Customer Concierge

I just finished spending a few days at the Goa Marriott in India; beautiful resort, great food and SPECTACULAR service. Following check-in we were escorted to our rooms by one of the concierge staff; they opened the doors, took pictures of our family and inquired about our preferences – what we liked to eat, drink, activities, etc.

The concierge distributed the information to their top tiers so each morning, we were part of a report circulated to their associates. The associates learn your name and preferences, so as you walk through the halls you’re acknowledged by name and surprised with things we liked. Apparently they save your information for future trips; so the new staff can be briefed prior to your next stay.

As email marketers, we can do so much more – by aligning preference page information with relevant, subsequent surveys and ongoing behaviors, we can stay current with consumers and ensure everyone in the organization is aware of the person and their preferences. Combining this electronically-gathered data with information from paper and phone surveys in a single database can go even further to make sure the customer is always welcome irrespective of the channel.

Only a few days of vacation left…

Show me the Money!

I opened an account with a major international financial institution five years ago; the convenience of the account was to provide me with money and financial services during my travels, I signed up for their email program and began to receive messages about how simple it was to transfer funds, endorsements from various international celebrities, announcements of new locations and promotions about their strength and convenience.

Coincidentally, two weeks before my trip to India I received an email with a special offer – No fees on money transfers above $1000, no need to visit any branch and instantaneous transfer of my funds. There was a little star on the side that said it could take up to three business days for my transfer to be complete. I made three separate transfers and as I arrived in Mumbai and logged into my account, I found no funds.

I walked over to a branch (two blocks away) to inquire; I was shuffled from person to person (a total of five) before being told by a private banker that she had no clue where my money was. I proceeded to show her my tracking numbers which were instantly emailed, she asked me to call the help desk. I tried to explain to her that she was the bank; she had access to systems and as the expert should be able to find my money. She insisted that I call the help desk and claimed that her bank didn’t put out any email promotions because of the fear of phishing.

My saga continued for six days and included conversations with their help desk (who acknowledged my transfers and kept telling me that my funds were on their way), multiple trips to the bank and countless people without seeing my money. I asked to speak to the manager and their CEO – but was told that their executive offices were shielded from direct customer contact.

Finally I lost my patience. Dressed in a suit, I was able to sneak into the office of their VP of Customer Service. A little annoyed at me having barged in, she was able to track my funds and handed me my money. I told her about my experience, here’s a recap of our conversation:

Q: Why did the transfers take longer than the three days?
A: Sometimes we run into issues.

Q: I had three separate transfers, why didn’t one of them come through earlier?
A: Like I said, sometimes we run into issues.

Q: Why didn’t your employees know about the email program?
A: I am not sure what you are talking about, I will look into it and get back to you.

Still frustrated, I left with my money and wondering how they could be such a disconnection between their outside appearance and the inside reality. This is just another example of how even the best marketing can be quickly lost with service issues. The emails talked of convenience and efficiency and were attempts to build a bond… unfortunately the reality was nowhere close.

How To

We focus a great deal on multi-channel marketing, adding value and aiding customer insight – today’s post features a single example that encapsulates all three principles.

Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, Equifax provides financial solutions for businesses and individuals. The individual consumer offering includes solutions to manage their personal credit information, protect their identity and maximize their financial well-being. Their offering is enhanced with seminars that focus on topics including How to Read an Equifax Credit Report and Online Security to guest lecturers and industry trends. The image included is an invitation to the Credit Report FAQ session – this gathering adds value, increases the consumer’s knowledge and creates a multi-channel environment. It also extends the value of a product previously purchased.

Maybe your products and services don’t warrant a special seminar series, but I’m certain that you have FAQs that could be packaged in a specialty communication – or better yet a Q&A that you could record as a podcast. Feature a company expert in a Q&A interview session, use colloquial phrasing and real-life examples to illustrate your top FAQs, the value added will be huge in the eyes of the customer.

Achieving Channel Nirvana

Those who know me, know I’m a bit of a shopaolic… even window shopping brightens my mood. As a card-carrying addict, I’ve run into a few situations where I’ve needed to return things; this past December I was looking for a New Year’s Eve outfit and ended up buying something online from a multi-channel company. Unfortunately, it looked nothing like what was portrayed online so I went to the store hoping to swap it out that day. Unfortunately I was turned away, saying that the top belonged to the website and couldn’t be exchanged in the store.

All companies have the challenge of connecting with consumers; turning someone away (as in this example) does more to hurt the relationship you’re attempting to build. The consumer, whether they are window shopping or purchasing doesn't care about the channel that they bought from – if the labels are the same, why does the channel matter?

Today’s consumer has seven possible channels – store/ branch, internet, call center, print/ catalog, kiosks/ ATMs and email which may include mobile devices – if not in tandem, these channels can leveraged by the consumer to secure the best deal. Allow your channels work in harmony, focus on the customer and close your loopholes – achieving Channel Nirvana isn’t an easy task, but it can be attained by thinking as a customer:
1) How would you like to be identified?
2) What information are you willing to offer, what do you expect in return?
3) What information do you need to be kept in the loop?

Focus on the customer, focus on the basics and your path to enlightenment will follow.

A Bird in Hand

I had recently had meetings with three organizations; the first was an online retailer that told me that they have very little repeat business despite their selection. Another merchant (catalog, web and B2B store presence) told me that half their hits on search come from existing customers. The third was a bank that gives away $50 to open new accounts, yet only one in 20 of the people opening these accounts actually establish more than one other relationship with the bank. These numbers are disappointing, but not atypical.

We spend so much money on acquiring new customers, but very little is done to take care of the existing – our focus should start from within, by nurturing existing relationships. Start with a thank you email that is personal; follow up with a call (even a voicemail will do). The goal is to establish a dialogue to thank the new customer and solicit feedback to improve your process.

After the initial email (and/ or discussion) put the customer on a recurring campaign to introduce them to your brand; highlight certain parts of your business and make sure that your dialogue is educational. Regularly solicit their feedback on your campaigns.

It might seem like too much work, but keep in mind that if you compare this with the cost of new customer acquisition – it is only a part of the overall cost.

To the first company, I suggest creating an email help desk to call customers, thank them and solicit direct feedback about their experience. Follow this up with two to three campaigns that inquire, educate and introduce recipients to other parts of the business.

To the second company, put the customer on a recurring stream of communiqués – part of your bonding program. Send them a sample, solicit their feedback and keep in touch.

Finally, to the bank, make the recipient tell you more about themselves in exchange for the $50. Then assign a rep to this newly acquired customer – make it their responsibility to stay in touch with them over the first four weeks. The goal should be to make them aware of the services your bank has and see if you can help the new account holder meet their personal goals.

A lot of Bank for my Bucks

I visited Mumbai on business two weeks ago – a dream come true as I spent a substantial part of my life in Mumbai. The city has changed quite a bit, growing to be an even bigger metropolis with a population of over 30 million people.

My last visit was four years ago, during that trip I deposited some money in a bank – a struggle as all of my questions received few answers and there was little interest. Last week, I deposited a fraction of what I did before, but this time it was very different. There was so much hustle to earn my business; I was fascinated by the approach the bankers used to get me to invest, starting with a warm introduction, offering samosas and tea and telling me about projected yield over the next ten years.

As I completed my transaction, the banker guided me to his manager’s office. The manager was very nice; he offered me more tea and thanking me for the money that I deposited. He told me about his branch and how they have grown and then explained additional financial options, telling me that my yield could be delivered to me in the US or anywhere else in the world.

Amazed, I asked him how his people were so “up” on the offers. He showed me their weekly memo; it summarizes rates, their current and long-term goals and which products and services should be pushed. They listed approaches, tips to overcome objections, follow-ups and role playing exercises. There was even a test, which had to be passed before the representative could speak to customers.

Reading this, you may think I plucked down a lot of money – but don’t be fooled, it was just enough to cover us during our upcoming vacation to Mumbai. Yet the service I received and the associated up-sell was incredible.

This model is how many WISH their organizations operate – you want your front-line to know about the outgoing offers (email, printed etc.), the associated up-sells and next steps. Many marketers focus on the outside before they look inward, the most successful email programs I’ve encountered are those where the organization first focuses on communicating with their employees, who then take the information to their family and friends and finally customers.

Double-Secret Privacy Policy

Yesterday's post talked about the content in your privacy policy and the need to keep it up to date; today's post focuses on the internalization of your objectives regarding email (and eCommerce) with your team and recipients.

I am the recipient of many privacy policies, from credit card companies, financial institutions, our travel company and even a few retailers. They’re all intimidating reads, long and obnoxious… but a nice way to torture your son, I recently asked him to read three sections from one and rewrite it. I told him if he wanted to be successful at the SAT that is what was required.

The challenge here is that these policies have all been written to protect the sending company, they’re intentionally hard decipher. Just when I thought all was lost, I received this email – look at the ease with which it’s written. This style is reflective of a dialogue… do this and not that. It’s a nice change of pace for those of us who receive tons of these policies and it helps build loyalty to the company.

If you’re not ready for this style, at least train your CSRs to put it into plan English – they’re the front line of your brand, your experts… make them look as such.

Wasted Time & Paper

I recently got a new phone… selling out to the smart phone, it’s wonderful as I now have less of a reason to feel anxious about missed emails during my travels. It was a long overdue decision that I didn’t regret until I received my first bill for service – $210!

My first assumption was that it covered more than one month, my second was that perhaps I ran over my plan – I receive hundreds of emails each day (seed lists). I kept breaking the bill down, $80 for phone service, $30 for data and a little tax and fees. In my mind the bill should have totaled about $120, I tried reading my bill backwards and forwards – I finally gave up and called Customer Service. The first two attempts resulted in hold times of more than 20 minutes; the third was apparently after their business service department closed. So during the fourth attempt my CSR walked through the numbers with me:

$100 phone
$36 data plan
$20 credit (for the phone)
$6 credit (for the data plan)
$36 unlimited data plan
$47 adjustments and credits
------
$193 (plus taxes and fees = $210)

I kept asking her to explain the $36 and the $47 charges and all she said was “$36 for unlimited data plan and $47 in adjustments and credits.” We went through this cycle about five times and she kept apologizing that her billing system was slow and even used her personal calculator to help add my numbers. To assist me in understanding she faxed me a copy of my bill (I was already holding the original). I was so frustrated – it didn't add up, it didn't make sense and I was left with no options.

A lot of the companies have billing systems that are cumbersome – designed to produce charges and credits in an attempt to make the consumer feel like they are getting a great deal. These systems produce bills that don’t make sense, that confuse their employees as much as the recipient and require additional paper to print.

Contrast this with the service and billing for my digital phone company – I once called them asking how to connect more than one phone to their line, they were helpful and even emailed me a little schematic that guided me through the process. I receive a monthly electronic bill from them; it has three numbers – the amount, the tax and the total. I receive a survey from them after every three months asking about the service, I also receive automatic surveys from them after any phone call with their CSRs.

My cell phone company sends out an email that is totally disconnected from my paper bill and my conversation last week is certainly proof that their people are even less empowered. So much of this can be done online and be so much easier.

Think about which camp your company falls into… are you making it harder than you have to?

Five Dishes You Have to Try!

One of the best Chinese Restaurants we have had the opportunity to visit is in Burlington, VT, A Single Pebble is phenomenal. Their master chef, Steve Bogart, inspired by his travels to China and an absolute quest to perfection – has created delicacies like Mock Eel, Spicy Cucumber, Sweet & Pungent Walnuts, Buddha Beef and Ants Climbing a Tree… dishes you may not normally consider. People who work with us know how much we love this place, it has become our ultimate foodie destination that is complemented by their partners and chefs – Steve Bogart and Chiuho Duval.

During one of our return meals to this place, Chiuho recognized us – asked us about our previous meal and started making recommendations. Her style was great, simply saying “You liked this dish the last time, well why don't you try this?” Each time we go there, we know what we want and the owner is always there to guide us. Her staff is equally has helpful, in the event she’s out or helping others.

This approach could also apply to your campaigns; as part of your thank you for purchasing a product email, tell the buyer about your company. Tell them about the best five products/ services. Invite them to a landing page where they can see other customer’s reviews, keep it simple – "Hey Customer, you purchased this product, thank you very much. I want you to take a peek at our other really good offerings." This type of personal guidance beats personalization.

The call centers could do the same, engage CSRs in a follow up call to inquire about the purchase made and make a custom offer to the prospect. To those without a call center, send a personal piece via direct mail thanking them and directing them to a special link listing other products that they should consider. The same could work via email – as long as you keep everything completely personalized.

Seatbelts should be Low and Tight

Most of you know how much we travel; all too often we see attendants just going trough the motions for their pre-flight speech. Granted, it has to be pretty monotonous to repeat the same spiel over and over for uncounted flights a day… which is why you notice when someone adds their own spin.

I was on a flight yesterday to St. Louis and the captain came over the PA to give the traditional stats, acknowledged that we were about twenty minutes late on the departure and then said that he was going to try to make up that time by “… flyin’ the plane like he stole it.” Completely out of the norm and in the same faceless pilot dead-pan tone, everyone cracked up and likely forgot about the gate delay, as I did.

Maybe the exact situation doesn’t apply for your business, but take his lead and make your interactions personable. Use plain English when describing products and services, be clever but not at the price of your message. This approach will go farther with building relationships with your customers; it may even inspire retelling to others…

Take the Money!

Do companies make it too difficult to do business with customers? Everyone has a horror story about the rude cashier or being transferred seven times before speaking to the one CSR that could help; our recent theme of loyalty has gotten me thinking about the need to secure the customer experience.

A friend of mine recently attempted to purchase a lawn mower – that’s right, he went to a major lawn and garden superstore, picked out the one he wanted and then to save 20% attempted to open a store credit card. Unfortunately, the sales rep left him with a cashier who didn’t really care, the cashier asked him to fill out a card then asked him to verify each line… finally she asked what limit he wanted on the card. He didn’t know the options so she chose for him and selected the contractor’s limit ($25K) which requires additional approvals and doesn’t allow the purchaser to take their merchandise the same day… for lawn mower! Needless to say he left the store and bought the exact same model from their competitor.

Personally, I’ve had a couple interesting encounters of late; I went through a drive-thru for breakfast, ordered by the number and was then asked what that number included – according to the lady the numbers on the board don’t match the numbers on their register, which may explain the usual bagel mix-up. I called my cell company yesterday, every few minutes while on hold the recording said “We value your business” then some music would play and then there would be a couple seconds of silence (when you think someone would answer) but the music would start again…

The point of these stories is that we should remember the customer touch points – call your Customer Service line, listen to the hold music and gauge the average wait time, make sure the numbers match and if offering a loyalty or store credit card, make sure the cashier is just as interested as the sales reps who thought they closed the deal.

Creating a Loyalty Program

Friday’s Service In Action call focused on bringing the customer back and the ability to keep customers engaged. Our guests have done an outstanding job creating loyalty programs; Steve and Phil, many thanks to you both.

Maybe your business is ready for a loyalty marketing program – here’s a checklist to start things off, even if you don't have a big budget:

1) Survey – Ask them what is important, what they like and dislike; ask them what you can do to improve things and what will make them come back. Ask them how they would like to be rewarded. Use this online survey to convey the importance of the channel and set the precedent of how you’ll be communicating with them.

2) Reward them with Points – If they complete a transaction, verify information, send feedback or make a purchase, give them some recognition. These points add up and result in a snowball effect, making your customers pay more attention.

3) Send Updates – Include their points balance and remind them of the point hierarchy… you're only X points away from the next level. Keep thanking them for the business – on your website, via email, through your call center or in-store representatives.

4) Help them with Redemption – Whether it’s a percentage off, merchandise or upgrades make the process easy, make the customer feel their points are worth something.

5) Give the Intangibles – Have a special line for loyal/ elite customers, send thank you cards from the owner... mix it up across channels, this shows the customer that they are part of the family.

Loyalty marketing is true one-to-one interaction – you know everything about the customer, which are arguably easier than attracting new prospects through mass media advertising.

Remember, Friday’s call is available as a podcast and the next call is April 25.

Visit, Purchase, Repeat

We pay so much attention to converting a prospect into a customer – contests, discounts, specials, free shipping etc. all in the hopes of having a new person walk through the door. Following conversion, there is often a disproportionate shift in retaining the customer. Think of the number of one-time buyers you have; maybe these ideas could help increase their likelihood of re-purchase:

1) A simple thank you email goes a long way; thank the customer and ask them to come back.
2) A survey with and without an incentive, asking the customer about the transaction (and addressing any issues) does well in keeping your brand top of mind.
3) Send a reminder X days/ weeks after the purchase, reminding the customer of their experience and inviting them to revisit.
4) If you are selling financial services – it’s important to explain the benefits of the purchase/ investment made; give the account holder the opportunity to invest again.
5) Mix channels – send a postcard or call them to take measure of the purchase.
6) Solicit their feedback and leverage on a testimonial page.
7) Insert a copy of the email that made inspired their purchase, include your contact information and encourage the recipient to contact you with any suggestions.
8) Give a super deal on their third (fourth or fifth) transaction.

We’re Loyal
As many of you already know, we travel a lot – presenting best practices and meeting great email marketers across the globe. We try to be loyal to certain hotels, restaurants (going back to the same place), airlines and car companies. We do this for two main reasons – the first is the assurance that we will be treated better for our loyalty, the other are the points (to travel more.) These intangible and tangible benefits help people pay attention and insure active, future involvement.

Our next Service In Action call (this Friday at 2:00 EST) focuses on getting customers to repeat their purchase behavior; we’ve invited some experts to share their thoughts with us – these ideas will truly help us derive some great ideas to apply to our own environments.

Identity Crisis!

Two weeks ago I was flying from Los Angeles to San Francisco, assigned to seat 7C. When I reached my seat, there was another person sitting there – no big deal I thought, until I saw her ticket, it had my name on it! This female passenger didn’t speak English, she checked in with the ticketing agent using her passport, she checked in a bag under my name and to top it all off – she walked through security without any problems.

My airline is not alone, last year Sharmila got her monthly statement from her favorite airline – it had beautiful offers and her point balance. Two problems, she was thanked for making a trip to Jacksonville (which she never made) and the point balance was associated with another person’s account.

John, another member of our team, closed an account at a bank in Memphis two years ago. He gets an email from his old bank every month with a link to online banking. He obviously can't log in, so he calls the bank, is always put on hold and after about 15 minutes of investigation and is promised that he will be removed from their email list.

Reagan purchased a pair of strappy sandals to wear in a friend’s wedding two years ago from an online shoe store, it’s the only purchase she’s made from them but she’s the lucky recipient of a weekly email offering her men's shoes. Not to be outdone, her favorite coffee company makes “back to school” offers to her, for her college bound children – for those of you who don't know Reagan, she has no children.

My daughter Shivani was subscribed to a children's magazine, the subscription ran out but we kept getting emails. Soon we got a survey, with a thank you piece offering a high point value credit card. This email offer led to an unsubscribe; the unsubscribe put her onto a direct mail list. The direct mail list has resulted in more than five different companies offering her a credit card – she’ll turn 12 in September.

As eMarketers we have the opportunity to sizzle with personalization, yet we see so many bad examples of how it can go bad. A simple suggestion to remedy this is to ask for information and then track the recipient’s activity and preferences. A personalized email can make a very powerful statement, but when it goes bad you loose all credibility with your customer along with the faith of the CSRs who take the complaints.

Until then, I’m still waiting for the airline to explain to me how they let someone else into my seat.

My New Car

Silo marketing is still alive and well, despite that it’s 2008. While it can be effective, the greatest challenge of separate silos is that of timing.

I remember receiving a huge, glossy direct mail piece – my estimated cost would have put it at over $8 to print and mail, it was very nice but I got it three weeks after I purchased my new vehicle from another manufacturer. As I dug around, I learned that I was targeted because I had gone to that company’s website. They leveraged the internet to capture me but the execution was tardy and not really related. I got an email from them two days after the direct mail piece and a phone call a week after that to inquire about what I thought. They did leverage the online form I filled out, why couldn't they call or email me first – I had indicated that I would purchase in the next month.

In this instance an email would have been a great, cost-effective way to speed up the communication process – the company obviously doesn’t have a problem with internalizing the channel, they used an email to follow-up on that expensive print piece. I obviously value email, and would imagine it would be easy to convince other customers/ prospects the importance of the channel.

My suggestion to this company would be to use email to coax prospects, to learn more and then do a quick combo of communiqués. Make the email data available to your other channels easily so they know how to talk to your prospect – customize a message on a kiosk/ ATM based on the interaction, you can also do the same for the call center and even print. So today’s assignment is to consider how your company is interfacing with customers/ prospects – are your mediums working together?

Perfecting Service… Maybe

Reagan and I are members of a hotel chain’s loyalty program; we receive a number of different communiqués from them – both print and email. The print communiqués are a little passé but their email is spectacular. For instance, if you sign up to reserve a hotel room, they target you with a confirmation email including weather information, hotel directions and confirmation of any special requests. From what we have seen, the property also receives a similar communiqué alerting the hotel. A couple of days before our trip – we receive a reminder email and then after the stay we receive our bill via email. This last email solicits our opinion of the property and any suggestions; life is good or so it seems…

A little background on our relationship with this chain; I am a Level I, having achieved more than 70 nights. Reagan just missed the top level by 10 nights, and is a Level II (even though she achieved this status in less than seven months).

For the sake of convenience I have been making the last few reservations. We recently checked into an Atlanta property – two reservations under my name. During check in they singled me out as the Level I, thanked me and gave me a room on the Concierge Floor (15th), Reagan was banished to the 3rd floor. What were these guys thinking? Is this basic training where you have to put in your sweat and tears before you reach the top level?

Of course, I called their corporate office and spoke to customer service. Every call to them has been very interesting – they send you great follow-up emails, all automated and soliciting your opinions. Unfortunately, no one pays attention to these responses or simply don't care. While they expect you to read their communiqués, are they supposed to ignore yours?

A good lesson for email marketers; take your program and make sure you train the touch points. Are they truly paying attention to your program, and more importantly are they even connecting with your best customers. Anonymity in the real world is only going to hurt your online world. Take a page from Paul Fredrick Menstyle – they actually care about every note sent back, they copy a whole group of people on the feedback received so they can ensure closure on all inbound communiqués. Good work guys, I’m wearing a Paul Fredrick suit today!

Will the real Betty Crocker please stand up?

Most everyone knows Betty Crocker, either from a cake mix or cook book… but did you know that she’s not a real person? She was cooked up by the fine folks at General Mills in the 1920s to respond to baking inquires they were receiving. She since been used to serve as the human touch, baking expert and face for the division.

I bring this up because a similar approach may work for anyone with a customer facing presence – the lead in your call center, you product expert or blogger-extraordinaire. The approach of creating a persona can help you build rapport with customers, prospects and friends.

Take a page from the Betty Crocker marketing book; give your persona a female name, research shows that the female name lends credibility and puts readers at ease. Hopefully your Betty will gain as much popularity and have her own “make-overs” to keep with the times.

PS – Thanks to Shivani for inspiring today’s post.

The Tax-Free Sale

States have Back to School sales on certain items – these tax-free sales are very popular as people. Families put together lists of items they need and wait for the day; they visit the store during the sale and all are happy – the customer and the retailers. Retailers are happy because in addition to the merchandise on sale, they are also able to move full price items, plus even some taxable items. Because of the amount of ‘money’ they have saved in taxes – the buyers are happy to purchase the additional items.

Unfortunately, this tax-free sale concept has been totally abused, and is being used as an ultimate weapon to close new deals. I have been offered tax-free incentives to purchase furniture, a car, a vacation and even clothing. The retailer is simply paying for the taxes themselves diluting the true magic these words originally had.

My daughter, who is 11, kept rolling her eyes every time a salesperson told us about their Tax-Free offer. She got me thinking about this and was the motivation for this post (Thanks Shivani!)

Many times as marketers we try to reuse something that works well, running the risk of trivializing the offer. Anticipation or creating a genuine sense of expectation is much more effective in helping create superb offers. Get your openers, clickers and buyers to yearn for that special offer is a great way to personalize and create that special sale. Here are three examples that stand out in the year ahead:

First Look: 70–90% OFF
A major retailer segmented its list into buyers and non-buyers. Non-buyers were further segmented into clickers, openers and non-openers. These people were targeted with the email being trickled over a few hours – buyers got it first, non-openers last. Each group was asked to update their preferences; all responders were told to look for the next season clearance event and learned that the more attention they paid to the emails the earlier their notifications.

The Employee Discount
An apparel retailer offered employee discounts to some of their best customers as a thank you for their purchases over the year (2006.) Additionally each CSR was given ONE coupon to share with ONE customer. Come 2007, these buyers were aware of this closed door special sale and looked forward to this event. In 2007, each buyer was also given ONE coupon to share with their friends/ family. It was very effective, for not only did it create revenue but it created a special bond with the receivers of the offer over the entire year. This segment of customers had a much higher attention rate.

The 10% CD!
When interest rates were less than 5%, a financial institution offered a 10% CD – only 500 were available. It was a phenomenal event, more than a quarter of their list inquired about the CD, filled out preferences and more than 500 CDs were given away in less than 45 minutes! Oh, and talk about paying attention – the email-only offer was launched at 8.00 am EST.

The lesson from today’s post is that we shouldn’t ride the Tax-Free sale offer or the same offer to extinction. Another key learning is that the best thing to do is to remind people about an event and start a build-up leading up to the special event.

Hope your 2007 was great, best wishes for 2008.

Talk to Me

Wonder what your customers and prospects are thinking? There are research firms out there that will charge you thousands of dollars to research this for you – but there is also a free way to gather the same information. Add a feedback link to your emails, ask recipients three questions:
1) Rank your product (one to five)
2) Rank your service (one to five)
3) Give feedback (open ended response)

Then all you have to do is compile the responses, over time you’ll gather valuable feedback without that research firm. You’ll also engage your recipients and further the relationship.

Thought leaders in this category include Coastal Federal Credit Union; their eNewsletters ask financial related questions that may not exactly apply to their offerings. For instance, one of their questions was:

How much does the average family of four spend on beverages when dining out, in the average year?

The goal here was to not only engage but to also make the recipient aware of how their dollars were spent – the clever packaging gives CFCU an advantage and keeps their readers engaged.

The Personal Touch: What NOT to Do

During this time of the year, several companies are sending their customers a personalized greeting, thanking them for their business and looking forward to a continued relationship with them in 2008. This is absolutely something you should do.

However, here are two blunders I've seen companies make over the past week regarding these holiday messages. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Don't Use Signatures in Email - I received an email today from the CEO of a Hotel chain that I frequent. The letter was very nice, but their blunder was including the an image of the CEO's signature in the email. Today, many Phishers are picking up these signature images and using them in their fraudulent emails to add an air of legitimacy. Don't make the the job of these phishers any easier by giving them these images to dupe your customers with.

Target the Customer by Preferred Channel - Last week, a company that provides me a monthly service sent me a direct mail letter, again thanking me for my business, and also including a coupon for a free service from them to redeem when I mail in my next payment.

The only problem is I don't mail in my payments; I pay my bill online. I have for several years now. Even worse, there was no way to redeem the coupon online. To date, I have not received an email with this same offer, so it's safe to assume I won't be using this coupon because the company did not target me with my preferred channel.

If you're a retailer with a catalog and email buyers, target these buyers based on their preferred channel. Of course, you want to convert catalog buyers to become online or email buyers, but don't force them if they don't want to go. Instead, continue to speak to them in their preferred channel, while gently nudging them to try your online channels as well.