Hot Chocolate That Tasted Like Sand Taught Me This About Building an Audience

It’s hard to build and easy to lose

Every Friday, after work, I go to my favorite frozen yogurt place and get myself a fro-yo.

Yesterday, I decided to never go back there again.

It took a small interaction with the staff for me to realize that a business can spend so much time and money building itself and its reputation. But it can sour customer relations in seconds.

Here’s what happened.

As I mentioned, I normally have a fro-yo on a Friday evening which is a gift to myself for having survived the work week. And even though I finished particularly late that evening, I decided I would still walk the half hour to my usual spot. I ordered a small tub and because I was feeling particularly spendy, I decided to splash out on a hot chocolate too.

Hardworking girls deserve nice things.

The woman that was serving me took my payment, then she pulled a small tub from a stack of them, turned to the yogurt machine, and pulled the lever. Thick creamy yogurt filled the tub. She let go of the lever once she was done and then turned around again to place the tub on a small measuring scale.

Hmm, I thought to myself, that’s new.

Naturally, I kept my thoughts to myself.

I selected my toppings and collected my hot chocolate.

I devoured the yogurt first and then moved on to the hot chocolate. I took a sip and winced.

It tasted like sand.

I took another sip to make sure. Nope, still sand, with the slightest hint of chocolate.

I agonized over what to do next.

Should I say something? Or maybe I should just make do and drink it really fast with my eyes closed, pretend I was drinking something else.

I took another sip and gasped. It tasted like I was licking the floor of the Sahara Desert.

I can’t drink this.

I didn’t want to be that person. Usually, if I buy something and I don’t like it, I take it on the chin, knowing that it was me who made a poor choice. A choice that didn’t suit my personal preferences. But this… this was supposed to be hot chocolate, which is a drink so basic, it is very hard to get wrong.

You know what? I’m a grown woman. I should say something.

I rallied myself and walked up to the counter. I saw the staff member that had served me and I explained the situation. I asked her if I could have an alternative drink instead.

Now, there were two ways this could have gone.

The first

She could asked me what exactly the problem was. Then together we could have come to a solution that would have been mutually beneficial. She’d take my drink and change it to a similar-priced drink that was better suited to me. I would have valued her responsiveness, felt valued as a customer, and would have felt indebted to her for having been treated so well. I would have left a happy customer with even more brand loyalty. I would have returned in the future returns and continually spent even more money. They might have made a temporary loss, the price of one drink, but that would have been recouped by my subsequent visits.

The second way things could have gone is left

I walked up to the counter and explained the situation.

‘You would have to pay for another drink.’

‘But it tastes bad. I can’t drink this.’

Her response to me was that it was my opinion.

I can’t lie, I was surprised. This wasn’t going how I’d imagined. When I then offered a different solution, for example, if she could add more hot chocolate, she told me that they weighed out each scoop and that I would have to pay for that.

Pay for another scoop of sand?

The realisation

I paused for a moment. I took a deep breath and asked myself — between 1 and Karen, how much fuss did I want to kick up?

And it was at that moment that I realized I wouldn’t be coming back. I left the shop, found a suitable drain, and poured the Sahara drainage juice down the drain.

There was something else I’d realized. This business valued profit over everything else and they’d showed me that in multiple ways.

When I took a step back and looked at my customer journey through that store and even up until that last exchange, there were signals that communicated the company values.

Because in truth, I don’t believe this staff member was acting in isolation. I don’t think she whipped out her measuring scale she brought from home and decided to start weighing everything for no reason.

It’s more likely that this had come from up top: everything needed to be weighed and measured and this was the priority now. Cutting costs and prioritizing profits. And the consequence of that is filtered into how staff behave and respond to customers. People don’t usually do things without cause.

I bought a product. I complained about the product. And rather than investigate or take my feedback on board, it became my issue to solve. I became at fault. I was to blame for not enjoying my mud water.

It reminded me of a story Chris Do told in a podcast episode about business tactics. And how loyalty plays a big part in repeated business. I believe that to be true. He also shared a quote from Anna Lappe “Every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want.”

I can no longer be loyal to a brand like that and I can no longer spend my money with them. That short interaction communicated to me that their values are not customer-focused, but in taking and making money. And when a business operates like that, I assume they’re likely cutting corners elsewhere and it shows. It shows in the quality of their service and in the quality of their hot mud soup.

What does that mean for us?

It’s said the creator economy could reach half a trillion dollars in just a few years. For individuals who want to make content and build a loyal audience, this story is evidence of what happens when we prioritize all the wrong things.

Your audience will only be as loyal as you are to them. Every time we post something on the internet, we’re building a reputation. A story of who we are and what to expect from us. It can take years to build something tangible and only seconds to tarnish it. It really doesn’t take long.

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