How to Find (and Lose) Customers

By Neil Raphel

Unfortunately, we're all still slogging through difficult economic times.

While we might not still technically be in a recession, it sure feels like it. That's why it is surprising to me that some companies seem to take their customers for granted.

Below are a couple of cautionary tales about companies I really admire that have been disappointed me lately. It makes me wonder if they still really want my business. But first, some advice on how to market your company in hard times.

Marketing when times are tough

We recently created a video to give our customers some new ideas for marketing during tough times. We decided the video should contain some visual humor to help the message get digested easily. You can click on our video here and it also is on the home page of our site, www.raphel.com. While the video serves as a commercial for our company, we also feel it gives businesses valuable advice about marketing during an economic downturn.

Adding a video to your website is a great way to add interest and excitement to your message. One easy way to add a video is to put the video up on a site such as YouTube and then link the video to your site.

Now that we've given you some tips on how to market, here are a couple of cautionary tales of what not to do...

A misleading offer from Quill

If you are anything like me, you don't really like spending five minutes filling out a survey. You'll do it occasionally, but it's not your favorite use of time.

However, Quill lured me in with their offer of $30 off my next purchase. Sure, it sounded like a lot, but maybe they really wanted my opinion on a survey.

It turns out that the offer was really $30 off my next purchase of $150 or more. Now, that's a more realistic offer. And Quill makes me the same offer every month. And if they had said that in their solicitation for a survey, I probably would not have completed the survey (because I receive the same offer every month anyway).

I emailed Quill about what I thought was a misleading offer. Their email back basically said "Tough luck" in a polite way. I still like Quill, but their behavior has made me a bit wary of their offers. I'm not likely to fill out a survey for Quill in the future.

But here's some unsolicited feedback for Quill. I'm now a bit more likely to switch to a competitor.

Looking a gift certificate in the mouth

Simon Pearce has a great restaurant and a wonderful shop about an hour's drive from our Vermont home. My wife Janis loves their glassware, furniture, and pottery.

A couple of times a year, we'll go to dinner at Simon Pearce and shop their retail store. Knowing Simon Pearce is one of our favorites, my mother Ruth sent us a gift certificate worth $150 to use at Simon Pearce.

However, we received a $250 gift certificate in the mail. When they realized their error, someone at Simon Pearce called Ruth and told her of their mistake. They said that they would call us to let us know they would replace the $250 gift certificate with one for $150.

Ruth told Simon Pearce she was a bit embarrased by all this and asked if they would consider making good on the $250 certificate, since it was their mistake. They refused, and after a number of frustrating phone calls, Ruth was able to cancel the gift certificate and get her money back.

Simon Pearce really didn't do anything wrong. They made a mistake and sought to correct it. However, they lost a customer (Ruth) and lost a visit by us to their store and restaurant. Since it was their mistake, they might have thought twice and offered to make the gift certificate $250. It wasn't necessary, but it would probably have been a good business decision.

In these tough times, businesses have to take extra steps to win new customers and keep the ones they have.

Raphel Marketing is a full service marketing and advertising firm. We specialize in direct mail programs, website construction, and marketing consulting. Please call us at 802-751-8802 for a free initial consultation.