Why Do Customers Patiently Wait in Line for a $3 Cup of Joe?

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why you are more than willing to stand in line to pay $3, $4, even $5 for that caffeine jolt but won’t even bother to get out of your car for lunch? And talk about impatient if you have to pull your car over to the side while they prepare it “your way!”

Some years ago, in analyzing customer service provided by 14 major service companies, research performed by the Forum Research Corporation indicated:

15% of customers switched to another business because of quality problems.
15% left because of price.
70% departed because they didn’t like the human side of doing business with the prior provider of the product or service!

So, the reason you are willing to wait in line and pay so much for your brew is that human side that keeps bringing you back. Or is it a caffeine addiction?

We all can learn from Starbucks and others who have modestly duplicated their success. By tending to the human side of business, you retain existing customers and continue to attract new ones. How? Here are some ways your business might “humanize” its practices:

Thank the customer or prospect within 48 hours of initial contact. (Hey, their time is valuable, isn’t it? And they chose to spend it with you!)
Remember details about your customer by utilizing database technology. This is called data mining and not enough of it is done, formally or informally. (Remember when the pharmacist used to ask how your mother was?)
Apply this information to attract similar new customers. If 80% of your customers are florists in Boise, maybe wedding planners would be a good target market, too.
• Make an unexpected follow up call to check on satisfaction. Who wouldn’t be pleased to get a call or email just to see if you are happy with the product or service? No other agenda, please.
All these things add up to developing lifelong customer relationships. It now costs six seven eight times more to earn a new customer than to keep an existing one.

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