They DO want new customers because then they’ll guarantee them to stay for, at the very least, one year.

Chief Officers want to see quick results, and a base of new customers, growing every day, and guaranteed to be with you for one or two years, pays off… even if it means losing existing customers.

Deon – If the big companies could retain current customers and steal from the competition, there wouldn’t be 4 or 5 companies for long. The best company would be left standing. In reality, will this ever happen? Probably not. However, if a company started to take excellent care of both customers and new prospects, they’d start to gain rapid market share.

The new user/new customer drive is sometimes more important than keeping the old customers. Look especially at big corps where 4 or 5 control the industry. There are only so many customers in a market and by driving new sales over keeping old sales they canibalise their market stealing each others old customers.

Cell phone companies are infamous for NOT taking care of their existing companies. I have Verizon and bought the Treo 700 PLUS changed my calling plan to include more minutes and unlimited data. If I was a new customer, I could have gotten the phone for about $150-$200 CHEAPER. Instead, they made me pay the full price for the phone.

At the end of my contract, I am cancelling and going elsewhere.

Great article.