Is your customer experience your worst advertisement?

0 CommentsTuesday • June 1, 2010 • by admin

Sports Authority recently announced it is putting its advertising account up for review to find partners to “help define our brand and bring it to life with our customers”.

My first thought (and I wasn’t the only one, based on the comments left on the article) was that a more aggressive effort might only bring more people to discover a horrible shopping experience.

Many businesses are again focusing on topline revenue growth after making all the cuts they can.  However, before investing in sales and marketing, are you sure you are providing the best possible product or customer experience?

Some examples of good advertising hurting a poor product:

• McDonald’s heavily invested in advertising to drive people to try the McDLT, which generated lackluster sales because it wasn’t a good hamburger.
• Kinko’s (now FedEx Office) advertising creates an expectation of generating great things with their printing capabilities, but the actual experience left you wanting for more, opening the door for Office Depot, OfficeMax and Staples to steal share. Even with new FedEx branding, the customer experience hasn’t changed.

The average grocery store trip is 10 minutes longer than it was just two years ago, indicating consumers are spending more time making buying decisions. With this in mind, make sure your company or product not only meets their expectations, but exceeds it whenever possible.

What are you doing to ensure you are providing the best customer experience?