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Old Customer Deals

November 20, 2008

Marketing, Technology

In my recent thoughts on the decline of customer service I have been thinking about the deals and promotions setup to acquire new customers. Since we have reached a saturation point on many hardware devices, services, and relationships I have been wondering where are the old customer deals!

Every cell phone company has deals for new customers. None have deals with promotions for old customers.

This is actually a concept I came up with when thinking about the amount of time some companies have been around.

What about deals for customers who have been with AT&T for 10 years?
What about using a utility for the last 5 years at your home?
Still using the same Internet provider?
How long have you had that washing machine in your home?
etc…

In most cases, longevity of usage can be because of brand loyalty, lack of competition, laziness, price, or other options. Since the deregulation of many industries more competition has led to people switching brands or products on a much more regular basis.

I originally expected companies to start offering longevity deals to those that have stayed with a company – but I have yet to see this play out. Something as simple as a coupon or discount for staying loyal to a brand would be in order.

What is the downside to offering coupons to those customers that have been around for 10 years?

Special programs and business intelligence research into your CURRENT customers vs. your potential customers could yield results that far outperform acquiring new customers.

This may be another vision of the 80/20 principle – but one that I think would work well.

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  • http://asalko.blogspot.com/ Andrej

    Hi Eric. Orange Slovakia, the Slovak daughter of the mobile operator, has offered deals specifically aimed at existing customers, including some tied to the length of time they have been customers. I think these were supposed to counter other operators' new customer deals. So Orange offered tiered pricing on certain services depending how long you have been a customer and other benefits only for customers of at least six months or two years.

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    That's great news. Good for Orange! I wonder how well they convert?

  • http://asalko.blogspot.com/ Andrej

    Hi Eric. Orange Slovakia, the Slovak daughter of the mobile operator, has offered deals specifically aimed at existing customers, including some tied to the length of time they have been customers. I think these were supposed to counter other operators' new customer deals. So Orange offered tiered pricing on certain services depending how long you have been a customer and other benefits only for customers of at least six months or two years.

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    That's great news. Good for Orange! I wonder how well they convert?

  • http://www.razorshine.com Riaz Kanani

    Don't forget O2's treats here in the UK – after you have been with them 18 months you start to get “treats” which are additional free minutes or additional free texts (amongst other things). The downside is I am not sure it is enough to really make you stay so the idea is sound but the implementation poor.

    If only the networks in the UK had done this earlier the consumer would not have been taught to change provider at the end of every contract as it is always cheaper unless you call and threaten to leave.

  • http://www.riazkanani.com Riaz Kanani

    Don't forget O2's treats here in the UK – after you have been with them 18 months you start to get “treats” which are additional free minutes or additional free texts (amongst other things). The downside is I am not sure it is enough to really make you stay so the idea is sound but the implementation poor.

    If only the networks in the UK had done this earlier the consumer would not have been taught to change provider at the end of every contract as it is always cheaper unless you call and threaten to leave.

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    That actually sounds good. I wish they did things like that more often.
    The smallest “positive” can sometimes outweigh larger “negatives” especially
    when it comes to a wireless company.

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    That actually sounds good. I wish they did things like that more often.
    The smallest “positive” can sometimes outweigh larger “negatives” especially
    when it comes to a wireless company.

  • http://www.razorshine.com Riaz Kanani

    that is very true

  • http://www.riazkanani.com Riaz Kanani

    that is very true

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    That actually sounds good. I wish they did things like that more often.
    The smallest “positive” can sometimes outweigh larger “negatives” especially
    when it comes to a wireless company.

  • http://www.riazkanani.com Riaz Kanani

    that is very true