I was on FaceBook today when I came across a post on James Wester's Timeline asking the following question:
Let's look at a few more comments that resulted from this from other domain investors / developers:
Have you seen a decline in coupon codes for current customer retention?
Have you seen a difference in short- versus long- term contracts when it comes to support?
Naturally, being a customer of GoDaddy since 2005, my brain started making the connections that were previously overlooked due to such a busy schedule, higher priorities, and frankly, the convenience factor that numbed my attention to the slow degradation of their consumer retention efforts.Question: Is it now common practice as a company to focus 99% of your marketing budget on customer acquisition and 1% on customer retention? This morning I've left 2 companies- one that I've done business with for 16 years *cough godaddy* for wanting to charge me $14.95 for a renewal. Anybody else notice this trend worsening?
Let's look at a few more comments that resulted from this from other domain investors / developers:
Paul Smith - Yep, it's far too common. Look at all the deals that they offer new customers, they don't offer the dame deals to keep you, just to get in you the door.
Irene Conde - It's all about corporate greed.
Marcia Lynn - Yes, I've noticed it, too. It's also happening at bricks & mortar stores as well. Sad.
And here is my short vent on the topic:James Wester - Sevan Derderian can get a plug here as I will be transferring my names to Uniregistry as they expire monthly.
What are your thoughts on this?Eric Lyon - It's a very common practice/conundrum for large corporations to get so intertwined in promotions for new account growth that they let the generic facade of people being identified by "Numbers" get in the way of organic humanity and retention. I've been with godaddy since 2005 myself and the lose of current customer discounts always blows my mind. What i've noticed helps (sadly) is that if I just pay month to month for any services I have with them, they tend to be more helpful in the event I have to call for support. On the other side of the spectrum, when I tried extended payment periods (6 mo. / 12 mo.), customer support fell apart as they no longer felt I was a priority to retain since I secured longer contracts. I think that sometimes, in order to be heard and promote change, customers need to band together as a reminder that "WE" are the reason they are in business in the first place. If everyone stopped long term billing & dropped to monthly contracts, it may spook them enough to work harder on retention. But I digress, It may just be a fantasy that such a well orchestrated consumer stand-off would work against such a large corporation that forgot what peoples "Names" are.
Have you seen a decline in coupon codes for current customer retention?
Have you seen a difference in short- versus long- term contracts when it comes to support?
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