Keeping Kiwi customers happy is good for business…

I’ve been thinking recently about how running a business in New Zealand teaches you at least one valuable lesson — it pays to keep customers happy.

Unlike other markets, whether it be the USA or even Australia — New Zealand does not have a seemingly unlimited number of new customers to sell stuff to. We’re a country of just 5 million people and everyone knows everyone. Stories of great customer service are shared, and stories of bad customer service are shared wider still.

I’m amazed at some of the poor service served up by companies operating in larger markets (or global markets e.g. SaaS) and the conclusion I’ve come to is they simply don’t care — there’s more suckers (sorry, customers!) out there to sell stuff to — but not so in New Zealand. Bad service, dodgy products, not living up to your word — that stuff catches up with you eventually and soon enough you run out of new customers to sell stuff to.

Investing in people and systems to create long-term happy customers who come back again and again and again is perhaps the best long-term investment you can make for any business — especially in a small market. In my mind, the recipe is pretty simple and starts with selling quality products you’d buy yourself, building systems that work for customers (i.e. smooth checkouts, fast delivery options) and then empowering teams to do the right thing when things go wrong (i.e. act in the customer’s short-term interests in order to serve the company’s long-term interests).

Acquiring new customers isn’t cheap — Google Shopping, Facebook, Instagram — they’re all expensive now. It remains a mystery to me why so many businesses appear to place such a low value on the customers they already have and appear unwilling to invest in the people and systems that keep customers happy and engaged over the long-term.