Rewarding Customer Loyalty

Rewarding Customer Loyalty

November 17, 2011

Our company has been a faithful customer to a certain water delivery service for over 18 years. I will not name names…but their trucks SPARKLE in the sunlight!

About 3 weeks ago our office manager was approached by a competitor company with betting pricing AND other promotional goodies in an effort to win our business. It was a deal the office manager could not resist because of the significant cost savings.

Later that week our regular water delivery person (who drives the shiny truck), arrived at the offices with the usual order. He was informed at that time our service with his company had been cancelled. He was sincerely disappointed that we switched services without consulting him first. He admonished the office manager (in the most professional way possible!) and informed her how she could have approached him for a better deal on pricing. He explained how he could have beat the pricing of the other company AND would give us his “new customer” pricing.

WHAT!? Our company had been a faithful customer for 18 years and new customers are getting better long term pricing than us? My point after 4 paragraphs is, why wait until a cancellation to pass on the savings. They lost a customer not only on price but on principle as well. Morale: trying to make the extra buck off the loyal is no way to keep business.