[Harp-L] Harp Depot

[Robert Ross <robertaross@xxxxxxxxx>]

I have no doubt that harp Depot has lots of supporters who never had
a problem with them. Although it is considerate of you to share those
stories to balance the equation, please remember that doing so is a
bit like defending your next door neighbor who beats his wife, then 
on the 6:00 news saying something like "well, he was such a nice guy,
I never had a problem with him." Explain how nice a guy he was to his
wife in the hospital.

You see, I have followed this thread closely and can assure you there
are many more complaints that haven't even been posted. When it comes
to complaints, statistically (this is a known phenomenon) each
complaint represents many incidents that have not been reported.
Whereas the converse is not true. So in fact several positive stories
do NOT counter the negatives posted so far, not by a long shot. Of
course, given the nature of the Harp-L community, I am assuming that
nobody is trying intentionally to trash a business with phony stories
for personal gain.

I actually had a bad experience with a different harmonica dealer
last year, placing an order and waiting ages for delivery without
communication despite my numerous calls and emails. I did eventually
get what I ordered months after the fact. However, I never complained
on Harp-L, or anywhere, about it since the subject never came up, so
perhaps it was an isolated incident. In the case of HD, one complaint
and rebuttal led to a series of people coming out and sharing a
common experience, showing a pattern of policy and behavior that is
not acceptable. 

If 3 people complain, then 7 people share a positive note, that
doesn't mean that the business is just fine. It means that they have
a track record of 30% problems. If you are running a business that is
wrong 30% of the time, your customers will not want to to business
with you and you will probably fail eventually. If you were an
employer and had a worker who screwed up 30% of the time, or even
20%, how long would you put up with that before firing him or her? 
So all the defending arguments ultimately hold little water,
especially since the complaints represent a larger pool of unvoiced
problems.

That is why customer service is so much more important than the
product. It has to do with another online business concept that I
haven't shared yet, called Customer Retention. The cost of customer
retention is far lower than the cost of acquisition, so it makes more
sense to bend over backwards to keep a customer. 

Also, each customer you lose is potentially a land mine. In the
online community customers you mistreat and lose often share those
experiences, damaging your business credibility and trust. There are
places in the world that have had terrible wars, where the opponents
filled the landscape literally with land mines. Today, those wars are
long over, but those economies may never recover since many of them
were tourist economies and tourists are reticent about going places
that they have heard are filled with land mines. Even though
statistically very few people have had a leg blown off by a land mine
in recent years, tourists understandably get nervous about things
like that. Long after the land mines are gone, tourists will remember
them.

On the internet, where a dozen competitors are just a mouse click
away, customer service, not BRAND, may be all that differentiates you
(more business concepts, branding and differentiation) from the
competition, and even branding ultimately requires building brand
confidence and brand loyalty based on trust, i.e., good customer
service. So your bottom line is not measured in dollars, it is
measured in the value of your "house list." A house list (OK, one
more business concept) is your customer mailing list. A house list is
so valuable that if it is a good one you can rent it to other
businesses  for thousands of dollars. Your house list is more
valuable to you than any other list you can buy - but ONLY if you
have credibility and trust with your previous customers. Repeat
customers, brand loyalty, is one of the most valuable assets a
business can have. 

I guess I've made my point. That'll be my last lecture on my online
business theories for awhile - it's just that I not only am a
stickler for great customer service in my own businesses, I demand it
as a customer.

Thanks,
Robert
www.rawfoodlife.com




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