From the top of the mountain to the bottom of the pile

I don’t know how many of you subscribe or had at one time been a subscriber to Netflix. We are not a Netflix household, but to be honest the thought of getting what you could get for the prices they offered seemed to be a reasonable proposition.

I am sure those of you who are Netflix subscribers, as well as some of you who are not, heard about their pricing changes. You can find the details of the changes here.

Needless to say, the reaction to the changes implemented was not favorable for many subscribers. At the link I provided, there are many comments you can read to formulate your own opinion on how well this change was received.

It appears that Netflix was, while trying to manage sound business practices, trying to meet the needs of consumers and offer choices to their subscribers that would better appeal to them and better meet their needs. To me, it looks like they tried to give their subscribers choices so they could get what they wanted, and so that they didn’t have to pay for services they didn’t use. Their intentions were good, however I don’t believe many at the company could foresee the firestorm that would result from this decision.

People really dislike having something, and then feeling that what they have is “taken away” from them. The customers obviously were very happy paying for their DVD home deliveries, and paying an add-on fee for streaming capabilities on their computers or other devices. When it appeared that Netflix was essentially raising the price of what they already had by 60%, the customers were not happy.

It appears that, from what I am reading in the comments, the pain of slow delivery of DVDs was eased by the ability to stream other videos in the interim, but the videos they could stream did not include new releases. In essence, for someone to opt for streaming only, they could not get the selection of movies they wanted; if they opted for the DVD delivery option only, then they could get the selection they wanted, but not at the speed they wanted. Essentially, what they had before the changes were exactly what the consumer wanted. The subscribers’ feelings collectively seem to be along the lines of “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.”

We can learn something from this whole event. Sometimes we have nothing but good intentions, and feel that others will judge us by our intentions. Unfortunately, a majority of people do not judge people by their intentions – rather, people usually judge based on the actions of others. Netflix’s actions appeared to be done out of greed by their customers, and they were not able to see otherwise. Regardless of the great service they had received, they instantly felt that Netflix did not value them as a customer; rather, they felt that the only Netflix had in them was in regard to their pocket books.

Unless Netflix does some damage control, many believe they will go from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the pile, especially when considering the competitive nature of the business.

Our lesson for today – even though you may have good intentions, people do not judge based on intentions; people judge based on actions. Be sure your actions convey how you care about others, and be sure your actions communicate your intentions.

Have a great weekend!

-Victor