I was in a pub one evening, standing at the bar, and the bloke next to me started telling me a story:
I was in a pub one evening, standing at the bar, and the barmaid came to serve me.
‘What would you like?’ she asks.
‘A pint and a sandwich, please.’
‘Ok,’ she says, ‘What do you want in the sandwich?’
‘Cheese?’
‘Ok,’ she says, and disappears into the kitchen.
Five seconds later, she’s back: ‘I’m very sorry, we haven’t got any cheese.’
No problem, I’ll have ham.
‘Ok,’ says the barmaid, and disappears into the kitchen.
Five seconds later, she’s back: ‘I’m very sorry, we haven’t got any ham.’
‘Er, ok,’ I say, getting a bit impatient because I’m hungry. ‘I’ll have anything, whatever. Thanks.’
She disappears into the kitchen for a third time, comes back five seconds later and says: ‘I’m very sorry, we haven’t got any bread.’
There are lots of reasons why Facebook grew so quickly, Google became so popular and Mailchimp is loved by millions of customers around the world: they always deliver.
The bloke in the story might have just moved to the area and been visiting the pub for the first time. He could’ve been a solid customer for years.
But an experience like that is enough to put an abrupt end to the possibility of repeat custom.
