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Entries Tagged as 'Love affair with customers'

Things are not rosy at FTD!

by Drew McLellan

February 16th, 2011 · Customers/Clients, Love affair with customers

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Happy Valentine’s Day?

Like many of you probably did, I grabbed a couple of the Groupon deals for FTD to help manage the Valentine’s Day floral budget.  (Yes, I gave some local florists my money too)

Let me say this — I feel sorry for any business that has killer days like florists do.  I am sure Valentine’s Day is a nightmare for them.  However… it’s not like it’s a big surprise.  So they should be ready for it, right?

When one of the arrangements I had ordered hadn’t arrived at 7 pm, I called their 800 number.  The first message I got was that they were very busy and it would be 15 minutes before I could speak with someone.  Then, a couple minutes later, the recorded voice came back on the line and said, due to the volume of calls and it being Valentine’s Day, they would not be able to answer my call and promptly disconnected me.

Wow.

I called back and held for over 30 minutes. Somehow, I dodged the hang-up.  I have no idea how long I would have continued to wait — I got word that the flowers had finally arrived and so I hung up.

Not a good day for FTD.  But wait…

This morning, the flowers are wilted.  I am talking D-E-A-D.  Even with the coupon, they were $50 so I call the 800 number.  This is really how the conversation went.

FTD guy:  How may I help you?

Drew:  I ordered flowers that were delivered yesterday and this morning, they are all wilted.

FTD guy:  I am very sorry to hear that Sir.

Drew:  Thank you.  What can we do about it?

FTD guy:  May I have the order number?

Drew:  FRK372912

FTD guy:  May I have your full name?

Drew:  Drew McLellan

FTD guy:  Thank you, Mr. McLellan. May I have your billing address?

Drew : I give him the address.

FTD guy:  Thank you Mr. McLellan.  May I have your phone number?

Drew:  I give him the phone number.

FTD guy:  Thank you Mr. McLellan.  May I have the recipient’s name?

Drew:  I give him the name.

FTD guy:  Thank you Mr. McLellan. May I have the recipient’s address?

Drew:  I don’t have it handy.

FTD guy:  I’m sorry Mr. McLellan but I am trying to verify the order.

Drew:  Wait a second — I have told you the order number, my name, address, phone number and the recipient’s name.  Isn’t that enough information to verify the order?

FTD guy:  I really do need to verify the order, Mr. McLellan.  (by now…we’ve had enough Mr. McLellans)

Drew:  Seriously — you think there might be two orders with the identical order number, buyer and recipient?  You are looking at the order on your computer, aren’t you?

FTD guy:  Yes Mr. McLellan, I am.

Drew:  Have I gotten any of the questions wrong yet?

FTD guy:  No, Mr. McLellan.  Should I wait while you get the recipient’s address?

Insanity.  Pure insanity. This is a man who is following a script, no matter how ridiculous it is.  He doesn’t care about my order, my frustration or my repeat business. (I kept wondering how call center expert Tom Vander Well would react to this.)

I told him I didn’t have the address with me and couldn’t get it.  Yes, I was being churlish.  But come on.  So you know what he made me do to finally verify the order?  I will send flowers to the first correct guesser.  (But not from FTD)

My point — when something goes wrong, you have a huge opportunity to win a customer for life. (read how Disney says I’m sorry) But you don’t get a second chance.  You cannot add insult to the injury.   FTD lost more than my $50.  They lost the chance to begin to create a love affair with me.  That cost them a lot more than $50.

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Using personas to shift your focus to the customer

by Drew McLellan

January 31st, 2011 · Branding, Customers/Clients, Love affair with customers

106498980 If you look at most marketing copy — it's about the "thing" — whatever is being sold.  We get features and generic benefits but our focus and the thrust of the message sits squarely on the shoulders of the product or service.

And it's no wonder.  When you focus on something, you tend to write/talk about it.

Let's demonstrate.

If I asked you to write a headline for an ad selling these red shoes to the right — what would your headline say?

(Seriously, take a couple minutes and jot a few down…play along!)

Okay, for many of you your headlines probably ran along the lines of:

  • Isn't it time to get sassy?  
  • Give your feet some sassy for Valentine's Day 
  • Stop traffic without lifting a finger

Nothing wrong with those…but they are a bit generic.  They be be speaking to anyone of any age, income bracket, marital status, etc.

Why?  Because we don't actually know who we're talking to…other than we probably assumed it was a woman, so the copy tends to be generic.  The more generic your audience (in your mind) the more generic the copy.  Which forces us to focus on the "thing."

Which is why personas are so critical to your marketing success.  Do you know who your business is talking to?  And don't say everyone.  Every business should know who their best customers are.  These are the people who create the core of your customer base.  Creating personas based on this customer base is critical to targeting your message.  I wrote about personas and shared some examples a few years back. (click on the link to read).

Let's try the shoe example again but now I'm going to tell you about the customer.  Her name is Leslie and she's 15.  She's in that awkward half girl/half woman stage and she wants to grow up so badly.  She's a good kid, active in school and loves to hang at the mall with her friends.  She spends much of her free time texting, reading fashion magazines and watching MTV's reality shows.  

I could add (and should if this was a real persona) much more depth but you get the idea. Now try your headline again.

Mine might be:  Your dad is going to hate these shoes

Very specific and very much about my audience — rather than about the product.  That's what personas do.  They shift our focus to the prospect rather us talking about ourselves.  You can't create a love affair with a generic customer.  Getting to know your personas and really seeing them as a living, breathing person 

Using personas is a very helpful trick for writing stronger copy, creating content that gets shared, developing customer service programs, making your website sticky and driving sales.  If you haven't developed 3-4 personas for your brand — put it on your to do list for Q1 of 2011.  It will make the rest of the Q's 

P.S. If you want more info on personas, Marketing Profs is doing a webinar on February 10th specifically about the topic.  

 

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Walt Disney’s marketing tips

January 24th, 2011 · Branding, Love affair with customers, Passion · 9 Comments

My greatest teacher when it comes to all things marketing was not a professor or professional mentor.  It was Walt Disney.   Somehow, in the midst of ROI, measurability, counting clicks and studies that can track a person’s eye movements to see what part of an ad captures their attention first — we have forgotten [Read more...]

Could being remarkable really be this simple?

December 23rd, 2010 · Branding, Customers/Clients, Innovation & Creativity, Love affair with customers, Passion · 8 Comments

As you may know, I am a Disneyophile.  I love the Disney parks, I love the Disney movies' happy endings, I love the unrelenting pursuit of better customer service that drives Disney to their own level of excellence. I also love Walt Disney's story.   I know he wasn't perfect by a long shot.  But [Read more...]

How Disney says "I'm sorry"

November 24th, 2010 · Branding, Love affair with customers, Magic of Disney · 6 Comments

It's inevitable…we're going to make a mistake or disappoint a customer.  And while Love Story might have told us that "love means never having to say you're sorry" I'm pretty sure that if we really want to create a love affair with our customers — we do on occasion, have to apologize. The brilliant marketers [Read more...]

Creating love affairs: You can't buy their love

November 23rd, 2010 · Customers/Clients, Love affair with customers · 5 Comments

In our ongoing pursuit of creating love affairs with your customers, I wanted to share a recent experience. If you're a regular reader, you know that I am: A frequent traveler A wee bit impatient All about efficiency So it shouldn't surprise you that I have my travel routine down to a science.  I can [Read more...]

Marketing tip #1: Create a love affair with your customers

November 1st, 2010 · Business owner/leader stuff, Customers/Clients, Love affair with customers · 6 Comments

Satisfaction is nice.  Loyalty is good.  Repeat business is dandy. But none of that is love.  And if you really want to get and keep a customer for life — you have to be willing to stick your neck out and love them.  You need to put your heart on your sleeve and woo them. [Read more...]

Marketing tip # 71: How many hooks have you set?

October 25th, 2010 · Customers/Clients, Love affair with customers · 20 Comments

Whether it comes to fish or our customers, the more hooks we have in them, the more likely we're going to be able to keep them! I'd like to think the "hooks" we have in our customers — the reasons they can't imagine going anywhere else to buy what we sell, aren't painful, but in [Read more...]