Stable relationships with unstable customers (part 1)

You cannot turn on the news today without hearing about how consumer behavior has changed dramatically following the housing/credit/banking/auto crisis of this year and last.  Now, the pundits proclaim, America is on its way to saving rather than spending, towards “conspicuous curtailing” instead of conspicuous consumption and a return to a society that values things less and people more.

In this environment, we are told, consumers will use the web to price shop for everything, and seek out the lowest prices regardless of company or often, even brand.  Private label is soaring, as are food stamps, with over 10% of Americans are seeking work.

So how can a company possibly be customer-centric in such an environment?  Is the race now not to the swiftest, but to the cheapest?  Shall we all throw in the towel and worship at the altar of Wal-Mart?

Let me tell you a story.  Today, I decided, since it was Cyber-Monday, to purchase a compact video camera.  I selected the Kodak Zi8, since it seemed to meet my needs and is also recommended by Chris Brogan, a blogger I admire a lot.  On Google, the lowest prices were from Adorama Camera, which I had not hear of before, but had high seller ratings.  The second cheapest was PC Connection, a company I was familiar with from advertising.  I went to Adorama, and the Zi8 was out of stock, and the site said that they were not sure when they would receive inventory.  Pass. Then I went to PC Connection to check inventories, and could not do so without registering.  Pass again.

By now, I had spent 20 minutes I did not have in my day looking for the best deal.  So you know where I ended up for my purchase?

Amazon.

They were not the cheapest price, but they were within 15% of it.  And they had my credit cards all stored, and all my shipping addresses.  What’s more, I did not have to pay for shipping, since I am an Amazon Prime customers.  In less than 5 minutes I was done.

Is it the end for cultivating customer relationships?  I don’t think so.

Your Best Customers will definitely check out the competition before purchasing.  The question is:  what can you do to make your purchases so seamless, so easy, that a Best Customer will feel like they have traded down anywhere else.  Do all that, and be competitive on prices (not the cheapest) and your Best Customers will stay with you.

But you have to work at it.  My next couple posts will address challenges to adding value in this economy, and suggest some “down and dirty” ways to build stickiness and retain, if not even enhance, your Best Customer relationships.

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• Americans save more, spend less. Will it last? (dailyfinance.com)
• The View From Their Recession (andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com)
• No new normal (cultureby.com)

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Tagged as: Amazon.com, Best Customer, best customer experience, Chris Brogan, customer centric, Wal-Mart