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Tis the Season to Be Jolly?
Author: Kathleen Gilmartin
December 21, 2006
With Christmas only days away, the stress has risen for shoppers trying to finish buying all of their gifts. And with stress, comes anger. Lauren Villagran’s article, “Merchants Try to Deal with Mad Shoppers,” touches on the crazy life of retail workers during the holidays.
Villagran notes that “merchants from toy sellers to electronics chains have buckled down to deal with irate shoppers. Their strategies vary but the goal is generally the same: to keep customers happy (and from wrestling each other in the aisles) and employees safe.”
How do you “keep customers happy” with so much stress and anger in the air? In her article, Villagran talks of some of the different strategies retail stores are doing to deal with customers.
To keep customers under control — lest a stressed-out shopper become a violent shopper — Boire [president of Toys “R” Us in the U.S.] said the chain beefs up security during the holidays, including hiring plainclothes officers to police its aisles and checkout lines.
Electronics retailer Best Buy Co. preps its employees for the holiday rush with preseason rehearsals. Best Buy stores do a "dry run" of the frenzy… Seasonal employees are made to wait in their respective departments when, at once, the other employees bully their way toward the department with a flood of questions. Employees are "armed with a strategy" for organization and inventory.
It looks like some stores have found a way to work with the anger, but are they keeping customers happy? Is there anything the stores can do, or is this one up to the customers? Honestly, it seems like the customers (including myself) have forgotten … Tis the Season to be Jolly.
Happy Holidays!
Creative Christmas Selling
Author: Jeannie Walters
December 19, 2006
It’s the holiday season, and everywhere I look, there are “impulse” sale items stacked to the roof. My local Walgreens drugstore and Jewel supermarket seem to think that all I need for Christmas / Hannukkah / Kwanzaa is a 19″ color TV or a designer perfume or a CD or DVD to complete my holiday shopping list.
I just don’t understand. Sure, I might be one of those people who waits for Christmas eve before I start shopping, But even if I was that frantic, why would I go to a supermarket over any place else to buy electronics or perfume or music or videos?
These displays don’t make me feel that there’s something different or unique about a store. They don’t make me feel that the store recognizes and values me as a repeat customer. Instead, the message I take away is that all this stuff is a commodity, unrelated to their core product offerings (food, drugs, newsstand items, etc.), Also that I as a consumer am not valued as a long-time customer – instead, I’m a commodity. And if I want to buy this stuff, I should go wherever is easiest or cheapest – which is not the way to create loyal customers.
Thinking about holiday or any seasonal sales efforts the thing that seems key is to create a niche that adds value for core consumers - consumers that are at least receptive to your brand. Hallmark did this with their summertime sale of Hallmark Christmas ornaments.*
Starting in 1973, they launched the Christmas ornament line, and asked permission of customers that bought the first ones to notify them next year about the new ornament releases. In 1999 Hallmark made $100 million in summertime sales on the Christmas ornaments line without doing any advertising.
Not every retailer can do this for every holiday, but most should think about some variety of branded merchandise / permission marketing offer associated with the core offerings for which most people shop their stores. And as Hallmark demonstrated, you can have Christmas in July (time-shift a seasonal market to a different season).
This is so much more effective than opportunistic electronics end-caps in grocery stores. Sure you’ll get some sales, but you’re in a race to the bottom with every other similar store - and there’s always the chance that the commodity merchandise that worked last year (like portable DVD players) will bomb this year because of factors outside your control.
The value of engaging customers and respecting their focus can’t be overemphasized.
*Note: I originally heard the Hallmark story from a recording of Seth Godin’s presentation at one of Google’s annual meetings. He’s got a lot of great stuff out on the web (video, audio, print). I highly recommend browsing his blog and website.
CRM in Real World Interactions - Part 1
Author: Luis Serpa
In my last post ("Welcome Back! Long Time, No See"), I commented on how face-to face interactions are being affected by the reliance on technology, subsequently missing real customer relationship development opportunities. After posting it, I realized that it wasn’t very fair. Technology and CRM tools can be useful for improving the Customer Experience in real world situations with creative implementation. So I decided to devote a few brain cells towards imagining some scenarios that could be implemented with today’s tools and technology. Here is what I came up this week.
Grocery Stores:
After a busy day at the office, Beth (our imaginary customer) is driving home when she decides to stop by the store for some groceries.
On entering the store, she goes directly to the first available Customer Service Kiosk and, having forgotten her "Preferred Client" card, uses her index finger to log in. The system shows Beth her current shopping list with her son’s wish list, added earlier at home over the Internet. The system offers Beth some interesting new products fitted to her needs and a list of personalized coupons. She then prints out her shopping list and coupons, sorted by the store’s aisle layout so she won’t have to backtrack.
As she shops, a chip embedded in Beth’s cart stores her information and a wireless device indicates her location in the store.
Beth is speeding through her list until she notices that one item is out of stock. Of course, the list shows several recommended substitutions for the missing item, but Beth is not sure which to choose. She decides to ask for help and presses a Customer Help button on her shopping cart. A nearby attendant, alerted by an automated text message on his two-way radio, approaches her.
"Good evening, Ms. Johnson, It is good to have you back!" says the attendant.
"Are you by any chance wondering about a substitution?"
"Oh yes, thank you! I was looking for a dandruff shampoo for my husband, but his favorite brand is out of stock," she tells him.
"Not a problem!" He swiftly picks up his hand computer and downloads her list and shopping history. "We have several other good brands, but I see here that your husband bought ACME shampoo the last time he was here. Was he happy with that purchase?"
"Yes, I think he said he still preferred the other one, but this brand was ok," she says.
"If you like, I can get one for you. If not, I personally think this other brand here is very good. It’s a little more expensive, but it is more effective," he adds.
"Oh, thanks! I will try that one," Beth decides.
Satisfied with her choice, Beth walks towards the checkout and a small display on her cart indicates which cashier has the shortest line. At the checkout, the smiling cashier greets her with a "Hi Ms. Johnson, did you find everything you needed?" while quickly scanning her purchases. As the cashier thanks her, she adds, "Did you know that you can call us ahead of time and have your whole list ready for you by the time you arrive?"
She didn’t know that, but she is already considering doing that the next time she shops.
. . .
Forget all the Sci-Fi movies’ wildest predictions (although Minority Report has an interesting take on possible future customer experiences), the example here is imagined, but quite feasible with today’s technology. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone is already doing something like it already.
Are you? Let me know and I will post your story.
Next week I will post another example. I am thinking about drive-throughs…
Craigslist’s Non-(financial) Sense Makes Sense
Author: Jack Borland
December 18, 2006
Craigslist President and Chief Executive Jim Buckmaster was featured at the 34th UBS Global Media & Communications Conference. To this group of rabidly for-profit market strategists and communicators, he had a very simple message - it isn’t about the money! Build something people want and they’ll pay for value, and that value can be huge, even without focusing on how to wring the most money out of each individual consumer.
Craigslist has had numerous opportunities to capitalize on its popularity. But it has eschewed easy ways to monetize its traffic, instead focusing on asking customers what portions of the service would be of sufficient value for those customers to pay for them. The answer? Job listings in six major markets and apartment listings in New York.
Why is this so important? Because Craigslist figured out that if you develop something that people like, they’ll tell you what’s important enough for them to pay. This is customer-centered economics. Traffic statistics shows how valuable that customer-centricity is. With a ranking of seventh for monthly page views and forty-seventh in terms of unique monthly visitors, Craigslist demonstrates that good content and useful services will bring people back again and again.
This very customer-centric focus has erected an incredible barrier to competition. As a publisher or broadcast media outlet, how can you compete? As a new start-up, how will you drive traffic? The price per sale is low enough (mostly free) that no individual consumer/reseller is shut out of the Craigslist market, and the continuing involvement of the readership helps to develop new services, some of which should eventually generate revenue (based on the readership’s articulation of value-add).
So how can your organization look to customers for direction? Do you have customer communities or guidance councils to give you honest advice about what you are doing? Do you have processes in place to capture all customer-generated feedback both positive and negative and direct it to the people who can act on it? Do you even acknowledge customer comments when they are captured? If your sales and marketing efforts are focused on pushing stuff at customers, then maybe you should rethink your whole strategy. Asking customers what they want can be a very powerful differentiator.
Santa - The Ultimate Customer Experience
Author: Anne McLain
With the holiday rush upon us, good and bad customer experiences are everywhere. Makes me think of who truly delivers the best customer experience - Santa Claus. He’s got the 5 Keys to Customer Experience down pat.
1. Know Your Best Customers - Well, he’s got that list. He knows if you’ve been naughty or nice.
2. Review Your Customer Communications - There isn’t a lot of communication out of the North Pole but Santa does employ frontline communications as he appears at every mall, taking in all your lapside requests.
3. Listen to All Your Customers - The North Pole is inundated with letters. He reads EVERY one.
4. Create Happy and Customer-Centric Employees - Have you ever seen a more dedicated, jovial group of co-workers than elves? The benefits must be sugary sweet!
5. Reflect Your Brand Values - Santa’s got the best brand. Yes, he might be called Father Christmas, Pere Noel or Che Dun Lao Ren. He may travel by donkey, on skis or with eight reindeer. But he always delivers the same results and means the same to everyone.
If good ole St Nick can carry this for hundreds of years, so can any enterprise.
No matter what you are celebrating this season, we wish you the very happiest of holidays and a prosperous 2007!
Here’s more on the The 5 Keys to Customer Experience.
Welcome Back! Long Time, No See.
Author: Luis Serpa
December 6, 2006
I chose this title for two reasons. First, it has been two weeks since my last entry (I was on vacation and, believe it or not, it is good to be back). The second is to tell you all about my experience in Brazil, my home country, two years after I came to live in the U.S.
I wanted to see the restaurants and stores I used to enjoy for so many years before I moved. I wanted to see old places and old faces, and hoped for a wholehearted welcome.
Nobody recognized me!
I know I should have expected that. After two years, many things change, but somehow I managed to think I was special, remarkable and that people would remember me. Shouldn’t they?
Well, after the initial shock, my professional side kicked in and I analyzed the whole situation from a customer experience standpoint. Of course, I was not remarkable to the shop owners. I wasn’t a regular customer, just a prospective customer. I didn’t remember their names, so why should they remember mine? But the point is that no matter how illogical or unreasonable my feeling was, I still expected to be remembered.
Every customer knows he is special. Everyone thinks that her needs are the most important. Everyone hopes to be treated as a special someone.
The problem is that you can’t possibly know every one of your face-to-face customers, right? Well, more or less… Good salesmen always seem to know everyone. They enthusiastically welcome you every time with greetings such as "Long time, no see," "How have you been?" and "What do you need today?" Surely they don’t remember everyone, but they "read" the customer and understand her body language. At the very least, they treat every customer as an old friend, even if it the first time they’ve met.
So what was wrong with all Brazilian places I visited? Do they all have bad salespeople? Maybe. But I bet the problem lies a little deeper. Stores and restaurants are starting to rely too much on technology and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Technology is great when you go to a website and it brings back your last purchase and suggests products you may want, but that doesn’t work in the real world. At least not until the technology evolves to the point where you can be recognized at the moment you enter the store, before even talking to anyone.
For now, the closest you can get is the Sam’s Club approach:
"May I have your Sam’s card, please?" asks the cashier… You reach for your wallet, search for the card among a dozen others and finally deliver it to him.
"One minute please," he replies, automatically scanning your items.
"That will be $107.35. How do you want to pay?"You provide your credit card or cash, and the cashier quickly finishes the transaction while you read a sign that says "If the cashier doesn’t greet you by name, you will earn $1.00."
"Thank you, Luis, have a good day!" says the cashier in a mechanized way.
Was that it? All that trouble just to hear my name before going home? Not exactly the way to make someone feel remembered or special.
However, several stores and salespeople are relying more and more on those techniques and forgetting to deal with the customers in the good old fashioned way—getting to know them (or at least acting as if they know them).
My next post will be about how to efficiently adapt CRM technology to face-to-face situations. But for now, suffice it to say that nothing will ever replace a good attitude in customer interactions.
Welcome back… And have a good day!
Satisfaction Not Guaranteed
Author: Renee Keane
December 4, 2006
Dell, Home Depot, and Northwest Airlines fail in customer satisfaction according to an article from Business Week. These companies are focusing on revenue numbers and operating margins, but neglecting to look at the impact of dissatisfied customers. Two noted companies that excel in customer service are Southwest Airlines and Costco Wholesale Corp. which can be attributed to well trained employees.
Shopping is Not a Contact Sport
Author: Sarah Beckley
December 1, 2006
I don’t believe that shopping should be a contact sport. I don’t appreciate a crowd when I’m trying to get through my list. Shopping can be enough of a trial without adding a thousand other people, all on the same mission.
So I hadn’t planned on shopping yet, nor had I given my gift purchases too much thought before today, but when a wild winter storm woke me at 5am with no sign of sleep in sight, I opened up my laptop and went to one of my favorite retail sites, Wishing Fish. They have cool gifts (no, I don’t get a kick back!) and I found almost everything I wanted for my siblings and half of my boyfriend’s presents. Then I hit Amazon for my niece and nephews’ toys and in one hour, 80% of my holiday shopping was done. For an extra chunk of change, I could have had everything gift wrapped if I’d been so inclined (but gift wrapping all our presents together is how we spend Christmas Eve in my family–yes, a little odd, but that is what we do).
I expect I’ll hit a big box store for gift wrap and tape, and I’ll go online again for one last sweep to get my mom something special. But I’m essentially done. And I didn’t have to brave the crowds or snow or the mall or slushy parking lots or shopping bag handles that break. I didn’t have to listen to unhappy children or rude sales people or refuse samples of pumpkin walnut chai latte mix from overly eager staff.
On the other hand, I didn’t see Santa or the twinkly lights or the giant tree at The Store Formerly Known as Marshall Field’s and I didn’t pretend to fence with tubes of gift wrap as blades in the department store aisles with my boyfriend. And I certainly didn’t retire after hours of my "shopping" with friends or family to a warm cafe for hot chocolate to review my purchases and catch up on things.
If holiday shopping is simply for the experience, then by all means, let’s go. But for getting things done, I’ll take the Internet every time.
