03 Oct The “Pour” Lady Didn’t Realize the Value of Customer Loyalty
Henry Ford once said, “A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.” I will take it a step further:
A business only worrying about short-term money is a poorly run business.
Case in point: I frequented a wine store in Tampa up until about two years ago. When I say frequented, that’s an understatement. I typically plunked down hundreds for vino each month, along with indulging in a happy hour (or five) at their wine bar. I told all my friends about this fine place. I was on their “super repeat buyer” list and email blasts. Then, one day when I was making my monthly investment, I asked about a new Sauvignon Blanc they had for sale at $12 per bottle. I then asked if I could sample the wine, to which the owner replied that she didn’t have an open bottle. Keep in mind they had a wine bar to sell the remaining contents of this particular bottle by-the-glass. Wow.
I was in there every week, and I had referred several people to buy their wine because of the great customer service. Now the owner was unwilling to open a $12 bottle of wine for me to sample? Perplexed by this reaction, I exited the store, and I have never entered again. The bigger issue is she did nothing about the loss of my business. I unsubscribed from the Constant Contact emails. I wasn’t stopping in for my weekly purchase or happy hour. Still, no reaction from the owner. I have repeated this story to all of my friends, to the point of threatening them if they patronized this place. How could she not realize the impact this has had on her business?
So what could she have done to earn my business back? For one, send me an email inquiring where I’ve been. Write a handwritten note to invite me back with a 10% discount. Perhaps offered to drop off a bottle of wine that she personally recommended. This would have probably put her out $10 at the most. Think what that small investment would have done. I would have been impressed with the customer service, I would have probably gone back to their store, and very likely I would have returned to my wine-buying ways. In turn, I would have chatted up my vino-loving friends (yes, quite a few), and possibly even hosted a wine tasting. In the long run, she would have reaped the benefit many times over in rich referrals and sales.
I didn’t need to rant on Facebook or Twitter. No need to write a negative Yelp review. I did it the old-fashioned way of word-of-mouth advertising and taking my business elsewhere. The moral of the story is that a current, loyal customer can be very expensive to replace and definitely worth more than any loss by opening a $12 bottle of wine. Even if it costs a bit more to make a customer happy and the request is legitimate, then it is a smart decision. This Pour Lady made a very poor decision, and it cost her many riches.