A Little TLC Goes a Long Way
Bradsford
Introduction
This story contains 12 lessons on customer loyalty: how hard it is to acquire, how easy it is to lose, and how simple it can be to regain — if you know what to do.
Chapter 1: Living on the Edge
For the last 15 years, I was a loyal Toyota customer, driving pretty much nothing other than white Toyota 4-door sedans. I’m a creature of habit. But in August 2011, I impulsively decided to do the opposite, ala George Costanza. So instead of buying a white Toyota sedan, I leased a burgundy Ford Edge crossover vehicle.
Going in, my prevailing emotions were skepticism and apprehension. And sure enough, no sooner than driving off the lot I began having trouble with Ford’s MyTouch system, the computer “brain” of the vehicle. Unbeknownst to me, MyTouch (a Microsoft/Ford collaboration) was a quality nightmare that had been vexing consumers to no end.
Although my Edge — christened Bradsford — was an otherwise wonderful car, MyTouch confirmed all of my doubts about abandoning Toyota quality. My issues with the computer system ranged from annoyances to genuine safety concerns. Result: a bad case of buyer’s remorse.
Customer Loyalty Lesson #1: Doing 9 out of 10 things right doesn’t cut it.
Chapter 2: Spoiling for a Fight
You Sure Look Pretty!
After settling in with my negative attitude, I became an active brand disloyalist. I found a way to view every car feature and every interaction with Ford in a negative light. I took every opportunity to share my complaints, talking to friends, posting bad reviews on automotive websites, making snarky comments on social media — all things which normally are quite out of character.
I complained to Ford corporate, becoming ever more vexed as I worked my way through its tangled phone and email bureaucracies. And even when I made contact with an actual person who provided useful assistance, I interpreted it in a negative light. No matter what the dealer did, no matter what Bradsford did — it would never be good enough. The dealer upgraded me to the second-generation system for free; I complained that I had to rent a car. My car was transporting me reliably and comfortably all over the Midwest; I went out of my way to find and complain about every slight design and performance flaw I could find. Am I proud of this? No, but my fundamental conviction was simply this: I was paying top dollar for an expensive vehicle that was only working at 80% efficiency. This was wrong and I was unhappy.
Customer Loyalty Lesson 2: Emotions determine loyalty, not facts.
Chapter 3: Abandonment and Despair
By January, anger had given way to melancholy. My plaintive appeals to Ford on Google+ went unnoticed. Corporate was still talking to me, but it felt like they were doing me a favor just picking up the phone. The dealership’s attitude seemed to be, “there’s nothing we can do.” I resigned myself to the fact I was stuck with a car I didn’t like. The much-touted MyTouch software update, which I was told would arrive in January, was now promised by the end of the first quarter, but I wasn’t holding my breath.
All I could do was count the days until my lease ended. And all I knew was my next vehicle would be anything other than a Ford.
Customer Loyalty Lesson #3: Building customer loyalty requires you to take an active role.
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To Be Continued …
OVER TO YOU
- How have you responded to situations where a product you purchased let you down, or the service behind the product let you down?
- If you were in Ford’s position in this situation, what would you do? (Stay tuned to see what they actually did.)
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Note: Brad Shorr works for Straight North, a Chicago Internet marketing company. They have many small B2C and B2B clients, including Newport Beach cosmetic dentists and a car lift repair company.
