According to Scott Hornstein, international author, lecturer and consultant, the rubric of “customer relationship management” offers two promises. The first is to enable marketers to find those that are ready to buy right now and close the sale as quickly and efficiently as possible. The second is to create a repurchase preference among existing customers.

Scott observes, “Marketing strategy and investment is solidly behind promise number one. Should we pick the low hanging fruit? Absolutely. If we don’t, someone else will.

“It also seems that most companies have yet to warm up to promise number two. Do companies bombard their customers with ongoing repurchase solicitations? Absolutely. Are these finely targeted? Not usually. Look in your mailbox — are companies targeting you or trolling?

“Instead of a commitment to the individual, companies turn the numbers. Why should we pay attention to one customer when we can broadcast to MILLIONS? Why else would we be satisfied when less than 1% of our universe buys, and 99% throws us in the trash. A popular phrase is, send it to everyone — just one more sale will pay for everything. Such shortsightedness generates customer displeasure, which is a precursor to disgust — counter-productive to the creation of repurchase preference.

Scott adds, “When a customer purchases your product or service, they go away for a while. They use your stuff and it satisfies them or it does not. Perhaps they have a question or a problem. I call this interim period ‘change’. Many companies call this interim period ‘annoying’. In fact, some companies banish their existing customers to the other side of the world.”

That’s where these companies are missing the boat. They’ve paid to acquire the relationship, but they’re not amortizing the investment. Many companies are obsessed with the short-term to the detriment of the long-term. What we sold today is the only thing that counts. So we manufacture drive-by relationships, over and over again.

Customers seem to like the second promise of customer relationship management — that a company would value their business and invest in a “relationship.” They are vocal in their displeasure when the promise is hollow. They are loyal — and more profitable — when the promise is kept.