How CustomInk.com creates a love affair with me

customink
...they even send love notes!

There’s no valuable and ROI focused marketing goal greater or more effective than to create a love affair with your customer.  Remember the perks:

  • It feels good
  • It’s easier to sell more to a current customer than something to a new one
  • It’s more profitable
  • It generates word of mouth
  • It’s incredible for employee retention

And here’s a little case study to prove my point.

We’re an agency, I sit on the boards of several not-for-profits and I was very active in my daughter’s high school.  All of that adds up to a ton of t-shirt purchases throughout the year.   A few years ago, we stumbled upon CustomInk.  I was shopping for cheap, t-shirts for a fundraising event for one of the boards I’m on and couldn’t find the right quality for the right price locally.

The experience I had with CustomInk that first go around made me a customer for life.  And every interaction I have with them since that first one just reinforces my buying decision.

Here’s how they create a love affair with their customers.

They are accessible: Live chat on their website, a phone number to a real person, very fast e-mail support — I’m pretty sure I could even send them a carrier pigeon and they’d get back to me.

They give me the tools to be successful: Whether you’re a novice and need clip art and suggestions to a pro who wants to upload print ready files — they have easy to use tools to let you do business with them the way you want to do business.

Their store (website) is well organized, has lots of help prompts and let’s me get to it: God love them for organizing their site in a way that lets me search by price or by color or by quality.  I never have to wonder “where would I go to do XYZ” because I always know.

When things go wrong (on our end)– they bend over backwards: If they think your shirts (or whatever you print) aren’t going to turn out well due to a design issue or if they just think your logo needs to be cleaned up — they do it.  They’re helpful and they don’t make you feel like a dope.

They support what I support: Every time I do t-shirts for a fundraising type event — they call the organization and make a donation.  It’s not a huge dollar amount ($20 or so) but the gesture means a great deal.

I get a person: Once my t-hsirts are in production, the work is assigned a staff person who oversees the order until it is shipped.  When I e-mail or call – I am connecting directly to that person.  When I have an art question — I’m assigned an art person who helps me get it right.  Follow up question — go back to your person.

They’re grateful: They go out of their way to let me know they appreciate my business.  I’m sure I am a small fish in their pond but they always check to make sure we were happy once the t-shirts get delivered and as you can see, every once in awhile, I get a hand written note.

None of what they do is rocket science but all of what they do is a sincere effort to connect with, support and thank their customers.  They’re an online company that understand the importance and power of creating real relationships.

I feel the love…and love them in return!

How about you — is there a brand that’s created a love affair with you?  How’d they do it?

 

 

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9 comments on “How CustomInk.com creates a love affair with me

  1. Hi Drew,

    It is was really refreshing to read this. I love to hear about people having a great experience working with new companies.

    I’m working on a similar blog post about putting your customers first for Friday as sort of a spin-off to my “Five Things” article that was in this past Sunday’s Des Moines Register. Do you care if I include this a link to this post?

    Thanks!
    Melissa

    1. Melissa,

      Please feel free to link to the post. Thanks for asking. I agree — it’s nice to celebrate someone for a change!

      Drew

  2. Great post. That’s how businesses should operate. I think businesses should not only focus on the actual sale of the products but the quality of the after-sales service as well.

    With social media and technology making communication easier, there’s no reason why businesses can not attend right away to demands or concerns of customers.

    1. Amelia,

      So why do you think more companies do not behave like CustomInk.com behaves?

      Drew

  3. Jason,

    It’s like they actually give a rip about their customers. What a brilliant strategy!!

    Drew

  4. Thank you for sharing this article. I love it.

  5. T. Reding says:

    Great article and good points for us to all remember as we develop new media for connecting and supporting our customers.

  6. Julie Gorham says:

    I’ve been wondering how to help with customer retention, when everyone seems to be in a hurry to try the next best thing. I definitely think customer service is plays a huge role, and it sounds like Customink has already figured that one out.

    1. Julie,

      At least in my experience — they’ve done it brilliantly. And the important thing to note is — not by big flashy, showy things. By paying attention to the little details.

      Drew

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