Renowned actor and humorist Will Rogers famously said, “If advertisers spent the same amount of money on improving their products as they do on advertising, then they wouldn’t have to advertise them.”

Costco has built and maintained a reputation doing just that. Word-of-mouth started the company down the path to success. Social media, glowing reviews, and a stellar reputation for quality and impeccable customer service now fuel its continuing success.

Costco knew from the beginning that its brand could survive, and later thrive, on the basics of treating people right and giving them products and services they want. Basic, simple, timeless, and time-honored. It’s how successful commerce was done eons before there was
mass communicating.

Cultivating trust, likability, and respect was the name of the game then. It still is.

That too often gets lost amid glowing promises, fancy and entertaining marketing, and a modern-day belief that, as P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

Unlike the “old days,” those suckers now have instant access to share their grievances with a worldwide audience. When promises don’t equate with performance, and marketing is only a vehicle for “putting one over” on buyers, there ultimately is a price to pay – in reputation and revenues.

Too many of today’s brands spend way too much time trying to market persuasively, and too little time making their products all they can be – then sharing that message through an authentic marketing and branding campaign.

For every product manufacturer who’s trying desperately to outflank, outthink, and outmaneuver the competition to sell their stuff, I offer one simple suggestion: Go to the core of who you are, what you offer, and how you want to be in relation to consumers. All the other stuff can come later. Concentrate on the quality of your products and your customer service, and don’t worry right away about having the best marketing and branding presentations to help make the case.

Let the marketing and branding campaigns come naturally from who you are, and how well you do what you do. Be a workhorse instead of a showhorse. Be authentic. Be transparent. Be there in every way you can for customers.

On the last point, give people options to communicate the way(s) they want. That includes providing a phone number front and center for those who want to talk. A full array of digital, AI-driven options can complement, but don’t let them supplant human contact. The last thing anyone wants is to be relegated to digital channels when they need a real human being. 

While I champion Costco over all other retailers, I will admit I’m also an avid Amazon buyer. But I’m no longer so avid about their live customer service. In an effort to automate everything, they’ve made it harder and harder to access a live human being. 

While I’m fairly tech savvy and able to work through AI-based customer resolution protocols, I don’t like to be forced into them. I have no idea how much money Amazon is saving with its AI customer service changes. But then, Amazon will never know how many orders they’re losing from people like me who are becoming more leery of what lies ahead if there’s a product issue. In turn, that’s causing me to rethink what and when I order from Amazon.

If I were Amazon, I’d rethink present customer service protocols. They likely won’t because of its scale.

But product manufacturers can. If you’re sacrificing live customer service interaction in the name of efficiency and cost-effectiveness, rethink your plans. Because, just like Amazon, you’ll never know how much money you’re losing from people who simply leave or stop buying from you – because most of them never tell you. They just go away.

Conversely, think about how much more money you can make by offering customer service choices that address everyone’s communication preferences. Sometimes, buying decisions come down to knowing that someone has your back no matter what. It makes it easier to feel confident about buying; and it certainly makes it easier to reach out when there’s a problem.

I often say that the true worth of a company is not measured by when all goes well, but how well the company responds when something goes wrong. I recently experienced a furniture delivery faux pas – the wrong-colored chair.

Based on the way the company handled the situation, I actually feel better about them now than I did when all was going well. And I certainly will be more comfortable and confident about buying from them in the future.

Be good, great if possible. Do what you say you’re going to do. And be there for those who buy from you.

These are the basics of great product experiences now – as they have been since the dawn of commerce.

Mark Lusky (www.markluskycommunications.com/mark-lusky-bio) is the president of Lusky Enterprises, Inc. (www.markluskycommunications.com), a 41-year-established marketing communications company dedicated to clients that live and breathe trust, likeability, and respect (thereby eschewing the “lie, cheat, steal” culture so prevalent today). Contact him at: 303-621-6136; mark@marklusky.com.