You don’t ask for it, but we’re delivering anyway.
Welcome to Unsolicited Advice, where I offer some content marketing guidelines for an unsuspecting target – whether they like it or not.
This month, I gave advice to the CEO of a customer relationship management software company that needed a lesson in the value of customer relationships.
Dennis Fois
Managing director
Copper CRM
Dear Mr. Fois,
Your customer experience is horrible. And for a company that sells a customer relationship management platform, that’s shocking.
Do not misunderstand me. I enjoyed using your SaaS product for four years – so much that I spent $10,240 with you. Your tool is fast, integrates well with our workflow, and has helped my company complete a $2 million business.
But instead of upgrading my account with Copper, I’m canceling my subscription.
Why? Because it’s clear that you don’t really believe in building lasting relationships – even though that’s what about page Your statement that you want to help the customer make.
A few weeks ago, I reached out to your customer success team with some simple questions about the functionality available only in your premium software subscription.
Obviously, I was interested in upgrading. All I need is a few words of encouragement, a demo of advanced functionality and someone to take my money.
Instead, I interact with team members who are slow, curt, and unhelpful. Sorry, not a single member of your team has offered to assist with the upgrade. No one even pointed me to an existing demo.
It was horrible.
Mr. Fois, everyone is in marketing and sales these days – even your customer service team.
If you’re not providing self-service-enabled content, you’re better off working with your human-to-human service.
On the same page, you affirm, “(W)ith Copper, your business will grow the right way: with loyal customers for life”. Obviously you’re not eating your dog’s food.
This is the deal. I won’t be back.
But if you rethink the experience you provide to the customers you serve today, you might be able to prevent someone like me from leaving tomorrow.
Whether you like it or not,
Andrew Davis
Host and Author, The Loyalty Loop
Cover photo by Joseph Kalinowski / Content Marketing Institute
