How to Lose a Customer with an Awesome Experience?
There is an important concept that is frequently pronounced in Customer Experience, and that I use and apply all the time. Don’t just meet your customer’s expectations, go beyond them and exceed expectations.
An indisputable concept is that we can achieve great results, increase our loyal customers, only if it is correct, timely, and continuous. Hmm… Let’s see what this means! I would like to explain this subject with a recent experience of mine.
While I was yearning for my homeland when I moved to London, I started looking for an online Local market. Because of the large numbers of the markets, I prepared a shortlist and started to order one by one. Prices were similar, products were similar, and the user experience of their websites was also similar. It was clear that the decisive factor would be the experience they would provide me, even though I hadn’t thought about it much at the time. I chose one and started using the website to order. The page was easy to use, checkout was easy, prices were within an acceptable range. 2 days after placing the order, I received a message about the day and time the products will be delivered. Super! Everything was going as I expected. They delivered the order safely and graciously within the promised time frame. There were no problems with the products either. I was extremely satisfied. I could continue to order from this site. I put the competitors aside for a while. My experience with my second order was better than the first. They called me that evening and asked me that if they could bring the package the next morning. Excellent! I place the order and it was coming to me in less than 24 hours. Moreover, there was also a small gift in the package this time. I felt valued. My third experience was fantastic! I did not even initiate the shopping. I received a sincere message addressed to my name. They also defined a special discount code for me. “OYA001”.What a personalization. I felt responsible for shopping by elegant message and discount code. (I think this alone is a subject that needs to be studied). As a “loyal and special” customer, I immediately placed my order. They delivered my order that evening. Moreover, there were countless gifts inside. I called them, thinking something is wrong with those countless gifts! No mistake, they were all gifts. WOW! They went beyond my expectations and quickly brought me to the loyal customer level. I couldn’t order somewhere else from here anymore. Wait for my last order. Yes, my last order was a complete disaster! There were problems on the order page, prices were increased. But it did not matter, there could be setbacks, it was just after the new year and a raise could be normal. As a loyal customer, I forgave everything. However, although it had been 5 days since I placed my order, there was neither a message nor a phone call. When I was still not informed about the delivery time, I woke up on the morning of the fifth day to the doorbell. They delivered it in the early morning without any information. There was no excuse and no trace of that old smiling face or attention. And finally, some of the products were wrong and some were missing. They just dropped my experience from very high down. It was time to try out the rivals. Maybe if they didn’t raise the expectation so quickly at the beginning, my disappointment and abandonment of the brand would not be so easy.
Disappointment is the key word here. Brands can frustrate their customers and they must be aware of it.Loyalty is now an outdated concept, a healthy and discreet relationship should be the concepts that a brand wishes to live with its customers. As in the relationship between two people; trust, tolerance and consistency are as important as in a relationship between the brand and the customer.
In the brand-customer relationship, which is not one-time but continuous, disappointment is a concept that should not be ignored. Brands must be aware that they have a commitment to consistent experiences for their customers. After two or three tremendous experiences, they should not take the risk of not being able to maintain it. It would be a much better decision to provide a consistent experience to the extent that it can be sustained than to have a few extraordinary experiences and then disappoint …
In this example; If I had had similar experiences since my second experience, which was still beyond my expectations, my relationship with this brand would continue for a long time, I would not feel the need to question this relationship.
If you can always take your customers to the sky and keep them there, good for you; but if you’re going to lose your balance, then let your customers continue to have a consistent experience on the ground.
