To some businesses, client loyalty is everything. After making significant investments in sales, marketing and other client acquisition endeavors, keeping the client is supposed to pay the investment back with profit. It is a simple model that has worked for years in every type of industry, from insurance to iPods. But as can be seen by the following story, client loyalty can be a fragile thing. The story is one that demonstrates that no matter how good pieces of your organization may be, sometimes the one weak link can be the difference in keeping your clients and sinking your ship.
The story starts on a ranch in South Texas, with a friend of mine (we will call him John), and a large Ford diesel truck. For those who drive the big F350's, you will know that there is a simple little gasket that tends to wear out every 3 or 4 years. For John - on a hunting weekend with his buddies - this little $20 fuel gasket wore out at precisely the wrong time. With no shop for miles and a truck leaking diesel, he luckily found an off duty mechanic that knew just what to do, and had the time and energy to help him. For about $150, John was treated like royalty, and his weekend was salvaged.
Fast forward a few years to this past May. Same guy, different problem. This time, John walks to his truck in the parking lot at Love Field, only to find that his water pump had busted and he was stranded. This time, he made a call to a company referred to him by another friend, and things went great. A well spoken, helpful guy took his call, sent a tow truck, and took care of everything at a reasonable price (considering the bind he was in.) This company earned a client that day.
Now for the final piece of the story. A few weeks ago John walked out to his truck in his driveway, when, much to his displeasure, he encountered the old "gasket leaking diesel" problem again. This time, he knew just where to go, and just about how much it would cost him. He dropped the truck off and waited to get the call with the diagnosis. When the technician called him, John got a surprise. The gasket was indeed the problem, but the price would be almost $400. $70 for the gasket, and $330 for the labor.
The price wasn't necessarily the problem; it was what happened after the initial news. John asked a simple question: "What would Dave say about that quote?" Dave, of course, was the owner of the garage and the friendly guy that took the call that day in May. The technician then had two options. First, he could have defended his price and logically explained why $400 was the right price. Or, he could have suggested that he put a call in to Dave to ask for permission to give a discount. Instead, he chose the third option. The one that lost them a client. He told my friend that, "maybe he could get that part a little cheaper, so he would call around and call him back." A couple of hours later, John got a call with a new quote of $275.
No doubt, it was a better deal, but the damage was done. John felt like he couldn't trust the company any more. He had one bad experience with one weak link in an organization, but sometimes that is all it takes.
The lesson here is simple. When anyone in our organization interacts with a Client or a potential Client, we have to know that they are honest, credible, and experienced. We cannot afford one, single instance where someone representing our organization is anything less than all of those things. How does that translate in your organization? How hard is that to manage? Hard or not, don't let a weak link kill your Client loyalty.
