Is It Even Worth It?

Have you ever bought something from a company who makes you feel like they just wanted you for your money? After the fact, they treated you like a number. Like you didn't really matter to them in the long run?

Great products have marketing built right into the product and the process of acquiring, using, and getting support for that product. Most companies focus their marketing on the acquiring part, hope their users can understand how the product works, and think the users aren't intelligent when they can't figure it out.

I love calling companies with product issues and they talk down to me like I'm the incompetent one. Don't you?

On one hand, you have car companies like Larry H. Miller who makes you feel like a number. When the sales manager tells you, "Look, we're a volume dealer. If you don't buy the car at this price, the next person behind you will," how else am I supposed to feel?

But take a company like Youngevity, who sells a wide variety of products but is mostly known for health and fitness. I recently placed an order where the shipping showed to be around two dollars. When I got the receipt with the order, they charged me six! I know four dollars isn't outrageous, but the principle behind the issue is what upset me.

I took a screen shot of what the online shipping total showed and prepared to argue my way to victory as I got my four dollars back. But all my preparation would have been better spent elsewhere, because I didn't even have to ask.

The customer service rep asked how she could help, and I explained the issue of their online shipping total versus what I was actually charged. Not only did she not debate or ask a single clarifying question, she simply refunded the full amount I was charged. I didn't just get four dollars back, she refunded the full six bucks and some change.

Which car dealership do you think I'll discourage any of my friends from buying a car from? And which company do you think I will continue to recommend to my friends for not only their high-quality products but their high quality service?

Marketing doesn't stop once the purchase is made. It has only begun.

If anything about your process puts the priorities of your company before the priorities of your customer, ask yourself, "Is it even worth it?"

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