Class in Defeat
We recently did a short test run of two online Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems in the hopes of falling in love with one. We fell in like with one and feeling that was enough, said farewell to the other. We have no regrets. Well, maybe a bit of regret, based only on what happened right AFTER the sale.
We cancelled our subscription with Highrise. It is a smart, beautiful service that for us, was a bit expensive and did not offer the breadth of what we’d like (unlimited contacts, room to grow, a calendar). So I log in to the system to cancel and thankfully find the cancellation button in a very obvious place. It is preceded by a short sentence that started, “We’d hate to see you go…” That’s so nice. I confirm I do indeed want to cancel and the next new page again mentions how they would hate to see us go, and more nice things. I find this endearing.
Once the cancellation is done, a new page pops up confirming the cancellation. How often do you cancel something online, and nothing confirms, so you are nervously stuck not knowing if it actually happened? And then for them to be this nice?
In thanks for being them being so responsive, I went for the exit survey. I strongly believe in the power of feedback. The company asked a few simple questions about why we were leaving and the last box told us to be completely honest. Refreshing. I did tell them their competitor won out on price and breadth, but we appreciated our nice experience with Highrise. Upon clicking “Submit,” a new screen popped up.
Compare that to Salesforce, who did make the sale with us. From the beginning, it was obvious they prefer a more hardline approach to sales. Obvious from the numerous phone calls and emails I received within the seven days of our trial. It’s nice that they wanted us as a customer but it was a bit much. And once they did have our credit card information, do you know what we got in return? A form letter (email) that was an order confirmation. It started with “Dear Karen Hancock, Order #78257305 was activated on…” Warm and fuzzy. We had to scour the entire thing for a thank you, and it came in the bland form of “Thank you for your business.”
Both companies made a conscious choice in how their communications reflect their personality. In other words, Salesforce is like a car salesman and 37 Signals is your neighborhood coffee barista. Only time will tell if the car salesman makes good on his promises but right now, the coffee guy holds a warm spot in my heart.
We cancelled our subscription with Highrise. It is a smart, beautiful service that for us, was a bit expensive and did not offer the breadth of what we’d like (unlimited contacts, room to grow, a calendar). So I log in to the system to cancel and thankfully find the cancellation button in a very obvious place. It is preceded by a short sentence that started, “We’d hate to see you go…” That’s so nice. I confirm I do indeed want to cancel and the next new page again mentions how they would hate to see us go, and more nice things. I find this endearing.
Once the cancellation is done, a new page pops up confirming the cancellation. How often do you cancel something online, and nothing confirms, so you are nervously stuck not knowing if it actually happened? And then for them to be this nice?
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“Thanks again for taking the time to give us your feedback. We're sorry to see you go, but we'll be here if you ever want to try us again. We wish you success in whatever you're working on.”A few simple words was all it took to make me a fan. A fan that doesn’t even use their product. I appreciate that kind of thought in the fast-moving online world, especially when a sale is NOT made.
Compare that to Salesforce, who did make the sale with us. From the beginning, it was obvious they prefer a more hardline approach to sales. Obvious from the numerous phone calls and emails I received within the seven days of our trial. It’s nice that they wanted us as a customer but it was a bit much. And once they did have our credit card information, do you know what we got in return? A form letter (email) that was an order confirmation. It started with “Dear Karen Hancock, Order #78257305 was activated on…” Warm and fuzzy. We had to scour the entire thing for a thank you, and it came in the bland form of “Thank you for your business.”
Both companies made a conscious choice in how their communications reflect their personality. In other words, Salesforce is like a car salesman and 37 Signals is your neighborhood coffee barista. Only time will tell if the car salesman makes good on his promises but right now, the coffee guy holds a warm spot in my heart.
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8:27 AM
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