Gaining Brand Loyalty – A Company’s Front Line
This afternoon I went shopping at Forever 21 on my lunch. And unlike other times where I came up empty handed I managed to find the perfect outfit for an upcoming party. When I went to sign my reciept, I noticed that the total was about half of what I expected. Not wanting to make a fuss I figured I would review the reciept, for all I knew the stuff was on sale!
I took a look at the receipt and realized that Nikkita (who’s badge said she was a Co-Manager), had failed to scan the dress. I had that moment of uncertainty where you question what to do. I mean, it was their mistake, but I had to do the right thing and pay for the dress. So I returned to the counter and approached a woman who was clearly the store manager and explained that I had not paid for the dress. Without a glance at me she handed me off to another cashier to ring me up.
Frankly, I was surprised, I could have walked out with a $30 dress and they wouldn’t have been the wiser. The cashiers did apologize several times for the hassle, but they never thanked me, or offered a small discount for my honesty. While I realize I shouldn’t get a medal for being honest, this was a golden opportunity for Forever 21 to create brand loyalty and they missed it!
This is a common challenge for businesses, they have creative social media campaigns (Forever 21 has a great Facebook page), communicate value, have products that are in line with price and quality, offer an easy to navigate website, but stumble when they don’t empower and encourage the people behind the register to take care of their customers.
Nothing about my experience inspired brand loyalty, and in some ways really turned me off to the company. What misses have you experienced with other brands?
*As an update I posted this blog on the Forever 21′s Facebook page, and I tweeted it to them with no response.
