Don't forget to dance with who brung you!
Houston Business Journal {April, 1997; by Bill Schadewald}
 
 
Bill Schadewald is on vacation this week. This column originally appeared in the March 17, 1995, issue.
 
"We're gonna dance with who brung us." The phrase was coined in the 1970s by a football coach who made the comment in response to a question about his starting lineup for an upcoming game. His answer implied, in effect, that he was going to stick with the players who had contributed to the team's success.
 
Since then, the downhome homily with its fractured grammar has been quoted often in a variety of contexts. But the gist of the message hasn't changed. "We're gonna dance with who brung us" is merely another way of saying "We're remaining loyal to the people who got us where we are."
 
Occasionally, some businesses tend to forget who brought them to the dance when it comes to consumer service.
 
One case in point was recently evident right up the street at my neighborhood financial institution. I have been banking at this local office of an out-of-state thrift since the mid-'80s.
 
When the account was first opened, the Farm & Home Savings branch was offering a wide variety of free services in an effort to lure new customers. In fact, just about everything was gratis. There was no service fee on checking accounts, checks were replenished at no cost, and traveler's checks could be purchased without charge.
 
One by one, these freebies gradually disappeared. A $9 service charge started appearing on the monthly statements. The next time I ordered checks, they cost $25. And I learned about the new fees for traveler's checks while planning a vacation.
 
I accepted this periodic price gouging without a peep until several months ago, when the S&L branch was sold to another outside thrift, Savings of America. A few weeks after the sale, the new owners festooned the building with a big red banner proclaiming: "Free checking for one full year to all new accounts."
 
So newcomers got a free ride while old, established customers continued to pay full freight. I pointed out the inequity of this system to one of the longtime tellers, suggesting that the thrift might be making a marketing mistake by forgetting to dance with who brung them. He must have passed the message on, because the $9 service charge soon disappeared from my monthly statements.
 
Such was not the case with the local cable television company. A recent monthly statement from Warner Cable contained an envelope stuffer aimed at attracting new customers. According to the flyer, those who signed up immediately would receive free installation and three free months of viewing on two premium channels.
 
When I subscribed to cable TV several years ago, the installation wasn't free and nobody offered a signing bonus of any kind.
 
So today, subscribers get all sorts of instant benefits for signing on the dotted line while veteran viewers receive next to nothing in return for their years of patronage. (To be fair, Warner Cable has sent one coupon good for one pay-per-view movie since I became a subscriber.)
 
Once again, it would appear to be an example of forgetting to dance with who brung you.
 
In many cases, businesses probably don't even realize that they may be inadvertently offending a captured consumer audience when they roll out new sales programs in a quest for fresh blood.
 
In the competitive hustle for new customers, it's easy for companies to overlook the lasting value of longtime relationships. But keeping a customer is every bit as important as winning one, and luring back a lost customer is the hardest sell of all.
 
Some industries have come up with innovative ways to continue dancing with the people who brung them. Airlines, for instance, keep the music playing with frequent flyer programs.
 
All too frequently, however, those who peddle products and services seem to think that the dancing stops once the sale is made. And they can pay a hefty price for ignoring those who brung them in the first place.