You're right, we should put the customer first, but there's the ideology and there's the reality. Ideology says put EVERY customer first, reality says you can't win the hearts of everyone.
Once again, I'm not saying the 'win some lose some' is right or wrong, this is the reality, and if you think every shipping company will unequivocally do whatever it takes to keep a client, you're wrong, businesses have limits as to how far they'll go to keep clients. Being the master in business sense that you are, you'd realise that companies like UPS practise the rudimentary economic theory of cost-benefit analyses (remember the game theory course you took in business school?
), not running at every customer like they're #1. They'd be willing to do a lot more to keep the big vitamin company (like wine and dine them, offer 80% off walk-up rate, etc) than for ma+pa and the rug. The shipping business is very dynamic and clients are won and lost all the time. Before FX and UPS, I worked for an local city courier, and we'd win and lose clients all the time, while retaining a strong base of loyal clients who have used us since day 1. Every time we'd lose a huge client to courier-company B, a large client of courier-company B would come our way. Sure, we ideally want both clients, but the reality is that we dropped the ball a few times too many, and courier-company B offered that client something better
or courier-company B offered our client something too good to be true, and we choose not to keep their business, the value of not lowering our rates and expanding our services outweighted the cost of narrower margins keeping the client happy, on top of the fact that we had a few large accounts that were coming our way.
And UPS has gone 100 years relying on status quo. Regimentation, efficency, and restraint, particularly with overhead costs, marketing, and technology. That's why we're here where we are."
Regardless of what you or I consider reality, this person started this thread because her reality was that she exhausted her options and found another option for help (this forum). I never said her request should be priority #1 to UPS.... She was simply reaching out as a last resort only to get some responses telling her that her loss is of no importance to UPS! My point was that to dismiss her request and say that large customers are more important is a bad outlook, especially when you put it in writing for the whole world to see. Sure we get more revenue from those large accounts but the more and more small accounts we lose, we're going to feel it and see it as our competitors offer lower prices and take our unhappy and unwanted "ma and pa" customers. Keep in mind that ebay can be viewed as that type of customer where individual people ship a few items here and there. You don't think word travels fast in those feedback sections? You can question my business sense all you want but it won't make your outlook right in the eyes of our customers. It takes no effort on your part to offer some words of encouragement or better yet, say nothing at all but you chose to go out of your way to try and crush what hope she has left. Way to help that UPS image, maybe you can lift some spirits over at packagesmasher.com!
As for UPS making it 100 years by doing status quo.... Can I point you to SCS, UPS Capital, UPS Freight, UPS Airlines, The UPS Store, etc.... Kinda looks like UPS has expanded and gone after new and emerging markets and customers instead of burying our heads in boxes and settling for ground shipping huh? Without referring back to my high school business books, I'd say that's hardly status quo but what do I know, you're the business expert.
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