Here at Gainplan we have a culture in which we strive to create “clients for life.” Recently I experienced quite the contrary – from a Fortune 500 company no less!

The other day, my phone charger was intermittently working so I took it back to the AT&T store (for the third time). When I walked in, I was greeted by a new associate and asked politely how he could help me. I replied that my phone charger wasn’t working properly and that last time I was told I needed to use “only the AT&T charger,” so here I am. 

He looked up my record on his laptop and discovered that this was the third time that I had been in with a charger problem and thus he needed to consult with the manager. When the manager came over, with a bit of an attitude from my perspective, he told me that there was nothing they could do because I had just been in for the same issue in February. “Ok,” I said, “now what?”

His reply was that there was nothing they could do to help other than sell me another charger. There was something about his attitude that pushed my buttons, (I think we all have been there) so I asked him if I was a good customer. He shrugged his shoulders. Then, I asked him if it mattered whether I was a customer. Again, he shrugged his shoulders. At which point I asked if it mattered if I walked across the street to the Sprint store – once again he shrugged his shoulders! So needless to say that is precisely what I did. Instead of losing a $30 charger that day, they lost a customer costing them $100/month for the foreseeable future.

What kind of business is so focused on getting new customers and that they lose sight of maintaining the ones they have? Perhaps their incentives are solely based on new customers. Regardless, now they get zero revenue and a disgruntled former customer who will not hesitate to spread the word about his negative experience.

Unlike AT&T, our goal is: “Clients for life”. We recognize that this sets the bar higher and requires more work and energy from us – however, our clients are worth it!

This commentary on this website reflects the personal opinions, viewpoints and analyses of the Gainplan LLC employees providing such comments, and should not be regarded as a description of advisory services provided by Gainplan LLC or performance returns of any Gainplan LLC Investments client. The views reflected in the commentary are subject to change at any time without notice. Nothing on this website constitutes investment advice, performance data or any recommendation that any particular security, portfolio of securities, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. Any mention of a particular security and related performance data is not a recommendation to buy or sell that security. Gainplan LLC manages its clients’ accounts using a variety of investment techniques and strategies, which are not necessarily discussed in the commentary. Investments in securities involve the risk of loss. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.