I’m confused. Isn’t one goal of a business to adapt to its customers and their expectations? Isn’t the goal to produce happy, content customers? And, ultimately, isn’t the goal to retain your customers you spent so much to gain, and maximize your return on investment?
It appears several large corporations are taking the path of least resistance. Rather than rising up to meet the expectations of their customers, they are forcing their customers to reevaluate their expectations, and lower them. First Time Warner and now Comcast is rolling out metered internet connections. This means if you use the internet to download large amounts of data, you either will be capped, or pay extra-ordinary charges for your usage. This policy is directly attributable to the slowdown and ‘fill-up’ of network capacity of internet service providers, and rather than upgrade their systems, they are taxing the use, and in some cases limiting the use of the internet to provide a better overall product.
Everything I have ever learned about customer service, retention, and loyalty points to changing your business model to meet the expectations of your customers. Which reminds me of a customer service story I heard once (maybe I read it, I’m not sure anymore). However, the story went something like this. A busy candy shop in a popular tourist destination was continually being approached by customers and asked if they had ice cream. The employees repeatedly got frustrated and said, “No, we don’t sell ice cream, we only sell these fine candies.” In fact, the employees became so frustrated, they posted a large sign near the front door that said, “WE DO NOT SELL ICE CREAM.” It wasn’t a few months before their business began to tail off. The employees couldn’t figure it out. But you see, it was simple, the decline in business was directly tied to the ice cream shop that opened up a few doors down from the candy shop. Customers continually expected ice cream from the candy shop. However, the candy shop continually said no, and forced their customers to reevaluate their expectation for ice cream from the candy shop.
The moral of the story: “If you find yourself continuously saying no to your customers, first, you may be saying no to your next big revenue stream, and more importantly, you likely are driving your customers to someone that will say yes.”