At Collegewise, we buy all our office supplies at Staples. For several years, I got an annual phone call from an account manager telling me I was a preferred customer which entitled me to special discounts. It sounded great, but what it really meant was that my account manager called me once a week to tell me what items had been discounted that week, whether or not anything in my buying history indicated I might need the items. The reward for being a preferred customer was that I got a sales call once a week that I didn’t want.
We use a restaurant delivery service to bring all the food for our seminars. After eight years, we’d ordered enough food to be assigned an account rep. It turns out that being assigned a rep doesn’t come with any special privileges or discounts. It just means that I have someone I can call if I ever have a question, which I haven’t ever needed to do in all the years I’ve used them. I also get a phone call every now and then to “check in.” A good business practice in theory, but not something I ever asked for or need (it’s not hard to order pizzas and salad; your information is on file).
This is where small businesses really have an advantage.
I bought some custom suits a few years ago and recently sent an email to the tailor I’d worked with asking if I could order a new shirt. He (not a sales rep) replied and told me, “I have all your information and will ship it to you by the first of the month. You can pay me once the shirt arrives.”
Done. No special program. No account manager. No username or password combination that I can’t possibly remember without storing it in a document titled “Passwords.” Just one person making it easy for a returning customer who wants to buy again.
If you’re a private counselor, you don’t need special programs, memberships, or complicated rules to take care of customers who deserve it. We give generous “sibling discounts” to families who come back with their second or third kid. When a family refers a friend, we write a thank-you card. When a family refers a lot of friends, we get them a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant.
People like being preferred customers as long as they prefer the treatment that goes along with it.