You've reached our premium or archival content
To access this page, and more great content just like it, you need to become a paid subscriber.
If you already have an account, please login.
Otherwise, registration is quick and you'll have access instantly after payment.
My comment still applies to broadcasting.
This article on why satisfied customers leave is universal; it does only apply to selling time on the air. It applies in general to buying and selling. One of the problems with departing regular customers is that it takes resources to attract replacement customers.
Under the heading "Start At The Start", the simple questionnaire on why the customer left may not be answered any of the questions. It may because the business may not offer the product and/or service and/or package.
Perhaps I can relate that to recent purchase of a washing machine. We have not been buying whitegoods from the same retailer. All the retailers we purchased whitegoods from have been excellent at customer service, price matching and delivery.
Returning to the washing machine, the original LG front loader served our household well for 14 years. It had state-of-the-art direct drive motor and used less power and water. It malfunctioned in July 2019 where the cost of repairs would outweigh the benefits of purchasing a new machine.
In the 14 years, model specifications have changed. With space constraints, I chose a model which had a direct drive model, had a hot and cold water inlet (not all machines have a hot and cold water inlet) and occupied the same space as the former LG.
Now the particular model that met my specifications a Fisher & Paykel was not available at the particular retailer X, but available at another retailer Y. Nothing wrong with retailer X, where we were regular shoppers, but they did not have the model for sale.
Perhaps price was a factor, and indeed it was a factor because the price included delivery and installation.
The counterintuitive was more service for less money!
You may ask: how does that apply to broadcasting?
Mr Pead's article is universal and applies to all kinds of businesses. If we look at subscriber broadcasting, customers wanted to buy subscriptions to specific channels and did not want to have to pay for channels they did were not interested in. For a while that subscription service was a monopoly. Today we have video-on-demand (VOD) services such as Netflix and Stan that are on a subscribe-as-you-need basis and does not compel customers to purchase a block or package.
While I cannot comment on a particular broadcaster's business model, the business that offered the washing machine at a particular price including delivery and installation way below the retail price excluding delivery and excluding installation obviously had a business model that allowed for including the delivery and installation and a profit could be made. Whether the profit was based on each unit sold or by volume is another question.
To illustrate, suppose a small business wants to advertise on commercial radio and has never advertised on radio before.
Does the radio station have a package that includes the production of the advertisement or advertisements and a number of advertisement placements for a particular timeslot or a particular campaign?
Does the radio station have a booking facility if the customer does go through a media buyer?
Does the sales department at the radio station answer your calls and advise on how a small business can have its business advertised on radio? I had a bad experience with 2GB in the 1990s and the sales department did not answer my call about how to get an advertisement.
The buying experience for air time for large entities such as Harvey Norman, The Blind Factory and whatever regular "All On Four" false teeth dental service, BUT what about the small business?
Thank you,
Anthony of where the sun shines, Belfield