When theory and practice don't meet

Marketing professors at my business school used to say that it's easier and less costly to retain an existing customer than to attract a new one. Marketing textbooks would tell you the same thing. However, the reality in Lithuania is quite the opposite. At least in the mobile communications business. And I wonder why.

I had been a loyal and long-term customer of the largest mobile operator before I asked for some special treats when changing my status from a private customer to a corporate one last autumn. And then I realised (with a big surprise!) that, in terms of choosing a product or service provider, loyalty doesn't pay in Lithuania. The customer care officer of the mobile operator told me that they weren't able to offer me any preferential call rates or other benefits as gratitude for me being their loyal and always-pay-the-bill-on-time customer.

The sales person was indeed trying to come up with something that would make me feel that the mobile company appreciated me as an old customer. They had a very complicated system ("loyalty programme", they call it) which, unfortunately, was of no use to me. Finally, I got tired and asked her if I came to her as a new customer and asked for a new phone number, would I be entitled to some special rates? She said: "Yes".

At the time I thought "How ridiculous" and decided to end up the complication and signed up as a corporate customer for another 2 years (I wanted to keep the same phone number that I had been using for some years).

A month later I went to the second largest mobile operator and asked what they could offer me. I was a new customer to them. And "disloyal" to their competitor.:)

I signed up with them, kept my old phone number and (!) started benefiting from lower phone bills. Plus, they covered my contractual obligations (for terminating the contract earlier than in 2 years' time) to the previous mobile phone company.

Oh, I love beeing a new customer! I can tell that the account manager at my current phone company does indeed care for my needs. And I buy more from them.

I know people who have phone numbers from all the main three mobile operators in Lithuania. At the end of the contract term they threaten to leave the operator and thus they get some benefits for extending the contract. I can't be bothered to carry three mobile phones or use three different numbers (although I have a Lithuanian number and a UK number, but that's a different matter).

I feel it's about time to change my bank as I no longer receive the VIP treatment I've been used to.

FCUK (French Connection UK), Edinburgh, April 2007. Photo by Giedrius CP

We will Skype you

I've never been an IT-minded person. But it's amazing how IT communications can change one's lifestyle: over the last 7 months my work and leisure time has been heavily digitalised. I've become quite a web animal and use a variety of online tools to communicate and keep in touch for both personal and business purposes.

Moreover, I've become a kind of blogging ambassador. I made presentations on the business case of blogging already twice - in Lithuania and in Belgium. The speed of IT communications seems to speed up human activity and radically change modern life and society.

A few years ago, when I was with the global business advisory firm, more and more of my friends turned to using MSN Messenger, an instant messaging service. At first I was surprised that they could afford to chat over MSN and do some work, simultaneously (I most probably wasn't good at multi-tasking). But later on I felt left out - it seemed like everyone would connect via MSN during the office hours to discuss evening plans or exchange news of the day.

At some point I decided to catch up with my friends and... install the MSN Messenger on the office computer (although I wasn't sure it was the right thing to do). I followed rather simple installation instructions and - here I am! - I have the magic software on my work PC. I was pleased with myself - installed the thing correctly with no external help!:)

It all looked ok until I tried to sign in. I tried once, it didn't work. I tried twice, it didn't work. I restarted the computer, but it still didn't work. MSN was there, looked perfectly ok but didn't work. Then I decided to turn for help to the firm's IT department...

When the IT guy heard what my IT issue was, he smiled at me and said: "You may uninstall it. Because it won't work. Because the servers wouldn't allow." He was a nice guy and didn't tell me off that it was against the strict IT policy of the firm to install and use such software.

I now use a number of e-tools extensively but sensibly, ie try not to abuse them. They help save time and - no less importantly - money! The way they eliminate physical distances and enable us communicate in various forms (voice, chat, live video), continues to surprise me.

Do you Skype? Get in touch with me: giedriuscp.

Smart business casual. © Skype

Thank you for smoking

Every profession has its own list of favourite films where the main character comes from that profession. PR people also have a must-see list of movies.

The "classic" films that every PR professional would name include Wagg the Dog or West Wing, the TV series. They show how powerful and important - and sometimes glamorous - the PR profession (spin-doctors!) may be. I'd like to name one film that showed a PR officer as a very smart guy. The movie is called Thank You for Smoking.

The main character, a family man, is a spokesman for a major tobacco corporation. As you may imagine he faces the dilemma of personal and professional duties. He seeks to raise his son into a good man but he must also be loyal to his (evil!) employer, the tobacco company. Facing a cancer-ridden teenager in a wheelchair or an aggressive mother activist on a live TV show is peanuts to him. The show ends in his favour and not in those who are supposedly victims of tobacco conglomerates. The biggest challenge is to face a room full of his son's classmates at school...

The school has this bring-your-father-to-school-to-tell-about-his-job tradition. The PR guy's son is too embarrassed to invite his father to school to tell about his "tobacco advocacy" job in front of the boy's peers. However, one day it's his turn to bring his father and the poor boy asks his father to do this parental duty...

The PR guy takes his both responsibilities - to his family and his employer - very seriously. So he does go to school to talk about his job to his son's classmates...

When it's time for a questions & answers session, one school-boy raises his hand and shoots a straightforward question: "My Mom says smoking kills people. How can you work for such a company?"

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, the PR man starts:
- Tell me, young man, is your Mom a doctor?
- No,- replies the boy.
- Is she a medical scientist?
- No.
- Well, boys and girls, here's a lesson for you all: always trust only a reliable source of information!

The PR guy is a responsible person. And he does his best to make his son proud of him. He made me proud of him too. Because he dealt with tough situations smartly and because we're in the same - PR - business.

Thank you for smoking. Roma, September 2006. Photo by Erlendas G.

A hobby

Fishing, skiing and knitting - these were the kind of hobbies I was aware of until this month. A couple of weeks ago, while watching the evening TV news, I learnt about a new hobby that people may have.

Watching the national TV news may be quite an educating experience. One evening I turned the TV on and had my dinner with the news as a background noise. At some point there was a report on a diversity campaign that gained too much attention and opposition from the officials. To put it in a nutshell, two buses painted in rainbow (i.e. gay) colours were supposed to ride the streets of Vilnius and Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania. But the "gay buses" never left the garages: in Kaunas the bus "broke down" while the Vilnius bus company simply opposed the idea. The TV reporter asked Vilnius Mayor to comment on the "bus scandal". His reply was something like "People shouldn't expose their hobbies but should rather keep them to themselves." This made my eyebrows rise.

At first I wasn't sure if I heard what I heard (rushed to blame my attention deficit:). But when the Mayor tried to expand and referred to the same "hobby" again, it became crystal clear that to him being gay is a hobby.

Well, he may not have come up with a better euphemism if he needed one but clearly he needs PR advice and media training.:) Not to mention a general education "refresher" course. I was wondering - what the former, PR-minded, Mayor of Vilnius would have said in this situation?

Now beware if someone asks you or tells you about hobbies and make sure you understand well what they mean... Do you have a hobby? :)

People with hobbies. Elektrenai, May 2007. Photo by Asta G.