It’s not the big things that will cost you customers. Quite frequently, it’s the small things that drive people into the arms of your competition. Jack Burke shows you how to treat your customers as you know they want to be treated.
One credit card company has built an entire advertising campaign around the difficulty of accessing awards that people earn through “loyalty” programs. Instead of building loyalty, it seems that many companies are losing customers because of poor performance in such programs.
Recently, my mother and her husband had finally achieved their goal of getting enough points on their Delta Airlines program to get a free flight. Trying to make the arrangements (six months in advance), the best they could get was a cross-country flight at an inconvenient time with three connections. Since connecting flights are the bane of the elderly, they opted to buy tickets for a convenient, non-stop flight. They no longer have any loyalty for Delta because they feel that Delta misled them.
Remember when your word was your bond in business? When a handshake was as good as a signed contract? What’s happening to our ethical values? Or, better yet, what kind of mind institutes a “loyalty” program that makes customers mad?
Sometimes it’s not the payout that causes the problem; on occasion, the program process can create dissension as well.
Office Depot recently launched their Advantage Program. It’s designed to reward loyalty with quarterly discount coupons based on the amount of purchases made. You can earn up to $50 in coupons each quarter. The program sounded good to me; it was like free money for purchases I would have to make anyway. All I had to do is let them scan my member card when I made a purchase. Like the grocery stores, they even provided a key ring-sized card.
A few months ago, I made a fairly large purchase, but forgot to show the cashier my card. By the time I remembered, he had already rung up the transaction. He told me it would be a major inconvenience to accommodate me at that point, because he would have to void the transaction and ring it up a second time. He said I could call in the transaction number when I got back to the office for credit. I agreed — primarily because I didn’t want to be lynched by the people in line behind me.
Upon calling Office Depot’s Advantage Program phone number, I got a message that said, “Welcome … your call cannot go through at this time, please try again later.” After three attempts and the same message, I sent them an e-mail explaining the situation and providing all the information, including store number and transaction number. I closed by asking that they post the purchase to my account.
As the days went by with no response, I assumed it had been handled and I quickly forget about it.
Nineteen days later, I received this e-mail:
Dear Advantage Member,
If you have made a purchase that has not been applied to your account, please fax a copy of your invoice or receipt, including your name, telephone number, Advantage Member ID and PIN to 1-866-758-5255. All transactions that can be added will be posted to the current period.
Thank you for shopping with Office Depot.
After realizing the amount of additional work they wanted me to do, I wrote back to tell them that the reward wasn’t worth the effort — especially since they already had all the information electronically, as opposed to being sent by fax. Needless to say, I won’t base my future purchases on their loyalty program.
Ironically, I did stop by my local Office Depot to pick up some ink last night. Despite my aggravation over their program, the local store has always treated me well; it has convenient parking, and as a registered business customer, I don’t have to show identification to pay by company check — the information is already in their system.
A new clerk rang up the sale and asked for a picture ID when I presented a company check. When I asked why, he said that no system is perfect and he didn’t want to be penalized for taking a bad check. As I provided my identification, I made mention of the fact that I quite frequently don’t have it with me when I shop there. He flippantly commented that if that was the case in the future, I shouldn’t expect to leave with any purchases.
I no longer have any loyalty whatsoever to that store — which just happens to be less than 1,000 feet away from their competitor, OfficeMax.
Whether it’s a hassle over rewards, time-consuming requirements, or communication from employees, some companies actually make it very difficult to be loyal. How do you treat your clients — not when you’re trying to write their business, but in the daily activity that occurs? Do you require duplicate effort on their part? Do you ask for information that already exists in your system? Do you make them feel wanted and appreciated? Or, do you make them feel like an imposition on your time?