Lifetime value of a customer (rant)
Yeah it's a rant and kinda long and probably will get deleted by the Mods, but it's been over a day and I'm still fuming, and it has a bit to do about marketing, so...
It's much better to keep a CUSTOMER happy.
I remember Dan Kennedy in one of his books (Ultimate Marketing Plan I think) gave an example of going to a store one day just as it was about to close and being turned away by the store employee who just viewed him as another sale. He mentions that the store owner might have viewed it differently, instead of losing just a sale by turning him away the owner would likely see it for all of the potential future sales that might be lost by disappointing the customer that day.
It went something along those lines anyway, that the lifetime value of the customer and keeping them happy was more important than the immediate one time sale. In his example I believe he mentioned potentially thousands of dollars were lost due to the actions of the salesperson.
Did he follow his own beliefs? Yes he did, I remember about 15 years ago ordering a 3 part course from his company, and it was so way over my head at the time that after receiving part 1 of the course I was forced to call his office a cancel the rest of course. I explained to the person who took the call that it was Greek to me and I wanted to cancel, but instead of going through the trouble of it sending back I offered to just pay for part 1 and cancel the rest.
Well I was told the refund would be canceled and I wouldn't be charged anything, nada. And I don't have to send it back. Did I ever buy from him again? Yes I did. Would I hesitate to buy from him again? Yes I would. Would I have anything negative to say about him or his products? Never has a negative word been uttered. Would I recommend his products if the question about him came up in an online forum? Yes I would and have. That's lifetime value of a customer in another way, but same theory - keep the customer happy.
Which brings up the next point. I purchased a "no questions asked satisfaction guarantee" recently (monthly subscription service which was used for about 30 seconds, 5 plus hours learning to navigate and use the site) that I wasn't happy with, maybe it worked I don't know. But to make a long story short the seller is fighting me about the refund, it's been escalated with Paypal (even though it's supposed to be "no questions asked"). Virtually nothing has been "lost" on his part, it's not an ebook, software, article writing or anything like that yet he is fighting me about the dispute, apparently he's going to let Paypal decide. Which they probably will do in my favor. Basically he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by fighting it.
Do you think I would buy something from him again? Don't hold your breath on that. Would I have anything negative to say about him or his products if the subject came up. Well yes, while I wouldn't go out of my way to say something negative I probably would if someone asked for a recommendation or a question.
Bottom line is keeping the CUSTOMER happy. Here's someone who's pulled out his wallet and raised up his hand so to speak and has proven to be a hot lead. In direct mail you pay big money to get a hold of a hot customer list to send your mailings to. Your customer list isn't like a freebie seeker list where list owners often send out their affiliate offers that they haven't even reviewed yet. A "customer" list (not just A list) is supposed to be treated like gold.
Keep in mind that anything positive OR negative stays on the internet forever, it could help you, or come back to bite you.
It's much better to keep a CUSTOMER happy.
I remember Dan Kennedy in one of his books (Ultimate Marketing Plan I think) gave an example of going to a store one day just as it was about to close and being turned away by the store employee who just viewed him as another sale. He mentions that the store owner might have viewed it differently, instead of losing just a sale by turning him away the owner would likely see it for all of the potential future sales that might be lost by disappointing the customer that day.
It went something along those lines anyway, that the lifetime value of the customer and keeping them happy was more important than the immediate one time sale. In his example I believe he mentioned potentially thousands of dollars were lost due to the actions of the salesperson.
Did he follow his own beliefs? Yes he did, I remember about 15 years ago ordering a 3 part course from his company, and it was so way over my head at the time that after receiving part 1 of the course I was forced to call his office a cancel the rest of course. I explained to the person who took the call that it was Greek to me and I wanted to cancel, but instead of going through the trouble of it sending back I offered to just pay for part 1 and cancel the rest.
Well I was told the refund would be canceled and I wouldn't be charged anything, nada. And I don't have to send it back. Did I ever buy from him again? Yes I did. Would I hesitate to buy from him again? Yes I would. Would I have anything negative to say about him or his products? Never has a negative word been uttered. Would I recommend his products if the question about him came up in an online forum? Yes I would and have. That's lifetime value of a customer in another way, but same theory - keep the customer happy.
Which brings up the next point. I purchased a "no questions asked satisfaction guarantee" recently (monthly subscription service which was used for about 30 seconds, 5 plus hours learning to navigate and use the site) that I wasn't happy with, maybe it worked I don't know. But to make a long story short the seller is fighting me about the refund, it's been escalated with Paypal (even though it's supposed to be "no questions asked"). Virtually nothing has been "lost" on his part, it's not an ebook, software, article writing or anything like that yet he is fighting me about the dispute, apparently he's going to let Paypal decide. Which they probably will do in my favor. Basically he has nothing to gain and everything to lose by fighting it.
Do you think I would buy something from him again? Don't hold your breath on that. Would I have anything negative to say about him or his products if the subject came up. Well yes, while I wouldn't go out of my way to say something negative I probably would if someone asked for a recommendation or a question.
Bottom line is keeping the CUSTOMER happy. Here's someone who's pulled out his wallet and raised up his hand so to speak and has proven to be a hot lead. In direct mail you pay big money to get a hold of a hot customer list to send your mailings to. Your customer list isn't like a freebie seeker list where list owners often send out their affiliate offers that they haven't even reviewed yet. A "customer" list (not just A list) is supposed to be treated like gold.
Keep in mind that anything positive OR negative stays on the internet forever, it could help you, or come back to bite you.
yes, I am....