Hey, what about your own customers guys?

Sometimes what seems like a great deal to one customer is a kick in the guts to another.

Recently Air New Zealand offered $50 one-way fares to Jetstar passengers left stranded by the company's check in policy or delayed by more than 2 hours. On the face of it it seems like great marketing; what a great way to make a competitor look pathetic and win some customers along the way. But how would you feel if you were a loyal customer of Air New Zealand who ignored Jetstar's wooing deals, and paid more than $50 to travel on the same plane, or who has regularly been delayed for more than 2 hours without similar deals offered?

It is important not to send mixed messages to loyal customers.

Similarly, with the launch of Telecom's XT network, the marketing battle between Telecom and Vodafone hots up (again). Both companies are offering new services and deals to attract new customers. Exciting isn't it? Well, not really if you are already a customer. Many of the new deals are not available immediately to existing customers who are already "locked" into earlier (now inferior) plans or products.

A friend of mine contacted Telecom keen to to upgrade to the new technology but was told he couldn't because he still has x months left to run on his contract. He was not looking to leave Telecom, he just wanted a better product. Now he is not so keen to stay.

I have had similar (inflexible) experiences with Vodafone too. I was looking at upgrading my phone and wanted to know if I could swap the dataplan from my vodem, over to the new phone as it had internet capabilities. I was told I could not, but I could buy an additional plan! How many dataplans does a girl need?

An alternative, more customer friendly, approach would be to upgrade (or swap) existing customers, at no or minimal costs, to "showcase" the new deals and products. This seems to happen overseas. They often throw in a new phone too!