How to add a customer in 5 minutes and lose it in 3!

Recently, a young man stopped by our house to sell us a newspaper subscription. Although he was not dressed for the occasion (gym appropriate attire), he had the right attitude and the selling skills that were unparalleled: Firm introduction, smile on his face, and a well rehearsed sales pitch.

He told me of what I should expect out of my purchase and how it would benefit me (the buyer), him (the seller - in this case, the newspaper publisher would contribute a percentage of his sales towards his college Journalism School tuition if he sold 1000 subscriptions in one month), and the company (increase in number of readers = increase in advertising revenues).

But here’s the sales “hook”: The price was just perfect; a 3-month subscription at approximately $.50 per issue.

So I signed up and began to enjoy receiving my newspaper every morning, Monday to Saturday, before 6:00 AM, and reading at nights while sipping on my chamomile tea. Life was good! Until a month into my subscription…

I received a call from the customer service department of the publisher asking me whether or not I was enjoying my paper. Excitedly, I told them yes. The pleasant voice on the other line asked whether or not I’d like to extend my subscription to the end of the year. I answered of course I would if they are willing to maintain the same price. The voice, with a little smirk, said “No Sir, that was just an introductory price and that there’s no way we could extend the same deal”. Disappointed, I said thank you and informed “the voice” of my intention to cancel the subscription after my three months are up. “The voice” thanked me for my time and then hung up on me. L

About a week later, I received another call from the customer service department and we went through the same exercise as the one before: I agreed to extend my subscription only if the newspaper company is willing to offer the same deal. “The new voice” said there’s no way and that I’ll need to call another number to cancel my subscription before my three months are up to ensure that I won’t be penalized for not canceling on time. L

So I called the “subscription / customer service” department to cancel my subscription, which is open from Monday to Friday from 5:30 AM to 2:30 PM (convenient hours). Suddenly, I was the most valuable customer ever and they couldn’t figure out why the last two customer service representatives could not extend the same deal. They tried very hard to keep me as a customer, including offering me the same great deal as the one I had for the full year, but the damage was done. I had given them two chances to renew the subscription with no success, so now I had decided to cancel my subscription (at least until the next “door-to-door” sales representative shows up at my door with a better deal than the last one I had).

My two cents: Amongst a whole series of disappointing customer service interactions, this newspaper company and its representatives failed to see the benefits of keeping me as a customer at a reduced rate versus losing me and not generating any revenue, albeit a very small one.

Thank you for reading,

Armin

PS. Even though I love technology, I must admit that for me there’s something magical about opening my favourite newspaper and losing myself in the commentaries and the editorials.