Customer Retention: Once You’ve Got Them Don’t Screw it Up

I recently made a reservation at one of the largest hotel chains in the world.  Since I contemplated staying there again, I joined their Rewards Program . . . so far, so good.

Along with their Welcome message, they sent me an offer, as a Rewards Program member, to save my room preferences for future check-ins.  All I had to do was select my preferences from 6 small pull-down menus.

Trying to Complete the Rewards Program Form

Number 1.  The title was “ACCESSIBLE”, and the pull-down choices were a) select  b)  yes  c) no preference.  At first I thought “select” was an instruction to select a choice, but no, it was one of the three actual choices.  First problem, what did they mean by “accessible”?  Did I want to be able to get into the room?  Did I want to maintain my right to “select” the room? Am I disabled?  What happened if I chose “yes”?  Since I couldn’t answer any of these questions, my only secure choice was “no preference”.

A chore that promised to take a couple of minutes and make me feel good about them was threatening to take a lot longer, frustrate me and make me sorry I ever met them.

Number 2.  SMOKING.  No problem.  My choices were a) select  b) smoking  c) non-smoking  d) no preference.  Got it . . . no smoking.

Number 3.  BED TYPE.  Again, no problem.  a)  select  b) king  c)  2 beds  d) no preference.  Fine . . . king.

Number 4.  ROOM LOCATION.  a) select  b) high floor  c) low floor  d) no preference.  I still don’t know what they mean by “select”.  Is this maintaining my option to “select” in the future?  Beats me.  I don’t really care if I am on a high floor or a low floor, but I do care that I don’t want to be on the ground floor.  That, however, wasn’t offered to me as a choice.  Two no preferences out of four choices.  Not good.  Carl is frustrated.  But, what the heck, I’ve saved two preferences and I still have two to go.

Number 5.  ELEVATOR PROXIMITY.  a) select (say it isn’t so)  b) away   c) near  d) no preference.  All I really want in the elevator department is to be far enough away from it, so that at 2:30 in the morning I don’t have to be awakened by the party animals that closed the bar.  If I choose “away” I can picture myself a football field-length away from the elevator with luggage, a bad back and late for my plane.  The winner:  no preference.  Three out of five, so far.

Number 6.  MOST IMPORTANT TO ME.  a) select  b) accessible  c) smoking  d) bed type.  Don’t know what they mean by “select”.  Don’t know what they mean by accessible.  Can’t choose “smoking” because I might be choosing a smoking room.  What’s left?  Bed Type, which I don’t really care about.  There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, two choices out of six and an irritated new customer.

And the Winner is… The Competition

I’ve gone from being a definite return customer to one that will be willing give a competitor a shot at my business.  Repeat customers are the ultimate goal of any website conversion optimization program.  Why go to all the effort and expense to convert a visitor into a client – only to lose their repeat business over a frustrating form after the sale.

What have you found to be most frustrating? How do you engage with your online customers?