Joseph Jaffe, Chief Interruptor at Crayon and one of the leading specialists in conversational marketing and social media, recently had a really bad experience with American Express and took the time to rant about it for a few minutes on his online TV channel. He got upset at American Express for doing something to him that any credit card company or business would do in that situation. The only difference is, that Amex differentiated themselves as a company who cares.
Watch this video and you’ll see what I mean:
You’ll notice that he was upset because they claimed to be “Open” for small businesses, that they understand their customers, the spirit of the entrepreneur and the American dream. American Express opened their arms and offered friendship to small businesses and Jaffe accepted.
After the friendship started and his credit card and limit were in hand, Amex came over to him and began to act like a business by asking for all of his personal information and tax records. Multiple personalities if you ask me and nobody wants to be friends with someone that’s only your friend some of the time.
At the end of the story, his credit card was declined because he was $16 over his limit. For a business, over the limit is over the limit. They have rules and must follow them. For a friend, $16 is nothing and would quickly be forgiven. Jaffe was not upset that a business was following rules, he was upset that his good friend just stabbed him in the back and made him look like a fool when he was checking into the Renaissance Hotel in Orlando.
Jaffe points out that there “was no courtesy call, no courtesy message, no courtesy text message”, all things you would expect from a friend, or a business you consider your friend. A company that cares would never do this to their customers.
If a company says “we’ll give you the world” and then disappoints you on even one point, they will lose their customers. If a company says “i’ll give you ‘X’” and then gives you “X” and “Y”, they have made a friend, possibly for life if they keep it up.
Consistency is a Must
Consistency is extremely important. People want to know what they are getting when they make a purchase. Michael Gerber in the E-myth Revisited mentions that the success of McDonalds is because of their system and consistency. When a customer visits the store, they know exactly what they are going to get. If the customer has a great sandwich the first time but the same sandwich the next time is not as good, he will subconsciously stop going to that restaurant.
We are in a world where social relationships rule and traditional one-way company monologues are on their deathbed. Customers would always prefer to give their business to a friend as opposed to a corporation. As a company, becoming friends with your customers is a smart move and the friendship will gain their loyalty. Just make sure that if you become friends with your customers, you act like a friend and not a business.