When do company apologies make sense?

My wife recently received a "apology" email from the President of G.H. Bass & Co. (see below)letting her know how they had "lost their way over the past few years" which was a surprise to her.

Lately, a handful of companies have taken an "apology" approach to their marketing strategy and branding (ie. JCPenney just released a new ad featuring an apology to customers for recent changes and a promise to start listening more; Domino's campaign a couple years back stating how their pizza had been terrible all these years).  I'm sure declining business results have led these companies to finally realize serious fundamental and operational issues at play.  I think the solution, in addition to actually fixing the key problems (remember Oldsmobile?), doesn't always have to require that they apologize and point out all their past deficiencies to your customers (unless of course they also plan to give them something tangible, like refunds for "not listening to their needs").

In many of these business situations, I think these brands are making matters worse by focusing their attention and perhaps building greater awareness of these so-called transgressions by communicating them with their customers (and non-customers) as part of an overall strategy to introduce some bold new strategies.   I know that I would want my money back for all the pizzas I bought over the past ten years after now realizing I had been duped.

I am not saying that companies should hide serious customer issues or be deceitful in any way.  But it depends on the situation.  Certainly, there are companies that should be required to apologize, like BP, and at a bare minimum, ask for the public's forgiveness, share what significant actions they will take to make things right again (and prevent from happening again) in order to re-store customer trust.

Thoughts?

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From: G.H. Bass & Co.
To:
Sent: Wed, May 8, 2013 4:15:52 PM
Subject: G.H. Bass & Co - A Letter From the President.

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3 Missed Opportunities in Customer Loyalty

Sharing this good article on customer loyalty...

Customer loyalty is an incredibly lucrative opportunity for brands, yet marketers still struggle to maximize their relationships with existing customers even though recent research from Forrester shows that 93% of companies have placed customer experience on their list of strategic priorities, with 28% claiming it as their top priority.

Clearly brands understand the value of each customer, yet there is a disconnect between knowing what customers need and want and the ability to actually deliver in a way that creates an experience that builds long-term loyalty. Recent advances such as runtime modeling, location-based services and the increased use of smartphones as shopping devices have greatly improved marketer’s capabilities to deliver exceptional customer experiences by anticipating customers’ needs in near real time.
Lasting loyalty is built on three basic strategies: acquisition, retention and engagement. Here are three commonly missed opportunities and how brands can best address the needs of an increasingly mobile and connected customer to foster loyal and lucrative relationships.

Read more...
http://www.chiefmarketer.com/promotional-marketing/3-missed-opportunities-in-customer-loyalty-17042013

MEASURING LOYALTY BEYOND SIMPLY SPEND

Here's a good paper on how brands are benefitting from the power of advanced multi-channel loyalty software which allows them to extend their loyalty programs beyond simply measuring their customers’ spend but also by capturing all the ways a particular customer impacts a brand

MEASURING LOYALTY BEYOND SIMPLY SPEND

What the Convergence of CRM, CEM and Loyalty Means for Customer Experience

What the Convergence of CRM, CEM and Loyalty Means for Customer Experience

Panera Customer Appreciation. Good Tasting

I wanted to share an example of a great loyalty program member experience…

A couple weeks back, my wife, a member of the Panera loyalty club, received an email invitation for a “special tasting” at a nearby location on November 17th afternoon.  She registered in advance, and we both went.  When we arrived, they had a special room set-up with a person greeting us and taking down our name to confirm us. It was pretty crowded and everyone seemed to be having a good time.  They positioned it as customer appreciation. All in all, it was a very simple, yet nicely done member experience. My wife is not a real frequent visitor, nor high value, nor an infrequent or lapsed visitor as well…just visits periodically. I was not able to determine how might have been specifically targeted, but it was probably to increase her periodic visits/spend or to drive more store traffic to this location.

Do any of you have any loyalty program member experiences worth sharing?

Lettuce Experience

Hello All-

It's been a very long time since my last post.  Hope everyone is having a nice summer.

I wanted to share two examples of recent customer experiences...



Lettuce Entertain You
About a month ago, we received a postcard for a Lettuce Entertain You restaurant Frankie’s Scaloppine at 900 N. Michigan Ave. downtown for $25 off a meal, good through 6/27. I think they were targeting people in the suburbs to come into the city and dine at one of their restaurants. During the day on Saturday, June 23rd, we thought it would be nice to head into the city and go there again for dinner. My wife Karen called the restaurant about 3pm to make a reservation. They simply replied that “they stopped taking reservations for the evening, but walk-ins were welcome.” So, we decided to make a night of it. We arrived about 7:45pm. The host informed us that they had a private party on the inside and were not taking anymore people. We asked about the “outside” area (not really outside) of the restaurant, which was still serving many patrons. There were at least 5 open tables right in front of us. The host then went on to say that the private party would be spilling out soon and he could not give us a table.

If the person on the phone in the afternoon told us this, it would not have been a big deal, and we just would not have come into the city. However, in sharing this with the host, he honestly couldn’t care less. His only response was that the person on the phone probably thought we lived in the neighborhood. My wife and myself were really incredulous over his lack of empathy or interest in the situation. My wife even asked him, “you really don’t care, do you…you would just prefer we walk away.” He really didn’t say much, so we did just walk away feeling really angry. We know how much emphasis founder Rich Melman places on customer service, so we were really shocked. We drove close to an hour into the city on a Saturday night, parked, for nothing? After walking around afterwards trying to figure out how to salvage the evening, we ended up at other Lettuce Entertain You restaurant Mity Nice Grill. We had an excellent dinner and great service. Afterwards, we even complimented the manager on both.

With the help of a friend who had contacts with lettuce Entertain You, I was able to get my story to a company executive.  A few hours later, I was contacted by the Managing Partner of Frankie's, who offered his sincerest apologies.  He then said he would send us somethiing for our trouble, hoping we would give them another chance.  Later that week, we  received four $25 gift cards in the mail along with a nice personal letter, again, offering us their apologies.

I was impressed how they dealt with this situation and made a real sincere effort to win me back.  We will be making our reservations soon!

Apple
This past Sunday, I visited our local Apple store because my iPod stopped working the day before when I was out for a run.  As usual, the store was buzzing with activity.  I had forgotten to make an appointment, but when I showed up, there was a cancellation so I only had to wait 10 minutes for my apointment.  When my turn was up, the store consultant looked over my iPod for a few minutes, then took it away to further investigate for a few minutes.  When he returned, he said my iPod had gotten a little moisture in it (sweat), which caused it to shut down and stop functioning.  He then handed me a new iPod with no questions asked.  I was very impressed by the ease and resolution of my experience.  They certainly have my loyalty!


Do any of you have any good or bad experiences to share??

Top 12 Customer Loyalty Trends for 2012

Happy Holidays and New Year to all of you...

http://www.marketingprofs.com/pics/2011/6705/top-12-customer-loyalty-trends-for-2012?adref=nlt122311&utm_source=mpt&utm_medium=slideshow&utm_campaign=basic&utm_term=custbehavior&utm_content=slideshow

Forrester's Kerry Bodine: Why Customer Experience? Why Now?

Good blog from Forrester. Nothing new or surprising here, but a clear reminder on why customers are in control...

Forrester's Kerry Bodine: Why Customer Experience? Why Now?

How AT&T pushed my business away

I just experienced an all too typical poor customer experience in which the company actually made it easier for me to leave than staying on as a valued customer.

As a result of my consulting with many different organizations throughout the year, there are often times when I am unable to access the Internet through their company networks while working on-site for long stretches of time. Because of this, I purchased a wireless card awhile back through AT&T. A few months ago, I was at a client location where web access was not an issue, so I knew I would not need my wireless card for about 3-4 months. I didn't want to keep paying $60/month if I was not even using it, so I contacted AT&T customer service to see if they could help me out. Rather than cancelling my contract outright, I was pleasantly surprised to learn of a "contract suspension' program they offer, where it was explained I could put it "on hold" with out any monthly fee and then resume whenever I chose. Kinda like stopping the newspaper for a vacation hold. This seemed like the perfect soution.

However, I just realized I had been charged $10/month during this suspension period. I would have realized this sooner had I looked more closely at my monthly statements. Because I had a large credit due to starting this suspension at the start of a billing period, I only saw the overall credit appearing on each statement. But apparently that credit had been going down every month until this latest bill, when it ran out and I now owed $7.37.

I immediately contacted AT&T customer service to find out why I had been charged a monthly fee during this suspension period. I soon learned that there is actually a "reduced" monthly service charge. The original agent who explained this program to me was completely wrong on the key essence of the program. If I knew that before, I would have just ended my contract then rather than pay any amount while my card was never going to be used for this period of time. In explaining this situation with CSR "Willy," it became clear that he was unable or unwilling to make amends for their agent's misinformation, so I asked to speak with a supervisor.

As I waited on hold for about 15 more minutes, expecting to finally speak with a supervisor who might be willing to credit these past few "reduced" monthly charges and as well as waive them for no more than a couple more months until I resumed service, Willy returned to tell me that "he" spoke with the supervisor himself and all they would offer was to allow me to cancel my contract without paying what would be a $106 early-cancellation charge. At first, that seemed like a good deal and an easy solution, but I really didn't want to cancel.

I countered that if they were willing to credit me back the last 3 months and not charge me anything for up to only 3 more months, I would keep my contract and stay an AT&T customer. I further explained that if I cancelled my contract, it was very uncertain that I would return back to AT&T when I do need to resume having a wireless card, as there are many competitive choices out there, but if they kept me in suspension a little longer under the terms it was originally proposed to me, that would ensure I stay a customer and keep paying $60/month or $720/year once I started back up. I further explained that separately, I am an AT&T customer for my for home cable, phone and Internet and spend over $150/month ($1,800/year) for those services, but that did not seem to matter.

So, bottom line, when AT&T could keep me as a satisfied and loyal customer for as little as $60 total (to credit past charges of $30 and waive up to 3 new months of up to $30 maximum while on suspension), they preferred to instead eat $106 and take the chance that I might possibly start up a new wireless card contract with them in a few months when I am again shopping around for a new wireless card.

Wally was not empowered to deviate from their standard terms & conditions, no matter the circumstance. The supervisor could not be bothered to speak with me after I requested to. From a pure financial standpoint, they made a very bad business decision in both the short-term and long-term. From an overall customer experience standpoint, they were unwilling to take responsibility for an agent's misinformation and essentially opened the door and pushed me away rather than trying to retain my business.

Customer Bliss' Jeanne Bliss: Wegmans Food Markets Excels by Throwing Away the Rule Book

Customer Bliss' Jeanne Bliss: Wegmans Food Markets Excels by Throwing Away the Rule Book