Why customers leave

Posted on August 13, 2007 by Bill

On a broad scale, there are four main reasons why customers leave. See if these look familiar:

  1. Product
  2. Price
  3. Place
  4. Promotion

“Wait!” you exclaim. “These are the outdated classic 4 P’s of marketing.” Yes, they are. And they are also the very reasons why your customers are leaving. Allow me to expound:

  1. Product. If your product does not deliver what is promised (or expected), then your customers may leave and tell others.
  2. Price. Customers leave because of price less often then you may think. That is unless, of course, you are actually attracting (intentional or not) transactional/price shoppers through your sales and clearance promotions.
  3. Place. Outdated search engines and dirty retail stores send customers straight for the nearest exit. You must also watch for cluttered isles and cluttered web pages, slow or broken web links, inconvenient retail locations, non-professional looking websites, long waiting lines and technical problems among many other things.
  4. Promotion. I think this may be the biggest reason of all because this not only includes deceptive or misleading advertising but also any problems caused by anyone in the organization who has the responsibility to promote your products. This essentially includes everyone in the company, but especially those that represent the face of the company - the front-liners. Showing indifference in the face of customer problems, offering poor customer service or under delivering on your promises will send customers scurrying faster than you can tritely say, “may I help you?”

Next time a customer of yours leaves, ask yourself which of the 4 P’s was violated and quickly remedy the situation.

Happy Monday everyone!

Filed under: Business, Customer Service, Loyalty, Marketing

« For better or worse Seinfeld on Marketing: Returns »

5 Responses to “Why customers leave”

  1. Brett, on August 14th, 2007 at 8:00 pm Said:

    Nice turnabout on the 4 P’s. I’ve experienced the issue with frontliners first-hand, as I’m sure we all have. If they don’t look the part, speak the part, act the part or even like the part, they need to go. Or stay behind a desk. A brand is too important to let a leader’s personality ruin. Ultimately, I guess the frontliners need to naturally have the personality that fits the brand. Too often, we try to teach the right personality, and it never works.

  2. miroslodki, on August 16th, 2007 at 2:23 pm Said:

    What about aftermarket service

    you bought the product
    now you have to deal with their billing, call centre, customer support ….

    might this be a 5th P called Patience?

    My $0.02
    Miro

  3. Bill, on August 17th, 2007 at 7:18 am Said:

    Brett,

    Great comment. I always love it when you stop by. I am still shocked sometimes at how some companies treat front-liners so poorly. Being the front and center face of the company, you would think (hope) that it would be different.

  4. Bill, on August 17th, 2007 at 8:32 am Said:

    Miro,

    Ah, yes. Patience. Sometimes it grows all too thin when dealing with a business. Ideally, interacting with a business after the sale should require little patients (if any). It should be as trouble-free as possible to create a breading ground for loyalty. Sadly, many times it is not. But if we add to the customers “trust account” in meaningful ways over time and do not make large deposits, customers will be more likely to exercise their patience when needed. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

  5. tvgpff, on March 31st, 2008 at 8:44 am Said:

    i hope. abcba79e8b thanks

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