The Cost of Customer Loyalty

Like many of you must go, coffee is to me as a fuel. I can do it myself in my office, but I'd rather go out for a coffee to keep me working at maximum capacity. My favorite place is a nearby coffee shop in the center of the city. Sometimes I buy the coffee and took me to take it in the office, and sometimes I sit at a table or the bar if I have a meeting or need a change of air to work on a project.

This cafe opened the same week I moved to my office. I went in not knowing that they too were new to the neighborhood. I immediately liked the place and knew it would be one of my favorites.

Coffee found a loyal clientele of coffee lovers and seemed to be attractive to many kinds of customers for different reasons. The business was so successful that the owners bought the place next door and doubled the available space a couple of years later. The coffee could grow smoothly while maintaining its original appearance.

Everything seemed fine until the owners made some strategic decisions began to alienate their major customers. It was not one, but a series of small changes that impacted every key point of the business in a negative way. And it's funny how when people told me their frustrations with respect to changes in the cafeteria.

A regular customer of that place was at a dinner to which I had also been invited, and while they were serving coffee, said how disappointed he was that his favorite local coffee prices had risen. He said that prices were high, but now the owners seemed to be somewhat annoying with their customers, and that this new attitude caused him to seek a new place to make your morning stop.

Another person asked me if I had noticed the price increase. Then he told me that when she asked for some extra cream for your coffee, I was charged as an extra when in the past ever did.

Also I noticed that he began to be easier to get free seats, and they definitely had far fewer students drink in the last time, perhaps because the credentials for loyal customers were discontinued when prices went up (before you could take a 10 th free coffee cup with that credential).

Recently put a sign saying that the cafeteria was donating to charity a portion of their income. Then, one customer said as he paid his own, he preferred to choose which nonprofit organization to donate your money, and for that reason that if prices had risen, he preferred to be reimbursed the amount of the donation.

This situation made me really realize that there are no small decisions when it comes to business. Although it is a big brand, you have to constantly monitor customer satisfaction because his loyalty can not be taken as safe and eternal. What else could have done differently the owners of this cafe, even if we assume that they needed to raise their prices?

Ask your best customers. Nobody wants to pay more for products or services they buy regularly, but may be accepted if received more in return. It seems that this cafe has done a "focus group? or used even a warning sign for their clients. It's amazing what one can learn by simply talking with customers, explaining the situation, and then try to solve the problem together with creative ways to handle the situation.

Check each variable separately to see which points have the greatest impact and why. A lot of people do not like to change your habits in any way. If you alter many things at the same time, it is difficult to know which changes are good or helpful and which are rejected or avoided by customers. Was the increase in prices? Was the removal of the card for loyal customers? Was the donation to charity? Or was it the fact that another local business and opened near many of the customers who did not feel comfortable moving from place to start? Or was something else that began to negatively impact the customer experience? It would be hard to predict the correct answer.

Admittedly, when you make a mistake. Will there be state employees involved in the decision to raise prices? Maybe your attitude "bitter? a reflection of the fact that they too seemed a good decision and are the customers who are aware of it instead of the owners. With this I am not suggesting that prices can never be uploaded. Of course, also be sure to know what it looks like the competitive landscape. You may need to lower some costs in your business instead of increasing prices. May end up letting out of the competition yourself, because no matter which category is your business, your customers will always have several options to choose from.

Remember that your business exists because customers can (and want) to pay for what you offer. Without them, you need to find something else to do. So look, listen and learn, because it is much more expensive to come back once they are gone. A cafe is opening in the next block, and I wonder if I will meet there with many familiar faces.

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