THINKing » Customer Retention http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog My CreativeTeam Thinks About Creativity, Marketing, PR & Social Media Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:40:12 +0000 en hourly 1 Dumbass Marketer Redux http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/dumbass-marketer-redux/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/dumbass-marketer-redux/#comments Tue, 11 Oct 2011 15:59:21 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2610
Photo credit: chaka from morguefile.com

We have talked here before about dumbass marketers, and this probably won’t be the last time, unfortunately. Let me tell you a story about one. This firm, to which we have brought a lot of business including that of a Fortune 500 company, has made such a dumbass move that they will never get additional business from me.

We have been buying trade show booths and booth graphics from this company. We had one booth that was banged up pretty badly in repeated shipping – completely the fault of our client. So, we sent it back, told them it was our fault and paid for the damage repair. This fact is important because it establishes that we take the blame when it is ours.

Then, we bought a new booth for one of the client’s divisions. When it arrived and the client unpacked it for the first time, there was damage. The client didn’t damage this one. It was like that out of the box from the supplier. So, I sent a note about the damage and say we are shipping it back for repair. They say they will split the cost with us because they think my client is lying. I say that they should pick it up since it was damaged upon arrival. He says, she says.

They agree to pick up the cost but now want to make me come to their facility to watch them pack each one. In fact, we had a rush order that needed to go out yesterday and I had to interrupt my day to go meet the sales rep to see the product before they would ship it.

Now, is this stupid on their part or am I over-reacting? Please let me know what you think.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/dumbass-marketer-redux/feed/ 0 Netflix’s Corporate Seppuku http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/netflixs-corporate-seppuku/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/netflixs-corporate-seppuku/#comments Mon, 19 Sep 2011 18:55:16 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2574

It’s good that Netflix has a red background on its logo. That way the blood doesn’t show from its self-inflicted wounds.

Apparently Netflix doesn’t have PR people to tell them how to communicate service changes. A while back they announced their pricing structure change, saying they knew the almost 60% price increase would lose them some customers but they were doing it anyway. The arrogance of the announcement was palpable. I immediately cancelled my account.

And now the blood is flowing again as they’ve plunged the sword in just a little deeper.

They have announced that they are renaming the DVD by mail portion of their business. The new Qwikster service was also communicated poorly. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sent out the suicide note this morning detailing the move. Here’s how I read it: “yeah, we screwed up with the price changes and we’re doing it again with this Qwikster move. Do not, however, take this as an apology.”

To make matters worse, it turns out there is a Twitter account named Qwikster, which has a profile photo of Sesame Street’s Elmo smoking a joint. For the win!

I don’t know about you, but I’m heading over to Etrade to short some Netflix stock.

UPDATE 10/10/2011: Apparently, Netflix hired some PR people. Alas, it is too little, too late. Have you seen their latest note to customers about the whoe Qwikster debacle. If not, you can read it below. Perhaps shorting Netflix stock is again the right hting to do.

It is clear that for many of our members two websites would make things more difficult, so we are going to keep Netflix as one place to go for streaming and DVDs.

This means no change: one website, one account, one password…in other words, no Qwikster.

While the July price change was necessary, we are now done with price changes.

We’re constantly improving our streaming selection. We’ve recently added hundreds of movies from Paramount, Sony, Universal, Fox, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, MGM and Miramax. Plus, in the last couple of weeks alone, we’ve added over 3,500 TV episodes from ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, USA, E!, Nickelodeon, Disney Channel, ABC Family, Discovery Channel, TLC, SyFy, A&E, History, and PBS.

We value you as a member, and we are committed to making Netflix the best place to get your movies & TV shows.


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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/netflixs-corporate-seppuku/feed/ 0 I Heard That! http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/i-heard-that/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/i-heard-that/#comments Sat, 10 Sep 2011 22:14:10 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=2539

There are still a lot of companies that haven’t yet figured out – or worse, don’t care – that social media is a great way for them to monitor the mood of their customers. But some – like Olay – really  get it. My wife read about a new Olay product and began looking for it. Turns out the product is not fully into the distribution channels yet.

So, she gripes on Olay’s Facebook page because the company is hyping up a product no one can get. Olay messages her and tells her they have a sample of the product and will send it to her. OK, lots of companies would have done this, right?

In two days, the product shows up with a handwritten note. Not every company does this. That’s the way you mollify a miffed customer.

How does your company handle these kinds of social media situations? Let us know.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/i-heard-that/feed/ 0 Customer Surprise http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/customer-surprise/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/customer-surprise/#comments Fri, 29 Oct 2010 16:34:16 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=1443

When is the last time you had a customer surprise that was also pleasant? Mine was just today.

I’ve been looking for a black turtleneck to complete my Halloween costume. Unable to find one anywhere. Went to Belk, the recently rebranded Charlotte, NC-based department store, to see if they had one. Lo and behold, there it was.

The $20 shirt had been marked down to $12. Sweet. So, I take it to the counter to pay for it. Cashier says, “with the coupon that comes to $9.59.”

“I don’t have a coupon,” said I. “No problem,” she says. “I rang one in for you.”

Now, I don’t know if this surprise couponing is part of the rebranding, but it was a very pleasant surprise, and the cashier was extremely nice, as well. But look what they got out of it. I’m writing about it on a well-read blog and I’ll tweet about it as well. Not a bad return for a 20% off coupon.

What could you be doing in your business to surprise customers? Got any examples? Tell us, tell us!

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/customer-surprise/feed/ 4 Forgotten Gems http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/forgotten-gems/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/forgotten-gems/#comments Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:36:53 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/forgotten-gems/ Undiscovered Gems

Through no fault of their own, sometimes really good posts just get overlooked. Here are a few forgotten gems you may have missed.

Grandma Says -  Southern grandmothers have often said, “there are only three times a respectable person’s name should be in the paper: when you are born, when you are married, and when you die.” This is the one area in which I part company with my grandmothers.

Brand Euthanasia -  Some brands should be allowed to die, or if that fails, then we owe it to them to kill them.

New Business Tip: Do Great Work For Current Clients -My marketing mentor, Bill Loeffler, once said the the best new business program is doing great work for current clients. He was right.

The Value Of Connections – As we have discussed before, the value of connections in business cannot be underestimated. I’m talking primarily about tight connections that you use ruthlessly to help you achieve your personal and professional goals.

To Market, To Market… -  What does buying a fat pig have to do with your business? Stick with me and all will be revealed.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/forgotten-gems/feed/ 2 Advertising’s Not Dead, But Advertisers Are Trying To Kill It http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/advertisings-not-dead-but-advertisers-are-trying-to-kill-it/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/advertisings-not-dead-but-advertisers-are-trying-to-kill-it/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 14:26:54 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/advertisings-not-dead-but-advertisers-are-trying-to-kill-it/  Killing advertising

Advertising is on life support but it is not dead. Although it seems that advertisers and their agencies are trying to kill it.

When done correctly, it still has its place in the marketing mix. The problem with advertising, as in so many marketing tactics, is that companies launch ads before they really think their program through.

First, let’s think about what we want our advertising to achieve. You should tie your advertising objectives to the objectives you have for your business. Ask yourself what benefits advertising can help bring to the business.

Are you looking for new customers who don’t know you? Are you trying to get a share of your competitors’ customers who know a little about you? Or, are you trying to get your own customers to buy more from you? The answers to these questions will help you establish what type message is needed because one ad cannot address all carbon-based life forms.

Ads need to be aimed at specific audiences. And media dollars, if you’re fortunate enough to have them, are precious, so let’s target the ad message as we’ll need to target that media spending.

Prospects need to have their interest aroused, while you might need a “make a change” message aimed at competitors’ customers, and your own customers may respond best to a loyalty message.

Now, you should determine how best to get your message out. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising says that advertising is “the means of providing the most persuasive possible selling message to the right prospects at the lowest possible cost.”

This means that there are lots of ways to deliver your advertising message. You are not limited to the big three: radio, TV and newspapers.

Direct mail might be a better answer for you if you have a narrowly defined audience. Going after a mass audience may mean you need mass media.

Remember: it’s the most persuasive message to the right prospects at the lowest cost. And with corporate advertising spending, remember the old adage, “Nothing happens until the cash register rings,” and adjust your message and media decisions accordingly.

Marketers tend to overestimate the power of advertising. They want to hit the market with a big campaign and receive a flood of new business. Here’s the dirty little secret: most people ignore most advertising. It can’t make people do what they don’t want to do, nor interest them in what they are not interested in. Advertising is a crutch – a strong, efficacious one when done right, but additive to the rest of your communications programming.

Your job as a marketer is to do the heavy lifting up front to develop a compelling message, and deliver it effectively to a specific audience using the right medium. Otherwise you are wasting your time because your ad campaign will be dead on arrival.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/advertisings-not-dead-but-advertisers-are-trying-to-kill-it/feed/ 1 5 Essential Big Boy Marketing Links http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/5-essential-big-boy-marketing-links/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/5-essential-big-boy-marketing-links/#comments Mon, 31 May 2010 21:48:36 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/5-essential-big-boy-marketing-links/ The big boys of marketing, those elite companies in the Fortune 500, know some things the rest of us don’t. Here are a few posts that deal with Big Boy Marketing.

Big Boy Marketing – Part 1 – In working with our Fortune 1000 clients I have come to see that we all can learn a few things from these Big Boys. They may miss the boat on some things, but they get a lot right.

Big Boy Marketing – Part 2 – Ask Your Customers. Big Boys do the necessary research.

Big Boy Marketing – Part 3 – Choose Partners Strategically. The Big Boys know how to find a partner who fits their needs. 

Aligning Metrics – Years ago, I worked with a Fortune 500 company on an integrated marketing communications program. It was integrated everywhere except with sales. And therein lies the rub. 

Take Market Share Now – Bold marketers know this: an economic downturn is the perfect time to gain market share. Spending marketing money during tough times seems counterintuitive, but time and again it has paid off for some of the best known brands.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/5-essential-big-boy-marketing-links/feed/ 1 My New Business Secret Formula http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/my-new-business-secret-formula/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/my-new-business-secret-formula/#comments Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:36:29 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/my-new-business-secret-formula/ We’ve talked here often about the fact that there is no marketing magic bullet. But there is a new business magic bullet, and I’m going to tell you the secret formula. Only a handful of those who read this will successfully implement within their business because it is not shiny and new.

Like most businesses, you are probably spending up to 80% of your marketing budget on bringing in new business because that’s exciting. It’s not as much fun implementing my new business secret: do great work for current customers.

But Harry, you are saying, I’d rather go out and bring home the new business buffalo than focus on my current customers. Where’s the benefit?

Let me disabuse you of the notion that there is no benefit in this hyperfocus on current customers.  Doing great work for current clients spawns so many good things for your business.

Even if you have the best salesforce in the world and they can sell anyone anything once, if your company doesn’t wow them with your service they aren’t going to buy from those superb sales folk again. Some estimates show that if you cut customer churn by just 5%, you can increase profits by at least 25%.

If that’s not reason enough, then consider these stats relating to customer retention:

  • 91% of dissatisfied customers won’t return
  • 96% of dissatisfied customers won’t tell you the real reason why they won’t be back
  • it costs 10 times more to replace a customer than it does to keep him
  • repeat customers spend 33% more than new customers

But how is doing great work for current customers the secret to my new business program, Harry?

I’m glad you asked. Here’s the key statistic that you need to internalize: referrals from repeat customers are 107% higher than from non-customers. Loyal customers talk you up to others who are like themselves. In other words, they are targeting the right customers for you and you don’t have to spend a dime.

Are you doing great work for your customers? Maybe it is time to reevaluate.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/my-new-business-secret-formula/feed/ 4 7 Ways To Kickstart Your 2010 Marketing http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-ways-to-kickstart-your-2010-marketing/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-ways-to-kickstart-your-2010-marketing/#comments Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:33:10 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=989 It’s 2010, now what? Have you completed your marketing planning or did you leave it to the last minute? No matter. We have 7 ideas of things you can do to kickstart your marketing.

Define Your Customers.  I had a client one time who told me that “all carbon-based lifeforms” were the targets of his advertising. Needless to say, I quickly disabused him of that notion. If you want to spend your money wisely, this is the#1 thing you can do right now for your marketing effort.

Focus On Current Customers. I know that you want to go out and take down that new business buffalo, but you’ll get a greater return by getting more business from current customers.

Get Referrals. If you have done a good job for existing customers, they will tell their friends about you. But you need a strategy to make this happen.

Activate Your Customers.  It is no secret that I believe email is still one of the best ways to generate goodwill, referrals and business.  Plan your email attack to activate customers now.

Open Your Wallet. I’ve been accused of being against paid advertising. I am not. I’m just against unplanned, poorly focused advertising. Some of your competitors are still weak from the recent economic strife. You still have an opportunity to kill the weak, if you’ll spend some money smartly to take market share.

Be Sociable.  Humans – being human – love social interaction, particularly of the face-to-face variety. Always have, always will. So, look for ways to add human interaction to your marketing. Also, reexamine your approach to social media.  

Be Tactical. First off, let me say that I’m a strategy kind of guy. But sometimes you just need to do something to get your marketing off dead center.

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]]> http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/7-ways-to-kickstart-your-2010-marketing/feed/ 0 Top Content 2009 Edition http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/top-content-2009-edition/ http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/top-content-2009-edition/#comments Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:31:29 +0000 Harry Hoover http://www.my-creativeteam.com/blog/?p=987 In case you missed some of our most read content this year, below is a sample of the top posts of 2009. Is your favorite here?

Twittering Journalists

Customer Retention Strategies

When Billboards Go Bad

Twitter: Time Waster Or Cool Tool?

Branding Lessons From Santa

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