The most basic expectation a customer has is that if he or she is providing you with personal information, you will use that information to provide him or her with something of value. Well-targeted offers build upon known customer behavior to create value. Lousy ones waste time, arguably taking something of value away. Most Internet companies have not yet learned these lessons. They do not understand what their visiting customers expect and have unwittingly violated customer expectations.
Customers expect anonymity on the Internet.
Use of cookies to build a dossier of buying behavior without asking first violates that expectation. Posting of a privacy policy creates an expectation that customer information will not be voluntarily shared. Selling the customer list to another company violates that expectation. Customers will certainly expect something in return for filling out a four-screen, thirty question questionnaire, so the company had best be prepared to use it to the customer's benefit, even if it is only to remember to offer a coupon on blue socks next Wednesday. Send your suggestions to our Community Manager .