I gotta give a small hat tip to my buddy, Andrew Clark, a.k.a. The Brand Chef for some inspiration on this one. You see, Mr. Brand Chef does a good job of incorporating music into his social offering every day, so Andrew, enjoy.
I was a DIRECTV customer for about four years. I had the bundled package with internet and phone. At $90 a month for all three, life was good. Then, slowly, the monthly cost became $100, then $110, and about six months ago it reached $160 a month. That’s a $70 monthly increase over the course of four years. That’s $840 more a year! So I did what you would do. I called DIRECTV and told them they needed to help me out on the price or I was leaving for Mediacom. They told me the best they could do was reduce the cost by $15 a month. Thanks for nothing.
So I called Mediacom, they quoted me out the bundled package at $90 a month. Inflation you can stick it! So I called DIRECTV
again, told them about $90 a month from Mediacom. What can you do to keep my business? “We can take off $15 a month.” That was it. I switched to Mediacom.
For the last six month, I have been getting a phone call around the 10th of every month from DIRECTV. “Josh, because you were such a loyal customer, we have some great offers we’d like to share with you to switch back to DIRECTV.” Hello? McFly? Anybody home? I was a loyal customer, and where was the love? So I start listening to the pitch and guess what? It’s cheaper than $90 a month. You know what, I’m not switching, just out of spite.
This raises two bigger question that all businesses should consider. 1. What is the cost of acquiring a new customer. 2. What is the cost of keeping a current customer? This may not seem like rocket science but keeping your current customers is always the best way to spend your money. With so many companies pursuing new business customers, companies often forget about the customers they already have.
Sexy Remote
You can talk features and beneftis all you want, but there really are only a a few differences. DIRECTV has NFL Network and MLB Network plus a sexier remote. Mediacom has more movie channels like Starz and Encore for the money and gets treated like crap by Sinclair Broadcasting.
My guess is I will never return to DIRECTV. They’ve lost me. Unless I hear some story about some lifelong DIRECTV customer who was given a discount or a rate freeze than I’m sticking with a less sexy remote.
Love your current customers. Sure, they may not be the one you love, but like Stephen Stills sang, sometimes, you gotta “Love the one your with.”‘
Author: Josh Fleming
www.lessingflynn.com
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
does it equally annoy you that Sinclair and Mediacom played out the same contract battle again this year?
I’m stuck with Directv as Mediacom can’t seem to find a way to cross the street.
I’ve been a Mediacom customer for years. When I lost my job in April, I contacted them through their Twitter contact, @jeffangelo. He gave me a discount for six months. That was nice.
I had the same experience (as you) with Qwest when I discontinued my home phone service. They let me go without negotiating a lower rate and then, two months later they were begging to have me back at a much lower rate.
It’s as if there are two silos. One for customer service and one for new business marketing. They never talk! Too bad. I had been a Qwest phone customer for more than 20 years.
I’m shocked to hear that some one else had a negative experience with Direct TV. They are in the upper echelon of customer service, their product has no equivelant and their installers are real salt of the earth citizens… Also, I HATE sarcasm and NEVER use it.