What Is Your First Impression?

While walking through a shopping center with my wife last week, the image to the right caught my eye.  On the front of every door to this particular store, in giant, bold letters, were the words, “NEVER UNDERSOLD.  PERIOD.”  My first thought was, “Wow.  They must have some really cheap, low-quality items.  As we kept walking, I couldn’t get that sign out of my mind.  This was a large, anchor store in a prominent shopping center and what they cared about most was being the cheapest price in town.

The more I pondered on their focus, the more disturbing it was to me.  They sell sporting goods equipment and must be doing well, but they have painted themselves into a corner.  Once your focus is solely on price, it is nearly impossible to change it.  You are labeled for life.  Their sign told me that they don’t care about quality, or my happiness, or a long-term relationship.  Their sign told me that I could shop online all I wanted, find a cheaper price, and tell them they had to match it because their sign said so.  They told me that no matter how great the sales person was that was helping me, how much time they spent working with me to find out what I wanted, or how their equipment was going to change my game, all that mattered is that their price was the lowest.  What did that message convey to their staff?  Did they assume that everyone who walked through their doors was some cheapskate looking for a deal?

It made me stop to think about the words that we use to describe our products.  The phrases that we focus on and highlight in our website, emails, and conversation.  When someone communicates with us, beyond what we say, what do our customers hear?

What do the first words your customers see and hear say to them about your company?

Tagged as: CustomerCare, marketing