Retention

It's much harder to lose a customer than make one.

All this hogwash about treating people nice is irrelevant compared to the difficulty of getting someone to try your product in the first place.

Case in point, that miserable piece of doody known as AT&T Wireless.

Oh, I can hear you now! The service is fantastic! The highest speeds anywhere!

All you're demonstrating is your ignorance, because you don't know any better, and that's a sorry state of affairs in this information age wherein you can Google anything and find out the facts. But people don't want to know the facts, they'd rather wallow in their investment.

Kind of like the BMW Mini. Ever read the repair records on those automobiles? Absolutely horrible, just above Yugo level, you can't buy a car built in England... But everybody who's got one keeps testifying how spectacular they are, proving once again, if you bought it, unless it's the worst piece of crap ever and doesn't even fulfill the most basic of obligations, YOU LOVE IT!

So let's go back to AT&T Wireless.

It's the brand name. You trust it! Never underestimate good will. If you're buying your first wireless phone do you really want to go with the brand you've never heard of before? It takes a long time to deplete the good will of a brand. Look at General Motors, turning out junk for decades before everybody turned around and realized Japanese cars were better built.

So AT&T has got a brand name and a plan... That's why I signed up back at the turn of the century. You could dial anywhere in the U.S. for one flat rate. But the only problem was if you could get a connection, you couldn't keep it. But everybody complained, everybody dropped calls, AT&T was no worse than any other service.

Untrue.

Took me three years to take the plunge. To switch to Verizon. Whereupon I found...I COULD MAKE PHONE CALLS! It's like the wireless genie blessed my hand-set. Complete dead zones came alive. And suddenly, when calls were dropped, I knew it was on the other end... Are you on AT&T Wireless? OF COURSE!

Hell, word was getting out before AT&T launched the iPhone, the biggest mistake Verizon ever made. The same one XM made. You pay for talent, you pay for excellence, if you're not willing to lay your money down, you're gonna lose. If XM paid Howard Stern, Sirius would not exist today. Instead, the latter swallowed the former. If Verizon launched the iPhone, AT&T would now be less than Sprint.

But everybody looks at today, not tomorrow. Believes if they win now, no one can beat them, the future's unknowable, right?

Wrong.

Earn your money and buy the best products.

That was the selling point of the Macintosh, USABILITY! It's still the selling point of the iPhone. Yes, you can get an Android for free, but you won't know how to use it! Oh, you Samsung Galaxy owners can shut right up. This isn't for you, this is for the ignorant. You're a power user who customized the interface, go for it, you're a winner, I'm speaking to the losers.

Like those on AT&T Wireless.

They're afraid to switch.

It's too HARD!

I won't be able to keep my NUMBER!

That's how dumb they are. They don't even pay attention to the news. You can take your damn number and switch FOR FREE!

But AT&T doesn't want you to. They've got a damn family plan, locking you up, keeping you with sad sack service like in some third world country, except that wireless service in third world countries is BETTER than AT&T!

And your phone won't work overseas!

These winners who are so dumb... There have been worldwide Verizon BlackBerrys for in excess of half a decade. Every iPhone you buy on Verizon works overseas.

BUT I CAN'T SPEAK AND SURF!

Is this really a problem?

You're just afraid. The same way you're retaining your iPhone 4S because you don't want to pay $200 for a 5S, not understanding the phone is really $650 and every month after two years you don't get a new phone the wireless company is dancing in circles and exulting hosannas! You're the chump they were looking for! The same one who buys a 5C instead of a 5S. Please don't cheap out. It's so unbecoming.

But you're afraid of the unknown.

And what is motivating me to write this?

Because here in Vail, Colorado, AT&T UPGRADED its service! Admitted it was bad and spent some money...

But texts still come through hours later. Can you imagine that? Don't you text instead of e-mail because it's instantaneous? If it's not, what are you paying for?

I ask you.

As for wireless service... Verizon has LTE except into the very upper reaches of Blue Sky Basin, whereupon it drops to 3G. But you can't even make a phone call on AT&T in Mid-Vail, never mind surf the Net.

But you don't want to switch. Because you're afraid. Because you're ignorant and you believe that AT&T is just as good as every other wireless service even though every year "Consumer Reports" ranks it at the absolute bottom!

Oh, you read that story wherein AT&T surfed faster than Verizon! Verizon admitted that it had capacity issues!

That's assuming you can GET LTE! And that's only because smart people keep abandoning AT&T for Verizon and...service is still great, fewer drops, more LTE, but the chumps on AT&T are looking for anything to convince them not to switch. These are the same people who stayed on Windows until they had four iPods and their kid insisted on buying a Mac and they used it and were stunned that it just worked and they had so much PRODUCTIVITY!

Oh, that's right, Macs are more expensive. You'd rather spend $400 for a thick Windows machine with a bad screen, a lousy operating system and a chip so slow you don't know the Net can run faster.

Then again, maybe you're still on DSL. How's that Netflix account working for you!

And it's no different with bands. Every day I get e-mail that so and so is as good as the star. That might even be true! But try getting someone to sample the newbie's music! Try getting them to the gig! Stars have hits and momentum and investment and people will check out the crappy new album of the established star long before they'll listen to something new.

Which is why Apple and Amazon focus on getting your credit card and your trust. They know you're afraid to switch.

And why ignorant people think we need a new Spotify or a new Google when the ones we've got are good enough. We don't need any me-too products. We need that which is totally new and hugely better than what presently exists!

So either now you're up in arms saying I'm totally wrong or you're already on Verizon.

Or you're a complete idiot on Sprint with unlimited data and some of the slowest speeds in creation.

Or a true cheapskate on T-Mobile, where you get what you pay for, bad service and slow connections.

And there we have it.

The winners in this world want to go to Ivy League schools. They know the state institution might deliver just as good an education, but those you rub elbows with at the Ivys will change your life. But you don't want to pay for the Ivy. You want a deal. Deals are for chumps.

And you don't need the best of anything. You're always looking for a deal.

Those looking for a deal are hamstrung in life, they're always one step behind, wearing last year's fashions, using last year's skis, missing out on the essence.

So what am I telling you?

BE WILLING TO CHANGE! TAKE THE RISK! LAY YOUR MONEY DOWN!

Or you're always going to be behind the eight ball.

And you're not even going to know it.


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