Customer for Life

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I’m not your customer for life. No one is. There’s no such thing.

I might love your product and love your service, but that’s not enough. I want more.

Everything you say or do will have an impact on how I view you. Every contact I have with you in any way is another opportunity for you to prove to me how wonderful you are. Of course it’s also an opportunity for you to mess up.

Every time we talk on the phone, meet in person, or exchange an email, is an opportunity that could make or break you.

Every thing you post or say online via your website or social media is something I’ll be watching. One slip up, and I might walk away.

Every thing you say within earshot of someone else, is something they could record or repeat online. Everything you do or say within earshot of me, is something I might share online. Every experience my friends have with you is something they will talk about online and I will see it.

Every time I use your product, I expect it to work. If it doesn’t perform to my expectations, it could change my mind about you. And if I tell you about it, how you respond will leave a lasting impression on me.

Every advertisement or commercial or marketing message you put out there will tell me something about you. Will that message draw me closer to you, or make me think twice?

If you want me as a customer for life, you have to earn it.

Every time.

5 Tips for Using Social Media as a Customer Service Tool (entrepreneur.com)
Social Media Customer Service Done Right (davidajacobs.com)
With Social Media, Everyone Must Be On Board (inklingmedia.net)
Tell Marketing: The Customer Experience Begins with Them (customersthatstick.com)
If I Lose a Customer… (customersthatstick.com)
Social Media and Small Business House Calls (inklingmedia.net)

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18 comments

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Adam | Customer Experience

Purely compositional comment, I loved the rhythm of this post!

You're very hard to please Ken! :) But I think that's the point; everyone is nowadays. There are so many more touchpoints in the customer experience, so many ways that we bump into the brand outside of the actual product or service, that companies must understand that they are "always on." There are a lot more opportunities to cement the relationship, and to mess it up.

KenMueller moderator

@Adam | Customer Experience I'm really not that hard to please. But it's something we need to think about as we engage with customers across every possible online and offline platform. Get's right into your customer service wheelhouse! We just need to get away from the mindset of having sealed the deal...understanding that customer service is ongoing.

Latest blog post: Social Media and the Solution to Your Problems

ososoba

WOW, nice way to put it.

@ososoba thanks!

AmyMccTobin

I have a friend who always says: Every action you take in business is your PR. And you can always have a disaster.

@AmyMccTobin very true!

AnnettaPowell

I would say it's a fantasy or may me kind of a fairy tale. For me personally, it is a love and hate relationship :) May be I love your product or service today and hate it tomorrow.

@AnnettaPowell very true.

DeonFialkov

LMAO ... that is so true ... you will NEVER ever find someone completely loyal to you unless you have delivered every single time good quality ...

eg. I'm a loyal reader/viewer/subscriber of mashable because they constantly deliver good quality posts

Even though my blog is gaining momentum ... I'll always strive to be like them...eventually...

@DeonFialkov There is so much information out there that can influence how we think about a brand, and our feelings can change daily.

John_Trader1

I find it fascinating that one of the byproducts of the modern digital age is that it has made us all more aware and observant of our surroundings and more in tune with what's going on in the world online and offline. We seem to be much more refined in our beliefs and opinions, partly because there is so much information at our fingertips and so many more opinions to assess before we make up our own minds. "Choice" has taken on a whole new dimension, hasn't it?

Good stuff.

Ken - there appears to be a typo in the third to last paragraph "Every advertisement or commercial or marketing message you put out there will tell me something about you. Will that message draw me closer to you, or make me thing twice?"

You probably meant "think" instead of "thing." It's the editor in me.

@John_Trader1 We've gone from really having to dig hard for info to having too much at our fingertips, especially with mobile technology. This really forces marketers and businesses to up their game!