Comments on: Switching Costs – Creating Love for Thy Captor

By: Paul D'Alessandro

Paul D'Alessandro — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:29:21 +0000

A friend last week introduced me to the trend of “punishing your customers” in the ultra-loyalty space. Black cards tend to do this with exorbitant fees or even the risk of “firing you from the program” if you do not behave. Isn’t it ironic that anyone would subject themselves to this type of punishment in the name of staying, with as you put it Weave, “the incumbent.” How many more programs out there are going to suck people in so deep that they too chose to inflict pain and punishment on their economically trapped betrothed? George Clooney was probably the quintessential example of this in “Up in the Air”. His whole live was a form of punishment in many people’s eyes, all done in the name of gaining the “points”!

By: Considering the Cost of Inconsistency — xd4me

Considering the Cost of Inconsistency — xd4me — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 08:58:07 +0000

[...] on a recent post that examined the cost of negative experiences as opposed to that of the value of positive ones in [...]

By: Weave

Weave — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 13:45:56 +0000

After watching “Up in the Air” earlier this week, I’m curious how many “loyalty” patrons become obsessed with accumulating miles, points, etc. The “reward” is not the value the points create; it is the points themselves. E-horders, we could call them. (I’ll copy wright that term later today…)

Loyalty club memberships often provide certain intangible benefits (personalized services, specialized offers). However, at what cost? How often do loyalty club members miss opportunities due to their decision to stay within the confines of their current program? It’s a bit of a microcosm, reflecting how people make decisions on a larger scale. Each day corporations have the opportunity to try a new service or vendor who could potentially lower cost, improve efficiencies, etc, but more often than not they stick with the known quantity, i.e. the incumbent. It’s the safe bet, and that safety generates loyalty.

Great perspective, Paul. I look forward to your next article. PS: love the supercharger photo. There’s nothing quite like a huge blower sticking out of the hood, and the whine it generates at full tilt…

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Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:17:17 +0000

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By: Amaresh

Amaresh — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 15:26:51 +0000

Excellent post Paul.

The theme of your post reminds me of one of the sound bites I heard during the last presidential debate. ” We do not have a health care, we have disease care”.

Similarly, we do not have “customer loyalty programs, we have customer hostage programs”