I signed up for a credit report monitoring service seven or eight years ago.  You know, the one with the catchy commercials.  I’ve been paying $15 a month for a service that I really never use.  I would have cancelled a long time ago but they don’t offer an option through their website.  Instead, you have to call and talk to a real live person if you want to cancel your account.  It’s an awkward process that feels more like breaking up than cancelling a subscription.  To make matters worse, the lady on the other end of the line gave me the “so sorry to see you go” line, and then offered to give me a discount of 50% off the cost for the next 24 months.

I went from being a little frustrated with having paid, month after month, for a service I never used to being really, really frustrated that I could have been paying 50% less every month for a service I never used.  If they valued my business as much as that lady said they did, why was I paying double what I could have been if I had tried to cancel sooner?

If you’re looking for a really great way to make sure your customers leave your business with a sour taste in their mouths, be sure to offer them a discount–but only after they’ve already decided to take their business elsewhere.  That’ll really leave a good impression.