Like many parents this year, we were evaluating various options for our child’s schooling. We filled out all the forms (so many forms!) and successfully got him registered at two different schools while we waited to see how their administrators would approach this school year. Earlier this month we made our decision about where we were going to send him, so we needed to unenroll him from one school. We called to ask how to go about doing that. The receptionist simply replied, “Okay, he’s been unenrolled. Was there anything else you needed?”
That was it.
She didn’t ask where we were sending him or why we chose another school over theirs. She didn’t offer to keep us on an email list in an effort to recruit us back when he was a little older. Nothing. She just said goodbye.
It felt so wrong. A relationship that should have lasted 6 years was cut short with a quick phone call and the lady on the other end of the line just accepted it cheerfully. It was like breaking up with someone and them just saying, “Alrighty then” and walking away without giving it a second thought. And I lamented to my husband that a business would never handle losing a customer that way.
But as I thought about it some more, it dawned on me that that is exactly what some businesses do… too many businesses.
We’ve all had experiences where the organizations we’ve done business with just let us slip away as customers. This kind of experience is forgettable at best and alienating at worst. Simply put, when a company lets its customers leave without trying to save them, it can permanently destroy any chance at a future relationship. Additionally, letting customers leave without trying to understand why they’re leaving and where they’re going wastes a wonderful opportunity to improve.
That was it.
She didn’t ask where we were sending him or why we chose another school over theirs. She didn’t offer to keep us on an email list in an effort to recruit us back when he was a little older. Nothing. She just said goodbye.
It felt so wrong. A relationship that should have lasted 6 years was cut short with a quick phone call and the lady on the other end of the line just accepted it cheerfully. It was like breaking up with someone and them just saying, “Alrighty then” and walking away without giving it a second thought. And I lamented to my husband that a business would never handle losing a customer that way.
But as I thought about it some more, it dawned on me that that is exactly what some businesses do… too many businesses.
We’ve all had experiences where the organizations we’ve done business with just let us slip away as customers. This kind of experience is forgettable at best and alienating at worst. Simply put, when a company lets its customers leave without trying to save them, it can permanently destroy any chance at a future relationship. Additionally, letting customers leave without trying to understand why they’re leaving and where they’re going wastes a wonderful opportunity to improve.
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