There Goes Another One
I had a favorite Vietnamese restaurant and I just become a lost customer. Businesses make changes which result in lost customers. The customers don't say anything they just stop coming and becasue there is a lag between the change and the decline in business they don't see the connection.
Here's my story. I was taken to the restaurant originally by a friend. It was very similar to my previous favorite but a little better in a number of ways. The decor was a little nicer, it was a little bigger and the portions were better. In all areas the difference wasn't huge but all things added up to a better experience. Over time this has grown to be a pretty busy little spot.
One of my favorite dishes was their fried noodle with prawns and vegetables. I ordered this for lunch yesterday. Originally, in the vegetable mix they would use broccoli (the dominante vegetable), cauliflower, carrot, onion and asparagus. The changes have been gradual over time. Now there isn't a dominante vegetable. The amount of broccoli has decreased substantially, there is very little cauliflower, way more carrot and asparagus has been replaced with bok choi. And the portions size has gone way down.
The business owner is trying to squeeze a little more profit out of the business by cutting costs. However, as a customer I feel cheated. Without saying anything I stop coming. My friend stops coming. The business grew gradually and it shrinks gradually. What this business looses is its best customers, the ones that are there a regularly and they were bringing their friends. These are the most profitable customers a business has.
This same thing happened with my favorite Mexican restaurant and they are no longer in business. The irony here is that to make your company more profitable don't reduce the value of your offering, increase it. If you want your business to grow you have to be generous with your best customers. Sometimes there is cost cutting that can happen in operations but be very careful with your product value package. Carl Sewell, author of "Customers for Life" says it best. When you are in retail, anything you would do for your best friend do for your customer because in retail your customer is your best friend.
Here's my story. I was taken to the restaurant originally by a friend. It was very similar to my previous favorite but a little better in a number of ways. The decor was a little nicer, it was a little bigger and the portions were better. In all areas the difference wasn't huge but all things added up to a better experience. Over time this has grown to be a pretty busy little spot.
One of my favorite dishes was their fried noodle with prawns and vegetables. I ordered this for lunch yesterday. Originally, in the vegetable mix they would use broccoli (the dominante vegetable), cauliflower, carrot, onion and asparagus. The changes have been gradual over time. Now there isn't a dominante vegetable. The amount of broccoli has decreased substantially, there is very little cauliflower, way more carrot and asparagus has been replaced with bok choi. And the portions size has gone way down.
The business owner is trying to squeeze a little more profit out of the business by cutting costs. However, as a customer I feel cheated. Without saying anything I stop coming. My friend stops coming. The business grew gradually and it shrinks gradually. What this business looses is its best customers, the ones that are there a regularly and they were bringing their friends. These are the most profitable customers a business has.
This same thing happened with my favorite Mexican restaurant and they are no longer in business. The irony here is that to make your company more profitable don't reduce the value of your offering, increase it. If you want your business to grow you have to be generous with your best customers. Sometimes there is cost cutting that can happen in operations but be very careful with your product value package. Carl Sewell, author of "Customers for Life" says it best. When you are in retail, anything you would do for your best friend do for your customer because in retail your customer is your best friend.
posted by billbergh at 4:25 AM
1 Comments:
A lot depends on the level of involvement between the customer and the business. Your suggestion is a very good one and customers should give feedback. In fact businesses should seek feedback. However, too often there is little involvement, no feedback and the customers just disappear.
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