We are used to reading a lot about customer loyalty and retention, but I believe that the best way of learning something is experiencing it. I had a car rental experience that gave me some insight on customer satisfaction and how hard it is to acquire a satisfied customer from the competition.

I travel at least once a year to the U.S., either for business or leisure. In one trip I decided to rent a car. Browsing through the many options, I selected Thrifty, because it has a lower price than other companies but still seemed to have similar service. Everything went well once I arrived in the airport, and the car was delivered properly.

In one of the rental days I forgot the headlights on when I parked the car. Coming back, the battery was dead, so I contacted Thrifty´s customer service for assistance. Since they couldn´t find anyone nearby to give me a jumpstart, they sent me another car in 40 minutes, NO CHARGE and UPGRADED (they didn´t have the same type available). All was quick and simple.

In future rentals, I “unfortunately” had many free upgrades because the type rented wasn´t available. The longest line I ever faced was about 3 people before me (and I´m not a blue chip member).

Now, thinking like a manager, how hard would it be for a another company to acquire me as a customer? Offering discounts wouldn´t help, since I´d switch back as soon as I the discount period finished. There wouldn´t be many opportunities to give me big positive surprises, since it is not always that I have a special need (as a dead battery). Of course, there will always be a way to innovate and surprise a customer, but normally high costs are involved, and the retention could only be temporary.

In summary, it is worth it to go that extra step to satisfy surprise you customer when he most needs it (I expected at least to be charged for the tow truck). Why? Because it´s cheaper than trying to acquire new customers, and the results are much broader (I always recommend Thrifty to my friends and colleagues).

Think about it, what are YOU doing to surprise YOUR customers?