An increasing number of consumers are becoming bewitched with ghosts and goblins which is leading to greater spending. According to a new survey from the National Retail Federation and BIGresearch, consumers are spending much more on Halloween than they used to just five years ago.
The National Retail Federation’s 2007 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey revealed that Americans now spend $5 billion on the holiday--up 58 percent since 2002.
Who in their right mind would want to be an airline right now? That's my initial thought when I read about some of the new players entering the airspace race. But while some see the situation as terrible, others see opportunity.
In my post yesterday on the CIM Forum blog I talked about my tribulations on a Halloween costume website. I needed information on what seemed to be erroneous sizing and didn’t want to call the contact center. What I wanted—and what the site lacked—was chat.
Continue reading "Is Cross-Channel Service Ready for Prime Time?" »
The New England Patriots are an undefeated 7-0 on the field and 1-0 so far off the field. The team sued online ticket seller StubHub.com last year, alleging that StubHub encouraged fans to sell tickets on the site at inflated prices, which is against team policy. StubHub lost the case and complied with a judge’s order to turn over information on more than 13,000 users who bought or sold Patriots’ home game tickets. Illegality aside, both the Patriots and StubHub have huge customer bases, and this battle could have adverse effects on loyalty for both parties involved.
Continue reading "StubHub (and the average fan) Defeated in Court" »
One panacea of CRM -- both the strategy and the technology -- is said to be the single view of the customer (though many companies are still working on achieving it...). No longer is there J Smith and Jon Smith and Jonathan Smith. They’re all one person, and you know all about the business he does with your company. The question I’ve come upon recently is, should you?
Renee Evenson is on a mission. A customer-service mission, that is.
Evenson has worked in the customer service management field for three decades, and has published several books on the subject. Her latest, Award-Winning Customer Service: 101 Ways to Guarantee Great Performance (AMACOM Books), closely examines why customers might take their business elsewhere – often without even complaining – and offers up some timely and sometimes eye-opening solutions.
Continue reading "Writing the Book(s) on Customer Service" »
Each September, Electronic Arts releases the latest video game in its Madden Football series. And a large majority of customers pay $59.95 for the new one every time. These gamers are dedicated to the game and loyal to the franchise. Why? Because they know that EA has taken the time to understand what a gamer wants in a video game. For the company, it's not technology first or cost first. The vision is simply, "customers first."
Earlier this week at The Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) annual conference, the association announced its new Commitment to Consumer Choice (CCC) guidelines on using mail to communicate with consumers. This initiative is part of DMA’s efforts to get marketers to self-regulate, so government agencies won’t step in and create laws that could hinder marketing effectiveness.
A few months ago I was in an editorial meeting and tried to pitch some new ideas for our 1to1 Media website. I suggested things like an updated blog, added user feedback features, wikis; essentially Web 2.0 technology. At the time, most of what I came up with was dismissed because I couldn’t answer the question “Why should we implement those, other than because everyone else is experimenting with them?”
About a month later I was in another meeting, when we were discussing how to keep track of reader feedback in an organized way. The eventual solution was to use a white board that everyone could write notes on and keep a record of the insight we learned from talking to our customers. I came out of that meeting thinking, “Isn’t a white board that everyone can write on and read at any time the same thing as a wiki?” That’s when it hit me: don’t pitch this new technology for all the cool features and new things we can do, focus on how it can make what we already do more efficient.
If you want to create a great customer experience, you have to know how to manage people’s energy. So says best-selling author and leadership guru Ken Blanchard.
During his keynote presentation at the recent NACCM event, Blanchard discussed four elements integral to customer and employee engagement: setting the right target, treating customers right, treating employees right, and having the right leadership.
Continue reading "Leadership and the Customer Experience " »
A European colleague has asked me whether it isn’t possible to drive customers away by simply asking them to complete a survey about customer satisfaction. That is, can the act of soliciting for a survey actually be a turn-off for customers all by itself?
Continue reading "Can Surveying Customers Drive Them Away?" »
Pity the poor TV networks.
An article in yesterday’s TV trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable notes that the increasing probability of a strike next month by the Writers Guild of America against the major TV and film studios means that the networks will probably stick longer with series that otherwise would have been canceled by now.
The article quotes Fox head of program planning and research Preston Beckman saying, “If I cancel a show now and put something in its place, I have eight unaired episodes of that show. We would rather stick with what we have and have [a potential replacement show] to hold on to for a strike. Otherwise, if there is a strike, I net out with eight fewer original hours.”
Good news indeed for the 12 people watching the likes of Cane, K-Ville, and Big Shots, but for those of us who aren’t interested in the high-stakes world of rum production, a buddy cop show set in New Orleans, or an attempt to clone Desperate Housewives with guys, we’re still stuck on the couch flipping through channels, running across Jimmy Smits glowering with a cigar, and saying, “Wait – that’s still on?”
So, forget the networks: Pity the poor viewer.
According to a recent Nielsen Internet survey, 78 percent of consumers say they trust other consumer’s recommendation over all advertising/marketing avenues. Marketers these days seem to be chomping at the bit to encourage word of mouth and viral marketing. But do they work? So far, the answer is disappointing.
Continue reading "A Cure for the Common Viral Marketing Program" »
Picture this: You enter a retail store and find a pair of pants perfect for those business casual days in the office. They’re an interesting color; like tan but not quite. Maybe beige or taupe or perhaps sand? So the challenge now is to find a shirt to match. No worries; you hold up the pants to the mirror on the display floor and not only does it give you the low-down on the trousers—fabric, size, designer, etc.—but it also suggests the perfect shirt and shoes to match. It doesn’t stop there. No… It asks whether you would like an associate to bring you the other items and in what size.
Sound like a far off future fantasy? Or perhaps a bit like the fairy tale mirror in Snow White?
Every year, usually just before the Super Bowl, without fail you can turn on your television and see a countdown of the “world’s [insert superlative here] commercials.” I have no doubt every one of the Sony Bravia commercials made in the last two years would make the list of the most eye-catching, creative, and expensive. But in the end they’re advertisements, not pieces of art, because last time I checked Sony was a for-profit company. The spots grab viewers’ attention, but they’re all missing one very key element.
Social networking is clearly on the minds of marketers these days, as an increasing number of vendors are launching solutions that offer brands the ability to send targeted advertising to sites. The niche audiences on social networking sites offer a wealth of potential for brand marketers. And vendors are looking to leverage that opportunity.
Last week I spoke with two vendors—FAST and Inkriti—which both offer the ability to collect and analyze customer data from social media to either enhance products and services or create and send targeted advertising to the audiences on those sites.
Vinod Pabba, CEO of Inkriti, told me that a company which manufactures baseball caps in China, recently started aggregating social media to collect feedback on its merchandise. Because of that, the company was able to correct a sizing mistake on thousands of caps. Pabba explained: “Aggregating social media in real time helps to find problems in areas where you don’t even think you have problems. It doesn’t take away the need for service, it just complements it.”
On November 6, Loop’d Network, a social media platform for online sports communities, will debut. The company will help businesses match their brands to their target demographic through viral marketing thus “blending” brands into the online sporting social community experience. Monster Energy is a customer.
“Bad customer service is like the weather. Everybody talks about it, but nobody does anything about it.”
So Mark Twain never said. (Then again, he had to issue a denial that he was dead. The lesson, as always: Keep moving.) But my blog post of last week, detailing the waking nightmare of dealing with incompetent and/or apathetic customer service at a couple of drugstore chains, resulted in a great many online and offline comments, many revolving around similar horror stories.
This summer our office decided not to have a company picnic. Instead, we all volunteered at a local community center to prepare it for the upcoming after-school program. I spent the day sweeping floors, painting walls, and cleaning bathrooms. I also spent some great quality time with my co-workers and ended the day feeling good about the work I'd done and the company I work for. A socially conscious workplace helps employees feel good, and it can also show customers that the company has integrity.
Earlier this week I attended NACCM in Orlando. I hosted a dinner for several of our 1to1 Customer Champions, who had joined me at the conference to participate on a panel about how creating customer engagement positively impacts the bottom line. How ironic.
Earlier this year I wrote a story in the Best Practices section 1to1 Magazine about how iRobot’s (the company that manufactures the robots, which perform tasks from vacuuming to scrubbing kitchen floors to performing reconnaissance for the military in Iraq) contact center agents were “living the brand” by learning about how Roombas work and connecting with the customers who called with problems. A group of researchers at Georgia Tech studied the Roomba phenomenon and came up with a few more reasons iRobot is successful and why customers are so happy with the product.
Americans love getting a deal, and the renowned U.K. band Radiohead has taken unconventional steps to give them what they want.
When the album In Rainbows is released on October 10, fans will be able to pay as little or as much for digitally downloading the album, telling fans “It’s up to you” what to pay.
Radiohead can benefit from this tactic in two ways: The customers who pay nothing but will register their information will become targets of future Radiohead concert promotions and marketing campaigns. In addition, giving away free items creates demand. Take Prince, who in July, gave away his album 3121 in the U.K. and sold out all 21 tour dates in London as a result.
Continue reading "From Albums to Burgers: Freebies Create a Buzz" »
Does poor customer service drive you crazy?
Yes, of course it does, why wouldn’t it? But what about customer service with an attitude?
That’s been the issue for me and my family for a couple of years now, at least when it comes to getting prescriptions filled at our local CVS drugstore. When our son began attending daycare a couple of years ago, you can imagine how many trips we had to make to deal with the various viruses and sundry sniffles that were being brought home along with his artwork.
The CVS seemed to be in chaos no matter what time my wife or I showed up there; misplaced orders and, once, a wrong refill seemed to be the norm, and the general air of frantic turmoil behind the counter didn’t exactly inspire customer confidence.
(For those of you unaware, CVS stands for “Consumer Value Stores,” though the company’s CEO, Tom Ryan, said in a 2006 interview that he prefers “Convenience, Value, and Service.” A rose by any other name…)
The role of CEO is evolving. What used to be a numbers-driven, locked in the corner office job now requires many hats -- brand steward, Wall Street maven, publicist, and customer advocate. While in the past the last one was usually the one pushed off to the lower ranks, there's a sense that customers are working their way into the boardroom agenda.
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