Justin Beiber’s young fans learned about ‘real life’ last night as they were kept waiting for nearly 2 hours for him to come on stage at the O2 Arena! Cue ‘outraged fans’, particularly parents who were apparently given no information or updates about what was happening, and no apology when he did eventually make it onstage.
The result was that having waited with huge anticipation, many had to leave the gig early with some having to miss it – that means lots of very unhappy and upset ‘Disappointed’ ‘customers’!
It’s nothing new – the vast majority of us have been ‘Disappointed’ by being kept waiting by ‘suppliers’ at some stage or other.
In fact, a report from research company TNS found that….
- 92% of UK consumers have suffered tradesmen and delivery businesses turning up late…
- More than 25% have experienced poor punctuality on a regular basis…..
Back to the Canadian singer – there was no apology and one of the biggest complaints (particularly from parents) was the lack of information and updates. Again, this seems to reflect the ‘real world’!
- 73% of UK customers say that they are frequently kept in the dark about delays…..
In other words, Justin appears to be like any other business. Well, to an extent… and this is the interesting bit – I can’t help thinking that the advantage that Justin has over most of us is this.
In the ‘real world’….
- 78% of us say that we would be less likely to use a supplier again that failed to give precise delivery times
Will that happen for Justin? Will his fans run off to see One Direction instead (or maybe, if they’ve got any taste, Pink Floyd?!!!) I doubt it!
He’s managed to create such a huge a ‘Devoted’ customer base – his ‘Beliebers’ who are likely to stick with him (until they grow out of it!) no matter what he does… or doesn’t!
And THAT’S the difference! In the real world, ‘Disappointed’ customers that don’t get dealt with become Disaffected customers – they walk away, ignore your marketing and bad mouth you to other people.
So, JUSTIN case (geddit?!) you don’t realise, it’s about creating DIALOGUE not diatribes with your customers!
When things are going wrong, YOU need to…..
- Be proactive with your customers and keep them informed!
- Apologise!
- Get feedback and check they are OK with things!
As ever, it’s about managing customer expectations, and whenever possible, exceeding them to create ‘Delighted’ customers!
If you want some insights into how to do this…then please download this FREE white paper:
CUSTOMER DELIGHT AS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE!
In the meantime, let your customers know “All I Want Is You” and they’ll “Never Let You Go”! (Those are two of Justin’s songs for all you ‘Non – Beliebers!”)
