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Why do you annoy your customers and prospects?

November 11, 2009 by
bad customer service

http://www.flickr.com/photos/happyjoel/

Why is it that when a friend invites a guest to their gym, the gym is committed to annoying everyone by making the guest jump through endless hoops and listen to sales pitches just to try out their product?  They could make it easy: (1) have guests sign a simple waiver, and (2) let them enjoy the facilities with a member who already thinks it’s worth paying for.  Seems like a recipe for success until management starts worrying about free riders and the lost opportunity to make an annoying sales pitch.

My advice to the gyms: do whatever you can to make members want to bring guests and make guests want to come back.  Reasonable restrictions are okay to maintain the desired member experience and prevent abusive free riding, but that leaves a lot of room to make favorable impressions and to move your members from being mere consumers to being your most effective marketing arm.

Consider whether your company annoys customers and prospects.  If they say you do, then you do.  Fix it.

p.s. Sam’s and Costco, consider applying the same lessons to your “theft prevention” procedures.  Every other retailer has figured out how to mitigate theft without accusing every exiting customer of being a thief and forcing them to prove otherwise.  Your parting interaction with members is annoying and unnecessary.  What about putting someone at the door that says, “We really appreciate you being a member and look forward to you returning.  Have a great day.”  Sounds a lot better than, “Let me check that receipt [you thief].”

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Posted in: Leadership

  • http://www.petersnewjobs.com/dn Len @ PNJ

    “Try and buy” complemented with engaging customer service – what an interesting concept ;-)
    You open the door on a much more interesting discussion about your customers as your main advocates (marketing, sales). We’ve found that allowing your potential customers try out the service (or product), responding to their questions and incorporating customer feedback works very well. Not rocket science but seems there’s a lot of companies out there that struggle with that concept.
    P.S. We hated the Costco “goodbye” enough to let our membership lapse. There are some annoyances that far outweigh saving a few dollars. Won’t even touch the gym subject, suffice to say gyms, time-shares and high pressure sales all seem to go together. I guess customer annoyance is considered collateral damage in securing the sale when it’s all a numbers game.

  • http://twitter.com/JLWatsonConsult Jim Watson

    Interesting perspective, Levi – and one that resonates.
    There are still a lot of hold-outs from the 20th century, that put sales ahead of customer experience. Eventually, they’ll come around (or be replaced).

    Thanks,
    Jim Watson
    http://jlwatsonconsulting.typepad.com/my-blog/

    • http://www.itsworthnoting.com Levi Smith

      Of note here is that one of the companies that checks receipts is Costco, which is considered by many to be fairly customer centric. I just cannot see how any member of their management team could go through the exit process and think, “That was a pleasant experience. I’m glad they made sure I left with all the items I paid for.” Why not just let the receipt checker roam or monitor a security camera to protect against theft, which is the real motivation here. I wish every company would regularly have its employees walk through the customer experience and reorient policies and procedures accordingly.

      Levi

 
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