Importance of Authors Keeping their promises; why I like you guys (and why your competitor lost my business forever)

I’m glad the authors here are honest. I’m dealing with an issue at another ae template site where, before buying a template of a pre-rendered project I’d asked the author if I could get the source files if I bought his template (I’d asked him many months ago). And he said yes.

So I went ahead and bought the template, and as soon as I emailed him asking for the sources, he gave me the bullsh|t line about “sorry I don’t have the sources, because my hard drive crashed”. Yeah right. Any professional keeps backups (on dvd/other drives). This author clearly appears to be bs-ing me. So now this site is facing Breach of Contract legal action from me, because their author is failing to deliver what they promised.

I’d been one of this other site’s top buyers for years. Now I won’t be. So that’s good news for you guys, though I’d shifted most of my budget, 80%+ here this last year, now you guys get it all. I won’t be buying from this other site anymore due to this. Too bad—all it takes is one serious infraction from an f-up author to lose the loyalty of a customer. And the site owner has taken days and still not made it right.

A saying I like: “Trust is like a glass vase—once it’s broken, it’s never the same”. True in relationships too, if a woman cheats on me I leave her forever period (thankfully I’m now married to a good honest woman for many years).

Moral of the story? Don’t bs your customers. Some of us carry a big stick, and will prosecute for breach of contract litigation (in addition to filing complaints with attorney generals’ offices and other regulatory agencies, which can shut down an entire site/business). Not to mention losing thousands of dollars in potential revenue in the years ahead.

Honesty is always the best policy. If you try and f with the wrong customer, some of us definitely have sharp teeth and bite back hard. And those of us who have deep pockets, you miss out on our money if you try and lie or be dishonest. Both are not good for business.

Thanks to you guys—I’m particularly sensitive about “if you promise something, then deliver”, as in if you say you’ll send me max/c4d sources if I need them, make sure you do so. And no bs about “oops my hard drive crashed”.

/rant off

Also I’m one of the world top-known internet marketers, though I keep a low public profile. And I speak at conferences, make recommendations about whom to buy from (vs not) to literally thousands of people. So it’s always good to be on the “right side” of customers… you never know who we are, and if you do well, you can get a Lot of referral sales (which I have sent to this site). Or the opposite, if you betray a customer’s trust.

The golden rule. Live by it, because it matters—for all the right reasons.

The right response from this other site’s owner (who I actually like, and had even given marketing advice to on the phone years ago), would have been along the lines of “Ken, you’re one of my most valuable customers, I’m sorry this happened, let me fix it and make it right”. (I didn’t get that).

That’s how I treat my customers. Heck if I get even a minor complaint (which is rare) I immediately try and phone the customer to make things right. Because with social media, forums and the rest of it “word of mouth” travels fast—so I make sure to treat my customers (all of them, not just big ones, like I am) as well as I can. Of course I don’t mention anybody/sites by name specifically, publicly I have a problem with, but I do relate general experiences publicly, as lessons learned (and hopefully some intelligent guidance).

Well I just wanted to say thanks to you guys, the vast majority of authors here are responsive and honest and overdeliver—and that’s a win win for us all. Not a single one of you has lied to me or failed to deliver in any way (and that’s saying a lot since I’ve bought hundreds of templates here over the years). Congrats on getting all my ae business now.

“Treat your customers right”. Very very very important for shared success. You get more money, I get more creative assets I can use in my business, and we’re all happy. Well done. This site is superb. And thanks to all the folks here behind the scenes that keep things working so well, it’s got to be a lot of work. It shows, and you’ve earned your success. And my ongoing loyalty.

Sure the site owner refunded my $30 or whatever. Like I care about that. It’s not about the money. It’s about broken trust, and the author apparently lying to me in an attempt to not deliver what they said they would. It’s the most expensive mistake a site can make. Now they will lose thousands in sales for the years ahead (which you guys get instead). It’s not about the $ of the template. It’s about the working relationship. About trust. I spent thousands of dollars there, and now when I need what I was promised, I was let down. Big mistake. Epic fail.

Like going into a fancy hotel you’re spending $300 a night on, and finding a roach in the bathroom. Do I care that the hotel refunds my money? No. What’s important is I won’t ever go to that hotel again. Though I would’ve over the years to come, spending 20x the one stay’s room rate, if I were treated right. High net worth customers are worth treating right—because it’s about the long term multiple sales / LCV / lifetime customer value /referral business / big picture that needs to be protected and respected. Anyways thanks guys for not letting me down, it counts.

Thanks for the valuable information man, i am glad we have someone as transparent as you when it comes to these issues. I guess the people here served you well in order for you to be as open as you are and i am glad it is like that. Trust is everything in a business relationship, you could argue it is all about contracts and written/said agreements, but we live in different times now with the internet and Videohive.

Serve your clients like you would like to be served, make them happy or do the job well and it is the best form of marketing you can get i suppose.

Anyway, thanks again for your honest opinion !

Massfocus said
Thanks for the valuable information man, i am glad we have someone as transparent as you when it comes to these issues. I guess the people here served you well in order for you to be as open as you are and i am glad it is like that. Trust is everything in a business relationship, you could argue it is all about contracts and written/said agreements, but we live in different times now with the internet and Videohive.

Serve your clients like you would like to be served, make them happy or do the job well and it is the best form of marketing you can get i suppose.

Anyway, thanks again for your honest opinion !

Absolutely right! You want to build a personal relationship with your client and make sure they’re really satisfied so if they were to ever need anything, that wouldn’t mind coming back for a new project.

I think one of the large factors that make VideoHive (and other envato marketplaces) so successful is that it’s very personal here (but also quite professional). You can contact an author and MOST likely they’ll contact you back ASAP . The comments and forums are interactive and people treat you as a personal friend rather than a one time business client.

Totally agree with you guys, I’m not experienced as you guys are but still, have already learned some lessons in this sphere.
Thank you Ken for being honest with us, as you always do.

Aaahh. Professional Indemnity Insurance.

Thank you Ken …. if you would only hang around a bit more with the freaks at AJ We are the ones still living under bridges and seeing the TF and VH guys passing by in their Rolls Royces