When All Else Fails, Sue the Competition

December 9, 2009 on 1:17 am | In attitude, mindset | 5 Comments

I’m not often struck speechless, but that’s exactly the effect this article in the New York Times had on me.  In fact, even though I knew I was going to write a blog post about it the minute I read it, it’s taken me the better part of a week to figure out what to say.

The article basically says that, while large companies used to be content to battle it out in the marketplace, they are now taking their battles to a different venue: the nations courtrooms.  Many have resorted to suing competitors over allegedly false claims made in ads, asking judges to remove the ads from the airwaves in an effort to regain marketshare.  Here’s a quote from the article:

“The increase in these actions may be a reflection of the dismal economy: in recessions, when overall spending lags, advertisers must fight harder for customers.”

Oh, if only that were true.  Rather than “fight harder for customers”, these companies are choosing a different battle. They’re choosing to slug it out with competitors rather than do the one thing that could really help them regain marketshare: focus on their relationships with their customers, a technique my friend Skip Anderson calls customer engagement.

In other words, these companies shouldn’t be worried about the claims their competitors are making in ads (claims which, by the way, the average consumer is mostly likely very skeptical of to begin with); they should be concerning themselves with turning their customers into raving fans!

Take AT&T’s suit against Verizon Wireless over the “white space” in the maps Verizon uses in their “There’s a Map for That” ads.  Could anything be more preposterous?  I’m a Verizon customer, and I have been for nearly 10 years, not because Verizon has better coverage (for the past three years I’ve lived in an area that had very poor coverage by Verizon, and no 3G coverage at all), but because my customer service experience with them over the years has always left me feeling warm.  I love the way their support staff treat me, and I’ll put up with a dropped call every now and then for the exceptional customer experience.

Another thing that really perplexes me in all this is the fact that, when the data would overwhelmingly prove otherwise, companies still treat the consuming public like we’re ignorant children.  Case in point: Science Diet suing Iams over Iams’ claim to that “no other dog food stacks up like Iams”.  Are these companies so arrogant that they actually believe we the public are still paying attention to the ridiculous claims they make?  Wake up folks!  Todays consumer is more savvy than at any point in history, and we’re not easily duped.

So here’s my question for you: are you guilty of treating your customers like gullible morons, or are you humble enough to  recognize that your customers are well-informed, intelligent people with the ability to make good decisions?  Taking the humble approach and treating your customers with the respect they deserve, engaging in meaningful dialog with them, and constantly thanking them for their business is a great foundation for building the kind of customer relationships that result in raving fans.

But of course if that doesn’t work, you can always sue your competition.