DirecTV Creates a Lifelong Customer
Thanking your current customers
I’ve been a DirecTV subscriber since I moved out of my parents house after high school. It’s moved homes right along with me through the years.
I know I could probably save money if I jumped and changed television providers. The thought of that just makes me cringe. Bargaining with prospective companies and then wasting an entire day making sure you’re home for the new company to come during a five hour window. Only to have them reschedule or come late. Then you’d be lucky if everything works. Oh, and who can forget returning equipment and that exciting part of any change over. No thanks. I will pass.
DirecTV has always worked great and when I want to watch something it’s there. I don’t have to fumble with two remotes or navigate through five screens to find the streaming service I’m looking for. That actually sounds quick, as long as you don’t have to login or enter your password again for a streaming service.
On Sunday morning I made my annual phone call to DirecTV to buy the Sunday NFL ticket. It’s how I’m able to watch the Buffalo Bills games when I live in Wisconsin.
Yes, I called because it seems I can get things done faster that way with most companies. The representative answered right away and was very helpful. She explained there are two NFL Sunday Ticket packages now. One package is just games and the max package, which is games but also includes the red zone and fantasy zone channels.
The games only package was $293 a year and the max package was $395 a year. I thought about it and decided on the package just for the games.
When she was adding the package to my account, she stopped and said, well I have some good news for you. For being such a loyal long time customer and to say thank you, we’re going to give you the NFL Sunday ticket max free for the whole year.
After my initial shock had worn off, I asked her multiple times what’s the catch? She said nothing. I asked, are you changing something with my contract? She replied no, everything stays the same. We’re just adding the NFL Sunday ticket max for you.
Since we’re wired by our first instinct that nothing is really free anymore, I called back an hour later to make sure. The next representative confirmed that nothing changed.
I’d gone from expecting to pay $293 to paying $0 and actually ended up getting the upgraded $395 package. Needless to say DirecTV had made my day. I’ve been a longtime customer and now I expect to now be a lifelong customer.
This experience has really made me analyze it from a business owner point of view. They waited to give me the great news until I had committed to making a purchase. Had they told me before I made my buying decision, it would not have had the same impact.
A few observations that I’ve been pondering since this experience:
I’ve told multiple people about this. Now I’m writing about it. Word of mouth spreads a positive experience.
Can my company apply this in some way? My reaction to this clearly illustrates it works and would have a lasting impression on clients.
Rewarding existing customers is just as important as incentivizing to obtain new customers. Current customers are surprised by the gesture, new customers have come to expect a discount, gift or incentive.
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