrals, and repetition.
Warren Buffett said you can’t trust people who are cheap, and the same goes for companies. Stingy behavior can take a toll on a relationship between people and between brand s and customers. By relaxing your outlook on money and focusing on the customer more than the bottom line and every ROI opportunity, your company can create great experiences and build strong relationships.
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