Customer Experience Q&A: Part 1 – Objections

I often advise business owners to invest in their customer experience to increase referrals and repeat purchases, making their revenues more predictable and increasing the value of the business.

Although many agree philosophically, several have some of the following objections.

“We can’t afford to invest in customer experience”: 

Some business owners are struggling with tight margins so this looks like an expensive luxury. Others just see investing in customer experience as an unnecessary expense that will eat into profits. 

“Hey what we’re doing is working well enough. Why screw that up and disrupt what’s already in place and working well?”

“Our industry doesn’t really care”: Certain cultures, industries or markets mostly ignore their customers except when it comes to payment time. 

“Our customers just want it done. They are not looking for a top-notch experience and besides, they sure as heck won’t pay more for it.”

“Our customers are only interested in price”: 

Some owners, especially those who suffer through price wars, believe that price is the primary factor driving customer behavior and therefore the only thing they need to focus on. 

“Our customers are cheap. Why invest and make my prices uncompetitive. They will buy cheaper elsewhere.”

“We don’t have the resources to become more customer-centric”: 

For some businesses, implementing new processes or systems to improve the customer experience might seem too daunting or resource-intensive. Making such significant changes can feel overwhelming.

“There is so much we’d have to do. Hiring, training, moving things around…I wouldn’t know where to start and I don’t have the time anyways.”

“This is how we do things”: 

Finally, some business owners will say no out of habit or tradition. They see no reason to shift their traditional focus from other aspects of the business to explore new approaches.

Addressing these objections will be in part 2.