Multichannel Magic

The actions your company takes to resolve issues are much more important than the words you say. Ideally, solving a customer’s problem is a three-step activity. First, you tell them what you’re going to do. Second, you do it. Third, you follow up to ensure they are satisfied. It’s really that simple if processes and procedures don’t get in the way. And that’s the main problem.

Companies have processes and procedures that are designed to provide consistent service in an efficient manner. When they work well, customers and the company reap benefits. If they fail, everyone loses. Failure is usually caused when the people charged with implementation don’t understand what they need to do or don’t have the authority to do it.

Having a no service policy is better than making a promise and not delivering.

People expect what you tell them to expect. If you have a no service policy, your customers don’t expect service. If you promise the best service, your customers expect white glove treatment. Managing expectations is the first step to delivering quality service and customer satisfaction.

Keeping customers happy is not as difficult as some companies make it. The fear of massive expenses and fraudulent activity drive management to make stringent policies that hurt satisfaction without delivering many benefits. Designing policies to benefit customers and addressing fraudulent activity on a case-by-case basis is a better practice.

In general, people do not want or expect exceptional service. They want their problems resolved in a timely manner at minimal cost. If you do that, even if your communication isn’t very good before or after, your customers will be happy. Telling them what you’re going to do before you do it and following up after it’s done is icing on the cake. Here are some tips for creating a high satisfaction environment:

Perform an effort audit. How many times do customers have to contact your company to resolve an issue? Do you provide online options for resolving issues? How long does it take from first notification to final resolution? How much time do customers have to invest when they have a problem? Answering these questions and more will help you identify needless effort areas so you cannot eliminate them.

Provide online self-service options. Your customers don’t want a relationship. They want products and service that makes their lives easier. Providing opportunities for them to resolve their issues improves satisfaction and reduces costs. It is an effective and inexpensive win-win solution.

Make contacting the right department easy. Making it hard to get in touch with someone who can resolve an issue doesn’t reduce costs. It increases frustration. Placing contact information on every webpage and outgoing direct mail piece increases trust without increasing calls or emails. Your customers are busy people. They do not want to contact you unless they have a problem.

Don’t make promises you cannot keep. If your infrastructure isn’t designed to resolve problems quickly and effectively, fix it before making top-quality claims. Loyal customers will see your efforts as a commitment to keeping their business. Lost customers can be wooed back once the changes are complete.

If you cannot keep your promises, apologize and explain. Things happen. Most people understand that and accept reasonable explanations when accompanied by a profuse apology. The most powerful words in customer service are, “what do you want us to do?” In most cases, the requested resolution is less than you would’ve offered.

For a review of your customer service, email Debra at dellis@wilsonellisconsulting.com.

Social media participation is a necessary part of an integrated marketing mix. Customers and prospects look for reviews and online activity before making purchase decisions. Joining the right networks can expand marketing reach and introduce your brand to new people. Social network site loyalty often follows when an active social hub generates leads and revenue. Becoming loyal to a platform is risky business because things change.

Only a few years ago, MySpace was the top social site in activity and revenue. Facebook came along and left MySpace playing catch up. Shortly after Google+ launched, I commented online that it would contribute to Facebook losing relevancy within five years. Most of the responses I received included the word “crazy” in less than flattering messages. Now, less than three years later, Facebook activity is declining.

Facebook was originally designed for young users. The appeal to that target market is gone. Teen interest in Facebook is waning. This is an immediate issue for brands that serve the teen market. It is a pending issue for brands that serve their parents. If the parents joined Facebook because of their teens’ activity, they will follow their children to other sites.

Does the shift in teen activity mean that Facebook is dying?

It is unlikely that Facebook will die. When you have over a billion users, activity will continue for some time. Social media is evolving as a marketing channel. Platforms expand and shrink depending on user demand and preference. Successful participation in the social channel requires the willingness to shift platform participation as customers and prospects move. Blind loyalty to social networks is suicidal.

Identifying the best place to spend your marketing dollars is extremely challenging. Your brand needs to participate in the same networks as your target market. The sites zealously guard their user data. The information they share is not validated so you have no way to confirm accuracy. You have to find a way to measure the effectiveness of your social marketing without depending on external information. Here are a few tips to get you started:

Establish internal benchmarks to provide a comparison for measuring results. Sometimes it’s simply impossible to capture detailed analysis from third-party networks. A good benchmarking program provides reference points so you can measure the unknown.

Create URLs with custom campaign parameters to improve tracking. This helps you see if the links you share contribute to your revenue. People will come from multiple sources before making the purchase decision. Attributing sales to the right channels and networks helps define where future resources should be allocated.

Capture email addresses on social networks to move people from third-party applications to your in-house database. The only data you can truly control is that which belongs to your company. Moving people from external online activity to in-house participation improves measurability.

Monitor prospects and customers acquired via social networks for activity and lifetime value. Prospects acquired via contests tend to be low value because people will enter to win things they would never buy. Monitoring activity and lifetime value allows you to see if you are acquiring platinum or hit-and-run customers.

Review every social networks revenue contribution quarterly to determine future activity. Things change quickly in digital marketing. Reviewing quarterly allows you to see trends before you have over invested in a shrinking social network site. You may find shrinking revenue from a site that’s in a growth mode. This is most likely due to changes in the sites algorithm that reduce the visibility of your posts.

For more information on how to choose the right social networks for your business, email Debra at dellis@wilsonellisconsulting.com.

Corporate missteps provide fodder for reporters and bloggers. There is something in human nature that makes it impossible to look away from a self-inflicted company train wreck. Some leaders, like Kenneth Cole, purposely create controversy to increase brand exposure and sales. It’s a viable marketing strategy that works for his company and customers.

The most recent viral misstep comes from Lululemon’s founder, Chip Wilson. Responding to complaints about fabric pilling, Wilson said, “Frankly, some women’s bodies just don’t actually work. It’s more really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there over a period of time, how much they use it.” His words launched a flurry of anti-Lululemon online comments. He answered the commentary with an apology to his employees providing more fodder to the content hungry community.

Watching a company founder seemingly self-destruct is entertaining, but is it bad business?

Good Morning America reported the story with follow-up comments by the hosts. The commentary by Josh Elliott inspired this post. He said, “You know, this has got to be bad business. You would think. You can’t sell to part of the population. After 2005, the fact they’ve been in business this long, is no small miracle, I would argue.”

Is Lululemon’s business success due to a miracle or a well-planned marketing strategy? Frankly, selling yoga pants at a $100 a pop requires targeting a specific part of the population. Planning on everyone buying any product is a business model changer. Products marketed to everyone are generic commodities that compete on price points. The best business models clearly target and cater to a specific group.

The guys at Duck Dynasty understand this. Everything they do is designed to speak directly to their target group. Their marketing strategy is an excellent example of creating a community and providing content that keeps community engaged and waiting for more. They don’t have to send emails begging that people move their messages out of the Gmail promotions tab because they have created a strong connection with their subscribers. Their audience searches for the content and supports the company.

Lululemon has suffered some setbacks this past year. Product quality issues caused the company to pull almost 17% of its black Luon pants from the market. Poor quality derails companies. When people stop trusting the quality of the brand, they stop buying. High end product companies fail faster than their lower priced counterparts do because people expect more from them. The real Lululemon story is “how will the quality issues effect long-term loyalty?” Whether or not the apology was good is just entertainment.

For information on how to better target your market, email Debra at dellis@wilsonellisconsulting.com.

“…the report of my death is an exaggeration.” – Mark Twain

Direct mail could borrow a page from Mark Twain’s biography. In 1897 while living abroad, his death was reported in New York. His response has been shared with many variations but the meaning is the same: someone lied about Twain’s demise.

The introduction of social media as a marketing channel was quickly followed by direct mail’s obituary. The idea that direct mail was dead, or even at death’s door, was amusing then. Years later, after social media has failed to deliver the revenue stream needed to replace other channels, it is still amusing. Direct mail remains a valuable marketing channel to companies that know how to use it well. It is a part of the multichannel experience that cannot be replaced electronically.

Catalogs continue to deliver a substantial portion of revenue for companies using them. Operational costs tend to be a bit lower because people like to look through the book and order online. Somehow, it seems easier to flag items in a book than on website. There are valid arguments for and against mailing a catalog. The only right answer is the one that works for your company. Testing will help you make an informed decision about mailing more or less.

The holiday edition of Victoria’s Secret landed in my mailbox with a thump. The 176 page book dwarfs the company’s typical 32 – 48 page books. Obviously, the marketing team doesn’t listen to the pundits declaring the death of the direct mail channel. They have expanded while others are scaling down.

It’s a good time to be landing in mailboxes. The scaling down of direct mail reduces the competition for attention. A company with a good house file and some analytical chops can make a catalog perform well. The challenge isn’t with an individual channel; it’s finding the right mix of channels to reach customers and prospects when they are most likely to buy.

The emergence of new channels provides opportunities to expand your marketing reach. Every channel needs to be evaluated and adapted to serve your company and customers. Thriving in a multichannel world requires marketers to become channel agnostic and embrace new experiences. Corporate success requires people to move out of their comfort zones to find the best venues for the company’s marketing messages.

For information on how this applies to your business, email Debra at dellis@wilsonellisconsulting.com.