Choose To Use Your Consumer Clout
In talking with media and in my writing of articles about marketing to women lately, the consumer perspective has become more interesting to me. If more women start to realize what incredible power they hold in their wallets, and how taking the time to communicate their preferences with brands will begin to serve them (of course it will be a long process), we’d have a revolution on our hands. And, it would be very exciting to watch.
On the whole serving consumers topic, I recently read a feature by Washington Post writer, Margaret Webb Pressler, entitled “Searching for service is up to shoppers” and made note of this not-surprising retail fact: “Industry-wide, the lowest level employees aren’t paid, trained or valued enough to treat customers the way the stores themselves say they should be treated.” Of course, women, especially, pay close attention to the real-person and real-time connections they have with any brand, so – yikes – this is not good.
Finally, in “Companies Find They Can’t Buy Love With Bargains,” (you need to register to visit archives and you’ll need to pay to get this article) from the August 8th New York Times, William C. Taylor writes that the American Customer Satisfaction Index shows that many industries and companies rate lower today than they did in 1994. In the article, Taylor, who is a co-founder and founding editor of Fast Company magazine, discusses how Vermont Teddy Bear and Amazon.com, two very dissimilar companies, have both been able to forge a genuine bond with customers. As Taylor put it very early on in the article: “Yet the harder companies work to make products cheaper and better, the less they seem to impress their customers.”
Perhaps companies are still evaluating the challenge of forging relationships with customers and deciding it is easier and quicker to lower prices or create clever gizmos. But, it obviously isn’t easier in terms of building longer term customer satisfaction. Do you, in your consuming role, make many purchasing decisions based on deals or flash – or do you find yourself purchasing mainly from companies that, over time, have seemed interested in a relationship (as “real” as that can be – given it is between a company and a person)? Whether I’m dealing with my neighborhood coffee shop (Speeder and Earl’s – love their so-very-Vermont logo) or a larger company like Amazon.com, I, like most consumers, really appreciate being listened to and heard.
