By Mark on Aug 12, 2008 in Branding, CRM, Offer, Process, customer service | 1 Comment
I've written about good customer service in the past, highlighting my excellent experience with L.L. Bean. I've postulated that quality customer service is actually free, because the incremental sales more than make up for "excessive" talk time and refunds/credits granted by your customer service representatives.
Here's a trivially-observed example of what lousy customer service will cost you. In this example, from Verizon, it's a minimum of $100.
By Mark on Jul 16, 2008 in Analytics, Featured, Process, Strategy | 0 Comments
A recent study, carried out by Marketing Management Analytics, Financial Executive and Ed See, makes me think that more senior marketing executives should double-check the shine on their resume and perhaps consider a few more networking lunches in the near future.
A very brief summary of that report found in Ad Age frightens me and brings to mind a few courses of action that you can take today, if you find yourself in a similar situation.
By Mark on Jul 15, 2008 in Advertising, Analytics, Branding, Direct Marketing, Featured, Marketing, Offer, Process, Social Media, Strategy, Viral Marketing | 1 Comment
"Warning: Habits May Be Good for You" explores how an anthropologist turned to marketing experts from CPG companies like Procter & Gamble to help increase the incidence of hand-washing with soap after using the toilet in the nation of Ghana to improve the health of children. Obviously, this was an important effort and I was encouraged to see marketing practitioners as instrumental in helping achieve success in this endeavor.
As I was reading the article, it struck me that many of the techniques used are found in Robert B. Cialdini's classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. I'd lent out my copy a few years ago and, thankfully, had to buy a new version which includes an epilogue written by Dr. Cialdini in 2007. My re-re which triggered my thoughts on social media.
By Mark on Jun 11, 2008 in Direct Mail, Featured, Marketing, Process, Strategy, Testing | 0 Comments
You plan for offensive operations, while you prepare to play defense. You'll find this concept in both warfare and sports, and it's applicable in business as well.
I much prefer playing offense, because that's where you score and generate revenues. A strong business offensive plan also limits the amount of places you'll need to prepare to play defense, freeing up more resources for--you guessed it--playing more offense.
By Mark on Jun 4, 2008 in CRM, Direct Marketing, Featured, Marketing, Process, Strategy | 3 Comments
My experience with L.L. Bean today shows that customer service, when done correctly, isn't an expense. It can be your #1 marketing tool and put a wide moat between your business and your competitors.
L.L. Bean is the standard against which your phone support should be measured.
By Mark on Feb 11, 2008 in Database marketing, Direct Mail, Process | 0 Comments
After lashing out at Verizon and Vonage a little while ago, I thought I'd move on to other topics.
But Verizon can't help but make simple mistakes in their direct mail efforts. On Friday, I received yet another first-class mailing, this time promoting Verizon's FiOS Internet service.
Since I've now been a triple-play customer for two months [...]
