The cost of being a real jerk

The Results are in...and have been. Being a jerk costs companies money and lots of it.

From The Wharton School of Business comes this information. The entire article may be read here:


Results of The Retail Customer Dissatisfaction Study 2006 -- conducted by The Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative at Wharton and The Verde Group, a Toronto consulting firm, in the weeks before and after Christmas 2005 -- show that only 6% of shoppers who experienced a problem with a retailer contacted the company, but 31% went on to tell friends, family or colleagues what happened. Of those, 8% told one person, another 8% told two people, but 6% told six or more people. "Even though these shoppers don't share their pain with the store, they do share their pain with other people, apparently quite a few other people," says Hoch.

Overall, if 100 people have a bad experience, a retailer stands to lose between 32 and 36 current or potential customers, according to the study.

The complaints have an even greater impact on shoppers who were not directly involved as the story spreads and is embellished, researchers found. Almost half those surveyed, 48%, reported they have avoided a store in the past because of someone else's negative experience. For those who had encountered a problem themselves, 33% said they would "definitely not" or "probably not" return. "This storytelling has even more impact on the people the story is told to than the people who told the story," says Hoch. The data is based on a survey of 1,186 shoppers.

So, if we look at ALL the people in Danville who have a problem with The Danville Register & Bee, with delivery, with the fact the carriers are paid squat and have to squat (see postings about the lack of a toilet for them), with obits and ads being wrong, with reporters being biased, with reporters treating women with disrespect, with all the things the Danville Register & Bee has done, do you think maybe there aren't a whole lot of people who really like or trust the Register & Bee? Are you really sure you want to be advertising in a paper that most folks don't like? Will you be perceived as "supporting" the paper if you do a lot of advertising with them? It's certainly something to think about. Next time your advertising sales rep comes calling, ask them about some of the things you're reading here.

Do they have an answer? Are they being honest? Or are they saying, "Oh, that's just sour grapes and disgruntled employees?" The fact is, all you have to do is ask your neighbor about their experience with the paper. Has it been positive? It's expensive to be a jerk. People talk. I sure do. Do you?

And it's not just the paper. It's the hospital. It's other businesses around town. You may not care that a customer was mad or upset, but that person is going to talk. Do you have so much business that you need to piss off anyone? I don't think so. Take the high road and do what the Danville Register & Bee refuses to do - namely, THE RIGHT THING. Fire those who screwed up and apologize to everyone else involved. Man up. That means you too Terry.