Radio Shack.
If you would have asked me what I thought of that store about a month ago, I would have cringed. Aside from commercials, I really hadn’t been exposed to the store in quite a few years. You see, I had a bad service experience a number of years ago and really never bothered to go back. The problem I had was that I just ran in for batteries in the middle of a road trip and they asked me for every piece of personal information under the Sun — name, address, zip code… etc. I also seem to remember them trying to sell me other things, when I clearly just wanted some batteries.
Being a marketing professional, I understand what they were after, but I was very put off. I just wanted some batteries. It felt like they were adding my name to the no-fly list instead of making me happy that I stopped in.
In the aftermath, it took me years and years to return to “The Shack”. And it was really because I needed a specific adapter (again a really low price item) and couldn’t get it anywhere else. Even knowing this, I still didn’t want to go back, but I did. And I’m glad I did. My experience there was actually really pleasant. Someone helped me immediately and there was no interrogation at the register.
So in the end, I’m glad to see that “The Shack” is (at least to my knowledge) not pestering every customer for personal information. However, it serves as an important lesson for marketers. It’s always wonderful to think of the great insights and targeted campaigns we can pull off with all of that information, but we must ALWAYS consider the customer’s experience above all else. It’s a lot easier to market to a happy customer.
What about you? Do you have any bad service hangovers? Are you willing to give that business another shot? Why or why not?
Demand Generation Consulting 