Is it just me, or does it seem as though for every one amazing Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer you receive there’s two that give you buyer’s remorse: you purchased it previously and now you have an email slapping you in the face offering it for up to 80% less than you paid.
Case in point: I purchased a HubSpot theme for $1200 earlier in the year. This morning I received an email promoting* it was on sale for $200.
It’s interesting to take stock of your feelings when this happens. Even though there was no way I could have known about this earlier in the year, I now feel as though I’ve been unwise with my money. I’ve wasted money. I’ve made a bad decision. And I now also have a negative association with that company – since they are the one who has elicited this response.
That’s just one (but the largest) of many experiences my Inbox has given me this Thanksgiving weekend.
I suspect many companies and brands do themselves a longer term customer satisfaction disservice, in the chase for short term profit.
Here’s a quick rule to perhaps embrace:
– if you are offering a consumable item (ie one that a person will likely buy many times) then offering a discount is fine
– but if it is a single purchase item, then offering a discount is potentially alienating your previously happy customers.
Let’s end buyer’s remorse.
* And to make matters worse the email wasn’t even personalised – at a minimum they could have acknowledged I was an existing customer, and perhaps suggested I could now purchase the theme again for another site. Even something as simple as better messaging could have softened the negative experience.
