How Do We Get Rid of Those Customers We'd Rather Not Have?

Over lunch with the manager of a craft store, I learned of a customer who regularly brings her ill behaved children to the store. They deliberately break things, tear signage, and in general leave a mess wherever they go. The employees cringe every time this customer shows up with kids in tow.

Last week, the customer decided to take her children to the store’s restroom, and was stopped by an employee. She was told they don’t have a public rest room, and that no non-employee was allowed in the back area.

The customer got indignant, got loud, and harrumphed out. The question during our lunch discussion of this story was about word-of-mouth. Do this woman’s friends know how her children behave? When they hear her story, will they automatically assume the store is in the wrong, or will they understand that their friend has parenting issues?

And, if these hypothetical friends are like our customer, do we want more of these people in our stores?

I don’t shop in craft stores, but I do wish parents of ill-behaved children would be encouraged not to bring them to dine at my favorite restaurants. Hearing about a place that defended my dining experience, by insisting that the parents reel in their kids or leave, might result in great word-of-mouth for people like me.

In Website design it’s common practice to create an anti-persona which represents a vendor’s biggest time wasters, and in hopes of driving off others like him, design a less than optimal experience for that personality. Is there a parallel in the bricks and mortar world? Have you seen this happen? How has it affected the store’s word of mouth?

I welcome your comments.

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What I Would Have Said

Have you ever had it happen, that you’re discussing something obvious with another person who refuses to admit the current circumstances, and insists that things SHOULD be different? Every now and then marketing consultants run into this delusion, usually held by the owner of a small business struggling to stay afloat.

It’s hard to see your business as potential customers do when you’re wrapped up in the day-to-day operation of that business. That’s why you bring in someone from outside - to give you the unbiased perspective you need.

I refer you to a hypothetical small Internet Service Provider in a small town. The town doesn’t matter. The business, as I said, is hypothetical; at least, for the purposes of this article.


Diversify!

It made perfect sense to the ISP owner to add web design services. He hired a designer, and a coder.

Then, he decided to branch into the creation of a web-based software product. He hired another coder, and some (by the hour) highly-educated professional people to write the individual software modules.

And finally, seeing another opportunity, he invested in hardware and software to provide off-site data backup.

Of course, with no dedicated sales staff, people were not lining up to hire his web design, or web-based software, or even his off-site data backup.

His additional payroll started eating away the profits of his original business.


Came the press release.

One day, according to the local newspaper, a large local business contracted an out-of-town company to design its e-commerce web site.

Our friend, the ISP owner, was outraged. “They didn’t even let me bid on the project!” he vented. “People in this town just don’t want to support local business.” At least, that’s probably what he would have said, if this had ever happened.

And had I been part of this conversation, I’d have likely pointed out that the large local business was going to invest a lot of money in their e-commerce site, and needed the assurance that they were getting help from a company that specialized in solving e-commerce problems. I’d have noted that when the stakes are high, only a specialist provides assurance that you’ll get exactly what you need.


There’s a basic problem in marketing your business.

There's a problem in marketing any business. You can compete as a commodity producer and try to be the lowest-cost provider, or you can be clearly and compellingly unique.

Here’s a hint: only that which is different gets noted, or talked about. Want strong word-of-mouth? Do not be interchangeable with any other company.

Second hint: for incredible word-of-mouth, become known as the solver of one particular problem. Don’t try to be all things to all people.

Put yourself in the mindset of a customer. Say you own a company which deals in vast amounts of computer data, and were worried about the safety of that data. You’re concerned about fire, or earthquake, or even vandalism. You’ve heard of off-site data backup and storage, and you’re intrigued by the possibilities. Will you trust the future of your company to a provider that also does web design? Or will you find yourself inexorably drawn to someone who lives and breathes data safety, 124-bit encryption, and full redundancy?

It’s not the customer’s fault that he isn’t comfortable trusting the ISP to deliver a completely different service. He needs to stop blaming those potential customers who do not feel doing business with him.


The good news is it’s not too late to turn things around.

He needs to dump the web design business, sell off the web-based software product (if he can find a buyer), and set up the off-site backup as a separate company with a qualified salesperson as the separate company’s new manager. He needs to go back to being known for providing Internet service.

At least, that’s what I’d have told the ISP owner, if this conversation had ever actually taken place.

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Allstate Gets It

You get your new insurance bill, and grumble about the rate. You’ve grumbled every month when the bill comes, but today you’re especially irritated. “I wonder if I’m overpaying,” you mumble as you walk to your computer and search for “auto insurance.”

You go to the first site, and click on the “get rate” button. Whatzzis? You want me to register to use your site? Why do I have to register to get a quote online? Amazed, you look for an answer. A couple of clicks later you find this explanation:

* The online Rate Quote uses personalized pricing data. We use a one-time registration process to make sure we keep confidential data confidential.

* It takes only 2 minutes to register, and within 24 hours you’ll be set up and ready to receive personalized rate quotes and lots of other customized information to make your use of our web site easier.

“These points constitute an answer? I don’t want to use your web site. I just want to know what it will cost me to insure my car. You won’t tell me what your premiums cost without me telling you who I am? Why do you need to know that?

“I know what this is all about. You’re going to send some salesperson to pressure me to buy from your company. I’m not sharing anything with you.”

And with that, you go back to your search engine to try some other site. Pity. You still don’t know what the first company charged, and now you’re not going to say anything positive about them, are you?

Maybe it wasn’t insurance you wanted pricing on. Maybe you were searching for a gift for your mother, or checking the price of a rental car. Or maybe you’d actually found something you wanted to buy, but they won’t let you put anything in their shopping cart until you open an account. Have you ever had this particular experience?

It must have happened to Jim Whimpey and the Brisbane Creative Team. They’re parodying useless accounts at a site appropriately called Useless Account.

Here’s a truism: every obstacle you put in the way of your customer is going to cost you sales.

• Should you hide the $20 jeans featured in your radio ad to see if anyone asks for them? NO! You should place them prominently and count how many you sell.
  
  
• Should you charge your customer’s credit card, then tell her the item is back ordered? NO! You should inform the customer that the item can’t be shipped for a specific number of days, and not charge her card until you’ve actually sent the item.
  
  
• Should you “capture” visitor information so that you can add one more name to your mailing list? NO! You should give people the information they’re seeking, and then let them choose to associate with you.

Now, the good news. Allstate gets it. Allstate’s newest television ad is delightful. Here’s the script:

Say you want a hot dog. You go up to the vendor and you ask “How much?” He says “Give me your name and social security number.” Humm. You probably won’t buy from him. So why put up with it when you’re looking to buy car insurance on-line. At Allstate you can get a ballpark estimate without even giving up your name. Go to the new GetAllstate.com. Without even giving your name or Social Security Number you can compare different car insurance options and levels of coverage and get a ballpark estimate. Then, if you like the price, you can go on to get a full, personalized quote with an option to buy on-line. People who switched to Allstate saved an average of $338 per year. Log on to GetAllstate.com now and see how much you can save. Protecting you should start with protecting your privacy. That’s Allstate’s stand. Are you in good hands?

Make it easy for your customers to buy, online or off. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how many of them do.

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Expectations Drive Word-of-Mouth

Your friend is raving about a movie his wife has dragged him to. He says he’s glad she insisted, because it turned out to be the best crime drama he’s seen in years. He’s so enthusiastic that you decide to see it, too. But you find the film is only so-so. The plot is predictable. The acting flat. The dialog stilted in places.

Why did you and your friend have such differing reactions to this film? Probably because of your expectations.

Your friend, having been coerced into attending, began with negative expectations, and was surprised to find the film entertaining. You, on the other hand, were expecting “the best crime drama in years.” This film couldn’t live up to those expectations.

Customer service is much like that. It all comes down to expectations, too.

It’s the reason better than average service turns new customers into evangelists for your company. As this new, higher standard of service becomes their norm, they come to expect it. It’s the reason evangelists frequently become less vocal over time.

It’s also the reason you should never advertise the little extras. Use these to surprise and delight your customer. Otherwise, they aren’t special. They’re merely what she expected.

And on those off days when everything goes wrong, and a new shopper’s expectations of average service are shattered by your lacklustre performance, it’s the reason she becomes a vigilante. (Unfortunately, people who feel they’ve been wronged seem to hold grudges for a long time).

So here’s your reality. Every day you do business with people for the first time. If they get what they expect, they won’t be commenting to anyone. It’s violation of expectations, for good or bad, that drive word of mouth.

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