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There are several retailers deciding that the
customer is not always right, and as a matter of fact they are very, very
wrong --- as in unprofitable. Let's take Best Buy for instance...
they are discriminating between the profitable customer and shoppers they
lose money on.
You know the customers we mean -- they buy
only during big sales, or tie up a salesman with lengthy questions but don't
but at all. And how about the ones who file for a rebate, then return the
item?
Brad Anderson, Best Buy's Chief Executive
stated in a recent interview, "Those customers, they're smart, and they're
costing us money". They have since tightened their rebate policies but
declined to say how.
Larry Seldon, a consultant who works for Best
Buy, co-wrote "Angel Customers & Demon Customers." In his book he states
that while businesses cannot hire a bouncer to stand guard and identify the
value destroyer, they are not powerless.
More companies are eventually, reluctantly,
and very politely, asking the customer to go elsewhere. That's a large step
to take.
Seldon believes that there are those
customers that are just evil customers, fundamentally they are out to cheat
us. He added, "It's not a large number, but they can have a material impact
on a business". Filene's banned two sisters from all 21 of its stores last
year after the clothing chain's corporate parent decided they had returned
too many items and complained too often about service.
How does all this relate to our online
marketing? Well consider the sales you have made and after paying, the
customer is forwarded to a downloadable file. They print the file and within
the 30-day guarantee, claim dissatisfaction and request a refund.
Still, we are nothing without our customers,
so love them, understand and value them. And the few determined to cheat you out of
a sale, pray that some truth lies in karma.
© 2005 Esther Smith
About
the Author: Smith has published numerous articles and writes a blog for
all artists:
http://the-self-taught-artist.com/blog.html
She also coaches new students on how to leave the time-for-money trap and set up
Leveraged Income for life.
http://thepermanentventure.com/dcc.htm If you can’t sing or ride a
bull, you better learn how to make your money work for more money. |