Do your customers really love you or your products and services? Maybe they do. Then again, maybe you’re just a necessarily evil. In this case, they feel more like a hostage than a customer and will bail out the moment they get the opportunity. So which is it? Are your customers experiencing loyalty to you? Or just Learned Helplessness? Do you have a bright future delighting or at least satisfying your customers? Or are you just a sunk cost fallacy waiting to be realized? (I’ll explain the sunk cost issue in a moment or two.)
During the evolution of COVID-19, a lot of marketplace issues have emerged. All manner of experts from varying business categories will be studying the effects for years. But from the perspective of this topic of product switching, we’re continuing though a period when consumers are choosing to, (or have been forced to), re-evaluate product and service choices. This has sometimes been due to simple availability, but potentially also affordability. People have also had several changing or new needs. Some will be temporary, others more permanent; from home office setup, through childcare, and the list goes on and on. All this change has has dumped a variety of seemingly stable brands in a big blender where all of a sudden, they’re up for review. And if you don’t have a customer retention strategy, even if you’re company can survive a brand switch here or there, you’re likely going to leave a lot of money on the table. [Read more…]