Why “Shop Local” Campaigns Don’t Always Work

Why some customers don’t shop local, despite aggressive “shop local” marketing strategies.

We’ve debated writing this post for several months. Why? Because the post tends to “call out” lackluster customer service practices in communities — particularly rural communities — that pursue “shop local” marketing strategies. Indeed, we’re from one of those communities whose businesses sometimes express collective frustration about residents not shopping local. Why, some businesses ask, don’t more residents shop local?

We have a theory, and it doesn’t have anything to do with marketing, demographics, or even price. (In fact, we’ll address the relationship between price and customer service in a future post.)

So what’s our theory?

Poor customer service.

We know: That hurts to say, and it hurts even more to hear, which is why we vacillated about writing this post. Although a variety of businesses in our community exhibit excellent customer service, others, well…not so much.

Even the most aggressive “shop local” marketing strategies are constrained by a fundamental Customer Service Law of Physics: Poor customer service repels customers.

Unfortunately, we’ve observed, and have learned about, several instances of poor customer service in our community, which typically fall within one — or more — of the following issues:

• Not returning telephone calls. A customer who calls a business deserves to have his or her telephone call returned in a reasonable amount of time. What’s “reasonable”? No later than the next business day. At the risk of sounding like a drill sergeant, there is no excuse for a business not to return telephone calls. Moreover, a business shouldn’t even think about using the “Sorry, we’ve been super busy” line: it’s a cheap cliche, not a genuine excuse. Incidentally, this rule also applies to email, text, and social media inquiries.

• Not showing up. A business that makes an appointment with a customer needs to arrive on time. Period. Exclamation mark! There is nothing more infuriating for a customer than wasting an entire morning, afternoon, or day “waiting around” for nothing. At the very least, the customer deserves a prompt “heads up” if the appointment is delayed or canceled.

• Not following through. A business that promises to follow through with a customer needs to honor its commitment. Promptly returning telephone calls and diligently showing up for appointments will be for naught if the business neglects to follow through with its customers. Again, the customer deserves a courteous “heads up” if an issue prevents the business from following through.

If your business promptly returns telephone calls, diligently appears for appointments, and religiously follows through with customers, great! And we know that there are many such businesses in our community.

If not, here’s some good news for your business: Each foregoing issue can be remedied, and can be remedied right now, provided that your business genuinely commits itself to these three core customer service practices:

• Return telephone calls.

• Show up.

• Follow through.

By engaging in these fundamental customer service practices, your business will not only impress customers, but will also help contribute to your community’s “shop local” initiatives by attracting, instead of repelling, customers.

Have a “customerific” week!

Mark