Caveat emptor

Agent: I know why we have reservations.

Jerry: I don't think you do. If you did, I'd have a car. See, you know how to
take the reservation, you just don't know how to *hold* the reservation and
that's really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody
can just take them.

The buyer is always right, well that is if he is a new customer.

Was reading Amadeo's blog about his dealings with Sprint and it got me thinking about the whole customer/ services seller relationship these days. (Pardon me if I've written about this before but its on my mind again.)

Everything these days in terms of service from companies is geared towards bringing in new customers. I see Banks giving away iPods to switch your accounts to them, phone companies throwing free phones at customers, credit card companies offering you low low low interest rates to join them, every single company these days its all about the new money.

Forget those cats who've been with your service for years, yea leave them there they are not the focus. Its like the accounting departments declared that company image and success is based on how many new customers they can get in a quarter. That not right man.

But what about those loyal customers? Its enough to give you that whole brother of the prodigal son feeling. "Wha I been here wid you fa donkey years and ya never even offer me two sweeties further less a free phone but ya can offer he cross deyso that was wid anudda carrier, rebates and bling and cheap cheap service. What am I chopped liver?"

I guess the theory is once they got you they got you and you're too much of a moron to think about switching services since its such a hassle and blah blah blah but shouldn't some thought be given into retaining clients?

Instead you duz gotta call and cuss, threaten to leave them or actually leave them. Then they duz be ringing down your house asking why you treat dem so and saying "sorry man, looka we got a special offer for you if you come back now we aint gine treat ya so bad nuhmore, looka hold this free installation, hookup, money back, coupons, bling, two shirley biscuits and a pack a tambrind balls."

No wonder the whole world economy getting mash up. Is cause of all this focus on the new clients I tell ya. They know how to get a new client they just don't know how to keep the one's they have happy. Or maybe they just don't give a .............