After being a Directv customer for roughly 8 years, I just switched from them to Dish Network for my TV viewing pleasure. When I signed up 8 years ago I was given the NFL Package at no cost for signing a two-year contract. Over the 8 years I would see Directv offer all sorts of freebies and deals to new customers. As a loyal customer I was given one offer of 3 months worth of Encore movies for free. WoooHoooo! The cheapest and worst of the movie channels for free. Thanks a lot! What I constantly found is that the new customers where much more important than the loyal customers. So I decided to be a new customer and switch to Dish. Dish does pretty much the same thing as Directv. Give stuff to the new customers. So I switched and I saved a little money, I got some free stuff and I get basically the same channels and the same service. It was a no-brainer decision! I had to sign a two-year contract to get all the stuff. And guess what I’m doing in two years??? You guessed it… I’m going to be a new customer of Directv. By the way, when I told Directv I was moving to Dish they then decided to sweeten the deal but it was too late. Why didn’t they offer to sweeten the deal when I was loyal instead of when I was leaving?
Does all this sound familiar? Sounds like a lot of banks to me. Ever hear of “New Money” rates? Ever hear of customers getting free gifts when opening a new checking? Ever hear a bank executive say don’t move that savings account money to a higher paying CD? We’ve trained and conditioned customers to shop around because we seem to give the best deals to the new or leaving customer and not the silent loyal customer. Think about it… when is the last time you called a CD customer whose CD was maturing and offered to bump her rate up even though you know she would have just let it roll over. Typical thinking would say why do it if we don’t have to. Relationship and advocacy thinking would say, who will she tell if we raise the rate?
Based on your actions, do you give the best deal to your loyal customers to create lasting and profitable relationships or do you give the best deal to your new, complaining and price oriented customers? Just something to think about and maybe act upon.
