Archive for Laura
Industry Thoughts: Helping Customers Help Themselves [Love You More]
As I was reading Ad Age last week, I came across a very interesting article on new uses for data. It seems that in the face of economic hardships, the advertising realm of agencies, media companies, research firms and the like have been releasing report after report to bolster credibility, necessity and worth.
Popularity: 23%
Thought Leadership: Admitting you have a problem is the hardest step
Let’s be honest, there is absolutely nothing worse than when something goes wrong and it affects your customers. The angry emails start rolling in, the phone begins to ring and the support cases begin to pile up.
Well, there is one thing that’s worse: when it’s your fault. I don’t mean ‘you’ personally (although that is definitely the worst-worst-WORST case scenario); I mean ‘you’ as in your company, your technology, your product, your vendors that support any of the aforementioned…you get it. Unforeseen problems that cause your customers pain are the pits and figuring out how to deal with them publically can be even more excruciating.
So, what can you do? Admit it, own it and fix it. Oh, and communicate every single step.
Example of Failing at Damage Control
A vendor of ours (who shall remain nameless for obvious reasons) completely dropped the ball on this about a month ago. Their technology went through a major upgrade and bit it hard. The release was not well communicated ahead of time, their technology was down for about a week as the release was launched (luckily, this only affected our use of the technology and not our customers’ use of it), and then the unthinkable happened. The release broke the technology.
As a technology company, we understand these things. Releases, no matter how well planned and deployed, can be nerve-wracking as you push new code and hope you checked every box. I’d say we were actually pretty understanding about the whole thing, seeing as we realize exacty what can happen and how you have to prepare for every possible outcome. Our vendor, however, did not seem to understand these things. Unlike us, they apparently had no backup plan, no roll-back plan and, worst of all, no communication plan.
I know I don’t have to go into detail about how annoying and frustrating a situation like this can be. Let’s just say I spent a lot of time angrily telling their online support center how hopping mad I was and weeks later I still start to blow smoke out of my ears when I think back on the whole thing.
Example of Winning at Damage Control
The other week I got an email from J. Crew. I’m a huge fan of the company in general and I do a lot of online shopping there, although I hadn’t perused the selection online or in person in a while when I got said email.
The email was very simple. The subject line said “With our apologies…” and the succinct email simply apologized for recent support issues they’ve had with the website and call center. (They put the same note up right on the homepage of their site.) They didn’t blame a vendor and they didn’t pretend it wasn’t frustrating; they just admitted it, owned it and said they were fixing it.
As a loyal customer of theirs, I probably wasn’t going to defect after one bad online experience. That said, I wasn’t even affected by the issues and I’m grateful for their acknowledgement. Not only have they retained my good graces, but the first thing I did was come here and tell you how much I appreciated it. Neat, huh?
Moral of the tale of two companies: honesty really is the best policy.
Laura
Popularity: 14%
Sustainability: Duh!
I tried to think of a more eloquent title for this post, I really did. But when I saw this on Environmental Leader last week, all I could think was, “Duh!”
Sainsbury’s, a UK grocery chain, won the European Retail Solutions Best Green IT Initiative Award 2008 for their ingenious switch to using double sided receipts. This small change, which by the end of 2008 will be implemented in about half of all Sainsbury’s UK locations, will save 502,000 paper rolls per year! What a fantastic, easy, efficient and potent solution.
As I read the post, the “Every little bit helps” mantra you often hear with green initiatives kept wafting around in my head. Truly, this little bit will make a huge difference–and very quickly.
It’s so easy to get bogged down and discouraged by thoughts of going green. I hear it from my colleagues and I hear it from our customers–they want to help (ok, well sometimes they don’t, but usually they sort of want to get in the right direction) but everything seems so hard, so involved. Obviously this change was not simple (nor inexpensive) on Sainsbury’s part, but I really commend them for going after something they use daily (probably by the second) and finding a way to make it a little bit better.
Again, it’s not like a company can make a change like this overnight but what’s more important in this case is the ability to focus on a specific, central business function that can be done in a more environmentally-friendly way and figuring out an across the board way to enable it. Duh.
Laura
Popularity: 12%
Marketing: Excuses are just missed opportunities
Seth Godin had a great post on his blog the other day about small businesses and their tendency to be, well, whiny.
He shared an anecdote about ordering from a small company via Amazon. When he was told that he would have to wait a month for a re-shipment, he inquired why it would take so long. He received a reply that, at least in my interpretation, was pretty snarky: “Thank you for your inquiry. To answer your question we are NOT a big company like Amazon we are actually a small company, That is why it does take us a little longer than others.”
Seth’s point, with which I agree wholeheartedly, was that a small business needs to offer a great differentiator. Of course you will lag behind the big guys in some arenas, but you have to differentiate (positively!) somehow. In the case of this small business, if you can’t compete on the quickness of completing a re-order, why not do something else–something that your huge competitor can’t do–like including a signed card apologizing for the delay, calling personally to explain the situation, or adding a fun and unexpected extra to the package?
I know a lot of this community is comprised of small distributors who find themselves in situations where customers expect more than they can deliver. The internet brings opportunity in the door, but it just as quickly takes it away when someone posts a negative comment about you or finds comfort in the arms of your competitor.
There is a little tough love in this post, but embracing what might be a downfall and turning it into a positive experience for your customer can really make all the difference. I know I personally am more loyal to companies with which I feel I have a connection and I know that I’ll maintain my loyalty as long as they explain why they do things the way they do them.
For example, there’s a small mechanic shop that does all my oil changes. Because they have few people on staff, it can take forever to get a good appointment time. However, I once needed new tires and they didn’t have them in stock. Instead of telling me to come back in two weeks because they were just a small shop that couldn’t keep everything on hand, they found another store in the area that had the tires and sent one of their employees out to get them on the spot. Although they’re not always the convenient choice, that one memorable experience made me so loyal that I’ll never consider going elsewhere.
Don’t make excuses; make loyal customers.
Laura
Popularity: 11%
Sustainability: Green Carbs
Remember, not so very long ago, when everyone was carb-obsessed? Carbohydrates, and the foods in which they usually found themselves (namely bread) were the enemy. It was carbs that made you fat and sluggish–banish the carbs and get the body and lifestyle you always wanted! It all seemed so easy.
First came the hype, then came the corporate buy-in (remember all those fancy snacks and beverages for the carb-conscious among us?) and then came the inevitable backlash. I remember hearing defiant rumblings at first from friends (“I love bread; I could never give it up!”) and then, before I knew it, all those reduced-carb cereals and snacks were disappearing from shelves.
For many of us, fads like these are commonplace and don’t really lead to a greater personal or societal impact. But what about the issue of sustainability?
Lately it’s been a (excuse the pun) hot button issue on the corporate and consumer level. At the nearby Toyota dealership there’s a six month wait for a Prius (not to mention a four month wait for a Camry hybrid), last week’s Economist had a 14 page spread on the future of energy, water companies are touting lower plastic usage in their bottles, reusable canvas bags are popping up everywhere from Macy’s to Target…the list goes on. I have to wonder though, about the inevitable backlash–about what will happen when people are sick of hearing about all things sustainable and stop listening…or caring.
GreenBiz had an article about this very topic last week where they discussed five ways companies can avoid ‘green fatigue.’ There are some very good suggestions in here, and anyone tackling sustainable issues at their company would be wise to plan ahead. It’s human nature to tire of things that get as much attention as sustainability and the environment have lately, but it would be an enormous mistake to lump this in with every other fad and (excuse another pun) just throw it away.
Laura
Popularity: 10%
Social Media: Twittering to myself
I have some friends who run a PR/marketing/social media consulting company. They’re really into the latest and greatest social media trends and push me to try new things in their realm with moderate success.
One of these things is Twitter, a simple yet powerful little application that allows you to ‘tweet’ about what you’re up to–in 140 characters or less. For those of us in the instant messaging generation, it’s like a one-sided AIM conversation. For those of us in the Facebook generation, it’s like constantly updating your Facebook status.
I signed up for Twitter about six months ago, started ‘following’ a few people, and, shockingly, a few more started ‘following’ me, meaning they had my status updates filtering into their account. Oddly enough, they wanted to know what I was doing.
I never fully got on the Twitter wagon, and maybe that means I didn’t give it a fair chance. But I have to say, I don’t really get it. Even though I came of age during social media’s burst onto the scene, I still can’t really get into Twitter. I don’t understand who cares about what I’m doing and I can’t say that I’m very interested in what others are doing, either.
I don’t think I’m alone in not knowing how to use Twitter. Yesterday I saw this article on the Marketing Profs blog that observed that many Twitterers (especially from big corporations) are using the platform to broadcast marketing messages–that their status updates are no longer interactions with their Twitter community, but rather a billboard for letting their “audience” know they posted a blog article or put out a press release. The author says (in a comment reply) that while he realizes Twitter is available for any use by anyone, he finds it odd that people who ‘clearly understand social media would backtrack and use a social site such as Twitter as a one-way communication channel.’
While I certainly understand and agree with his point (from the perspective that those who know and understand social media should be the last to mis-use it), I have to wonder how many people are out there who are like me–who know, use and understand social media yet can’t quite figure out how to get value out of some of the newer iterations of it. I diligently updated Twitter for about a week but because I didn’t feel like I got anything back (unlike Facebook where I know my updates are read by my friends (“You liked Juno, too?!”) and where I certainly stalk, er, follow my friends’ and acquaintances’ updates) I pretty much gave up on it.
Perhaps I’ve missed Twittermania. Or perhaps it’s just the next great thing that will be replaced in a matter of months but the next great thing. For now, I’m sticking with Facebook.
Laura
Popularity: 10%
Marketing: Is honesty the best policy?
I’m sure you’ve seen or heard about the videos on You Tube showing four cell phones popping popcorn when pointed at one another with a few kernels in between them (if you haven’t seen it, ask your kids). Presumably, although it’s never explicitly stated, the popcorn pops because of the radiation from the cell phones (all four phones are called by other phones simultaneously which causes the kernels to twitch and then pop).
The videos have become viral, in my opinion, because the company that created them (a bluetooth company, natch) never advertises itself. In fact, it’s not even clear that it’s any more than a sophomoric experiment in a dorm room. This critical omission allowed the videos to get intrigue worldwide (and to get tested and debunked by Snopes), but it also kept consumers like me from finding out what I was supposed to do about what I’d seen (my suggestion would have been to have one of the people in the video say something like “Holy crap, Brenda, time for a hands-free set!”). I left You Tube thinking it was interesting and then that was about it.
Imagine my surprise to see this exact video and topic covered on CNN this morning. An analyst from a marketing firm was brought on to talk about his opinion that this kind of marketing, although effective from the viral standpoint, ultimately fails because people nowadays are “truth seekers” and thus their intrigue compels them to search for corroboration rather than your ordering website. In the end, said the analyst, your brand is only tarnished because people quickly find the truth and then associate you with a hoax rather than an entertaining video.
Ultimately, I’m torn. The whole “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” adage pops into my head because the bluetooth company did end up on CNN this morning defending their videos and getting access to a whole new group of viewers. Then again, I agree with the analyst that in an internet-driven world it’s dangerous to submit a falsehood (on behalf of your company no less) to the world, because the truth may come back to haunt you.
What do you think?
Laura
Popularity: 10%
Sustainability: Chain of Custody Certification
I’ve covered the topic of Chain of Custody Certification a few times on the blog, but today I saw a post on the Environment & Sustainability section of WhatTheyThink that summed things up nicely.
To quickly summarize for anyone catching up, Chain of Custody (CoC) Certification is imperative for any company that exists in a distributor role. You must be CoC Certified in order to appropriately handle and distribute certified goods. If you are not certified, you cannot claim to distribute certified goods, it’s as simple as that.
The post summarizes a conversation between Gail Nickel-Kailing from WTT and Vic Barkin, a consultant and auditor from Smartwood. Vic does a really nice job explaining why distributors (in any industry) need certification to handle highly demanded certified goods, laying out the options and defining some of the requirements to come. If you are still on the fence about attaining CoC Certification, I’d strongly encourage you to read the post and take Vic’s advice.
Have you gone through CoC Certification? I’d love to hear about your decision-making process, your certification experience and your reflections as a certified company!
Laura
PS–This conversation was just part one–the next installment (coming today) talks about the nitty gritty details, so be sure to check back on WTT.
Popularity: 10%
Marketing: Taking a risk
Advertising Age had an interesting article this morning about a recent Welch’s grape juice marketing campaign, conducted in People magazine, which included “taste strips.” Consumers were told to lick the taste strip to get a “sample” of Welch’s and to reveal a trivia fact.
The article said that not only was ‘purchase consideration’ heightened among consumers, but that the campaign also ‘garnered millions in free publicity for Welch’s’ through word of mouth and national talk show coverage. Interestingly enough, this publicity was achieved despite consumer wariness over actually licking the magazine insert (I will admit, however, that I in fact licked the taste strip that came in my issue of People).
My interest in this campaign comes not from the campaign itself but rather from the idea behind the campaign–the desire to take a risk and try something a little different. Speaking from personal experience, the taste strips did not taste good (or even much like grape juice), but they did accomplish their goal in that I seriously considered buying grape juice that week at the grocery store. (In interest of full disclosure, I do actually like grape juice and I have previously bought and enjoyed Welch’s grape juice–so it wasn’t exactly foreign territory. However, the last time I bought grape juice was probably about 10 years ago.)
Taking a marketing risk is not an easy decision and usually it involves a leap of faith with no real ROI predictors. Although this campaign was limited to People magazine, I’m sure there was still a considerable cost associated with it. According to a Time, Inc. study on the campaign, 70% of people remembered seeing the ad and 62% took action–that’s pretty incredible and, in my opinion, well worth the risk.
What do you think about taking marketing risks? Is there anything on your “too risky” list that you’d never even consider? Does it all come down to the up-front costs?
Laura
Popularity: 6%
Industry Thoughts: Use the Web to Wow
Quick Printing magazine’s May issue had a great article, “A Powerful Pair: Your Salesperson and Your Website,” that discussed the necessity of a strong web presence as a tool among a salesperson’s cadre of weaponry.
The article outlines some great sales reminders about giving great demos and staying top-of-mind with prospects once you leave their office: “If you aren’t able to sell them on the spot, you need to keep reminding your potential customer that you’re there when they are ready for you.” As I stressed just the other day, it’s all about follow-through when you want to make a great impression on a customer or prospect–at any stage of the game.
What most interested me in the article were the tips the author gave for using a website to wow in a sales demonstration. At the most basic level, she stressed the need for a great, helpful website: “all sales reps need to eat, sleep, and breathe your business’ key selling points—your URL is a major one.”
I certainly agree that the website is critical to every step of the sales process and beyond. It needs to be a living, breathing entity that is constantly updated with fresh content and tools. We recently updated our website dramatically, and I intend to do so more regularly from now on. Online searching is more and more becoming the way prospects search for answers and resources and they need to be able to not only find you, but to learn what you do and why they want to become your next customer. Without a strong web presence you will quickly find yourself falling behind.
Laura
Popularity: 8%
