Once you go Apple, you never go back

From Tony Bradly at PC World

Last week was a huge week for Apple. First the iPhone 4S was unveiled and met with criticism that it wasn't an iPhone 5. Then Steve Jobs passed away. Then Apple and its wireless providers shattered previous records by pre-selling a million of the "disappointing" iPhone 4Ss on Friday. One thing that didn't seem to get the attention it deserves is the iPhone 3GS.  

But, the big news is that people can get an iOS smartphone for free with a two-year contract with the iPhone 3GS.

Not sure I would say that a free 3GS was THE big news, but it was very big news indeed. At $49 dollars, the 27 month old iPhone 3GS was the second best selling smart phone in the world. Now its free. Expect the 3GS to continue to be popular.

That's all well and good. But the big news is that with Apples high satisfaction numbers, with Apple's high retention ratings, those who buy an Apple product - any Apple product - may never want to buy anything else ever again.

Disappoints Who?

From Nick Mokey , June 8, 2009, via John Gruber at Daring Fireball:

Apple iPhone 3GS Disappoints at 2009 WWDC. A better camera, overpriced memory upgrade and a compass aren't really cutting it for us.

Hmm. Sounds mighty familiar.

• Apple disappoints fans with modest iPhone 4 update
• Apple disappoints faithful followers with iPhone 4S
• APPLE’S IPHONE 4S DISAPPOINTS

Apple products always seem to disappoint but Apple products always seem to sell well. Isn't that a paradox? Perhaps the better way to put it would be to say that Apple products always seem to disappoint the pundits, but always to more than satisfy Apple's intended customers.

Make new customers, but keep the old...

A whopping 89 percent of iPhone owners have indicated they will stick with Apple for their next handset, dwarfing all other hardware makers, according to a new survey.

When I was a child, I learned the popular ditty:

Make new friends, but keep the old

One is silver, and the other gold.

The same can be said for customers. Experts say that acquiring new customers costs as much as 10 to 20 times more than retaining existing customers. And existing customers purchase 2 to 5 times more. Yet most business spend the vast majority of their time and resources on getting new business rather than retaining their existing base.

Make new customers, by all means. But don't forget your your existing customers either. They're easier to retain, they spend more money and its the right thing to do.