{"id":2683,"date":"2009-04-24T09:43:00","date_gmt":"2009-04-24T14:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/BrandTwist.com\/?p=14"},"modified":"2018-10-18T20:15:00","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T20:15:00","slug":"breaking-up-shouldnt-be-hard-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/brand-experience\/breaking-up-shouldnt-be-hard-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking Up (Shouldn\u2019t Be) Hard to Do"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328274024856954450\"<\/a>
A friend of mine is trying to get out of a relationship, and it\u2019s proving quite difficult.<\/p>\n

In this case the relationship is with her gym, World Gym in Queens.<\/p>\n

Even though the gym is down the street from her house they won\u2019t let her stop by and just cancel. They are requiring that she send in a certified letter. This means she has to take time out of her busy schedule, go out of her way to a post office, stand in line, and get the letter certified. To make matters worse when she pressed the gym on why it had to be this way the only response she got was a not very helpful \u201cthat\u2019s our policy\u201d.<\/p>\n

If brands are relationships\u2026isn\u2019t part of being in a strong, rewarding relationship also being able to get out of it in a respectful way? <\/p>\n

With a minimum of drama and with a possibility of friendship in the future.<\/p>\n

Because here\u2019s the thing, she\u2019s going to leave any way. She\u2019s made up her mind. The relationship isn\u2019t working for her. She\u2019d rather find a gym that has a location near her home and her office. But now she\u2019s going to leave with a bad taste in her mouth. And chances are she will tell her story to other friends in her neighborhood, thus limiting the gym\u2019s future relationship prospects (e.g. the ability to attract new members).<\/p>\n

In contrast, a while ago I called TMobile to break up and it was a whole different experience. I had gotten a new Blackberry at work and with it came a new plan with a new provider. When I spoke to a service rep at TMobile they didn\u2019t push back. They listened to my reasons. Thanked me for my loyal years of service, and were respectful of my decision. <\/p>\n

They also mentioned another option. Having completed the requirements of my contract period, they suggested I take advantage or our rich history together and switch to a lower rate plan for another phone. And that\u2019s what I did. I kept the relationship alive in a new context. A cheaper monthly plan, perfect for my tween daughter. <\/p>\n

I decided to stay involved with them, albeit in a lower commitment way. But I got the feeling that if I had finally opted just to cut all ties, they would have been OK with that and wished me well. Not made me feel badly for having shifting needs. And that made me feel good about our relationship and willing to recommend them to others.<\/p>\n

Parting can be sweet sorrow, but it shouldn\u2019t be unnecessarily difficult. That should also be true for brands. Especially these days when many of us are having to make difficult relationship choices. We need our brands to understand and leave the door open for us to come back.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s my point of view. What\u2019s your twist?<\/p>\n

What brands have made it easy or hard for you to break up with them?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A friend of mine is trying to get out of a relationship, and it\u2019s proving quite difficult. In this case the relationship is with her gym, World Gym in Queens. Even though the gym is down the street from her house they won\u2019t let her stop by and just cancel. They are requiring that she […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,101],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-brand-experience","7":"category-customer-relations"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2683"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2683\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16698,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2683\/revisions\/16698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandtwist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}