Democrats Text Everything but, "Thank You"

By Claire Grusin | November 18, 2024 | LinkedIn Article

It is no secret that I donated to the Harris campaign five different times. I volunteered to phone bank in North Carolina. Leading up to election night, the frequency of solicitations for more money and for more engagement came every thirty minutes, and although it felt over the top, the urgency of the matter somehow enabled me to look the other way.

My phone calls with voters made it clear that this was an uphill battle. Harris was just not motivating Democrats to vote, and in the end, I was not surprised by Trump's victory. What has continued to surprise me, however, is the velocity at which texts for more money and engagement have continued, sometimes dozens a day. Within just hours, the mantra of my texts switched from, "we can do this," to complete catastrophizing. "Sign this petition," "Fight Trump's latest appointments," "Our No Kings Act is going viral..."

I want to text back into the void, "But, you never even said, "Thank you." (And btw, you never said what you did with the last monies I donated.)

At Oregon State University I teach about customer loyalty. Loyalty is something that needs to be nurtured over time. In the business world, we see companies offer exclusive perks to loyalists, like discounts or events. Without loyalists a brand will generally fail because acquiring customers gets too expensive.

Further, loyalists only stick around if the product continues to deliver value, and since the election the Democrats have failed at this bar none. Not only did they lose the election, but they have failed to show accountability for past donations, and failed to show any real vision for the future.

Viewership of Democratic commentators is down 40% since the election, donations have dried up substanially, I can't help but think that the lack of gratitude and vision is part of the problem.

In Marketing, a product loyalists are akin to a engaged voters, yes?

In product marketing it is important to remember that you when you sell a product, you have to sell it twice. The first sale is shelf appeal (or “perceived value,”) and the second sale when the customer tries the product or service (or “actual value.)

Let me be clear, I was never expecting to be honored and cherished, but it would have been nice to receive a text that said, "Thank you for your continued support and contributions, we ran a great campaign." The lack of gratitude and flippant catastrophizing reads as both disorganized and tonedeaf.

Cultivating customer loyalty absolutely takes effort. Democrats can and should do better at customer retention and strategy.