Soften Customer Upset Using Friendship

An advantage available to smaller retail businesses is the enhanced opportunity to create perceptions of friendship with customers. Large retailers with headquarters at a geographical distance find it harder to maintain impressions of authentic closeness. Not all small retailers take advantage of this competitive advantage. Those who do can find that, when negatives occur, the customers are more likely to take responsibility themselves. The blame on the retailer is partially or wholly softened.
     This was seen in a University of Washington simulation of the reactions of a night club’s customers who had previously qualified for the premium level in the club’s loyalty rewards program. In the study scenario, participants were told that the required level of annual spending for premium benefits had been raised and that they were losing their premium benefits. In some cases, the customers would have fallen short even with the old limit. Their spending had gone down compared to the period in which they’d qualified. In the remainder of the cases, the expiration of benefits was because of the tighter standard. They would still have qualified under the old limit.
     Customers who felt no close relationship to the night club were more likely to blame the club than themselves for being dropped. It made no difference whether they would have qualified under the old standard. For the customers who felt a close relationship, it did make a difference. Yes, those who would have qualified under the old standard blamed the club. They felt that a friend had betrayed them. But those who would not have qualified blamed themselves.
     Still, being a friend isn’t enough. Clarify expectations. Researchers at Lingnan University in Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong presented study participants with a scenario: You’ve asked the owner of a restaurant with whom you have a close business attachment to hold an ocean-view table for your birthday bash. When you arrive, the owner explains, with a tone of regret, that all the ocean-view tables are taken.
     Many of the consumers empathized with the owner. However, for others, the reaction was anger. What made the difference was whether the study participant, taking on the role of a customer, had clarified in advance their own expectations and obligations and those of the retailer. With this clarification for transactions based on close business attachments, there was more likely to be customer acceptance of the owner’s needs.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

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Puff Down for Authenticity
Clarify Expectations with Friendship Customers