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Pogue on Crutchfield
David Pogue writes a good review of customer-centric technology vendor Crutchfield, which surprised him with its great customer experience, starting with the arrival of the product:
[W]hen the package arrived, there was Crutchfield’s installation manual, with the company’s “we’re here to help you” toll-free number printed in 60-point type on the first page. What are they, nuts!? They are actually *inviting* people to call them for free technical support? Don’t they have any idea how that idea will kill their revenue stream? ...this hyper-service-oriented approach has succeeded; the company has essentially cornered its market and generated a massive audience of rabid and repeat customers.
Yes, Crutchfield is onto something - invest in providing a good customer experience, and customers will not only buy again but will refer others, removing the need for wasteful and expensive advertising investments. It's a great long-term business model, and it's determining the winners in industries from stereo equipment to movie rentals to airlines to consumer banking. Invest in the customer experience. This is practically the entire message of this blog, and my consulting firm Creative Good.
My only complaint with Pogue's post is that the title - "A New Business Model" - implies that this is a new idea. Granted, Pogue may not have written the title, but this is hardly a new idea to Good Experience readers. Crutchfield was one of seventeen 2006 Copernican Award finalists - in fact, the founder, Bill Crutchfield, was present at our awards ceremony this past May.
Add the 2006 finalists to the twelve 2005 Copernican Award finalists, Good Experience readers can name 29 companies that are doing business in this "new" way - focusing the entire company on the customer experience.
Link: Pogue's Posts - A New Business Model
