Customers For Life

For practically the entirety of my adult life, I have managed people in some capacity.  Overall, to say I’ve had “mixed results” would be fairly accurate.  My career started out in a little restaurant in the suburbs of Minneapolis where I was the youngest on a staff of some pretty rough-around-the-edges people.  One of the things one of my employees (a “lifer”, if you will) said to me was “don’t let them push you around”.  And I didn’t.  Or, I tried not to.  For the first few months, the people I needed to do things just listened to me be stern and rolled their eyes.  When I look back on this, I can’t help but understand where they were coming from.  Who was this know-it-all kid coming in to tell them what to do?  What did he know?

In my early 30s, I was a call center manager and inherited a “problem employee” from my predecessor.  She was young, had a lot of attitude, and decided from the beginning that this new guy was not going to tell her what to do.  She gave me moderate attitude problems almost daily, she underperformed, and made her feelings about me fairly public within the staff.  As you can imagine, this was pretty frustrating, and after about a month of working there, I had decided I had enough.  I asked her to come to my office, shut the door and proceeded to sit down and ask her not so nicely, “What is your problem?!”.  The rest of the meeting consisted of me pointing my finger and letting her know that this was not going to stand, and she better shape up.

She didn’t last long after that.  She disliked me even more, her comments to coworkers went from public to secret, and she stopped showing up for work and was eventually terminated.

At re:member group,  high productivity is vital.  We have very little idle time and projects need to be executed in a timely manner.    When I think of the best way to motivate a productive staff, I remember past experiences like the ones above, and I remember how unproductive employees were when I tried to be stern and demand things out of them.

During an interview last week, a prospect asked me about my management philosophy, to which I responded without hesitation, “We believe that positivity breeds productivity.”

The Emotion Bucket

According to a recent Gallup poll, 65% of people surveyed said they got no recognition for good work in the last year.  That’s a high number, and it’s the number-one reason most Americans leave their job – they don’t feel appreciated.  The Gallup Organization also surveyed some 4 million workers on the topics of recognition and praise, and there were some eye-opening numbers.  Along with 65% of people who reported no recognition for their job in the year, 22 million people report being “actively disengaged”, or extremely negative in their job.  Gallup goes on to say that this costs the US ecnomy up to $300 billion dollars a year in productivity.

In the book “How Full is Your Bucket?”, the author talks about the “the Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket”.  It suggests that everyone carries an invisible bucket of emotions and they can either fill other people’s buckets or dip from them.  In the end, the research shows filling someone else’s bucket helps both people.  In a recent article, Lauren Kanny from Gallup goes on to say:

“The many small interactions or moments that make up your day — approximately 20,000 moments by one study’s count — weigh in on either the positive or negative side. “How Full Is Your Bucket?” shows how these moments influence who we are, how we feel, and how we perform.

What’s more, the book outlines five strategies for reducing the negativity our culture seems to cultivate:

• Prevent “Bucket Dipping.” Increase your own awareness of how often your comments are negative. Work toward a ratio of five positive comments to every one negative comment.
• Shine a Light on What Is Right. Try focusing on what employees or peers do right rather than where they need improvement, and discover the power of reinforcing good behaviors.
• Make Best Friends. People with best friends at work have better safety records, receive higher customer satisfaction scores, and increase workplace productivity.
• Give Unexpectedly. A recent poll showed that the vast majority of people prefer gifts that are unexpected.
• Reverse the Golden Rule. Instead of “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” you should “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” Individualization is key when filling others’ buckets.

“How Full Is Your Bucket?” is filled with sound advice for executives hoping to reap the tangible benefits of a positive atmosphere in the workplace. It also offers great insights to anyone who wants a better life — both at home and at work.”

Finding a Balance

It’s not all wine and roses, however, companies adopting a positive approach need to be mindful that positivity needs to accompany productivity.  According to an article by Larry Broughton, low productivity plus high positivity require a course correction, while high productivity with low positivity indicate your company may be on life support.

He goes on to say:

“Those organizations low in both productivity and positivity are standing at death’s door and will soon expire — a total corporate overhaul is needed to survive (or a reservation made at the corporate morgue).  Those who are high in productivity, yet low in positivity are likely grinding out an existence and burning through their human capital — these organizations are in need of soothing relief in the form of team member recognition; improved work conditions; effective incentive programs; up-beat, humane leadership; and perhaps some team member autonomy.

Organizations with low productivity, yet high positivity may have laid the groundwork by developing an upbeat, light-as-a-cloud work environment, but need to take course correction soon by instituting productivity goals; performance metrics; clearly articulating expectations; and identifying team leaders to motivate, inspire, and act as role models.  Left unchecked, the corporate coffin will be carried to the grave by happy, unemployed pallbearers.

Those blessed organizations with high productivity and positivity are destined for greatness.  To maintain the spirit of success they must loosen the corporate reins on their stallions and offer the freedom to run full bore.  They must systematize and automate operations when possible, and celebrate success often.  More importantly, however, they must embrace and learn from their failures.  Leaders who have identified those elements of their organization’s culture that have contributed to success, and then ensured they are ingrained in the corporate DNA, are more likely to defy the odds and secure enduring success.  Sounds great, right?”

I did eventually learn from the two examples I set earlier.  After I had a paradigm shift and learned that being hard-nosed would get me nowhere, I learned something important:  Productivity begins with hiring the right person.  I’ve believed, at least in the recent years of my career that a leader’s role is largely in a support capacity.  I try to find those with good character, then make sure they’re well taken care of and given everything they need.  I often ask employees if they’re comfortable, if they have everything they need, and if there’s anything I can do to help.  I’m often asked the same by my boss.  I often wonder how those situations I mentioned earlier would have ended up had I taken this approach with those “trouble” employees.  When I look back, I can’t help but feel that the loss in producitivity and toxic attitude was on my shoulders to fix.

The result is the best working environment I’ve experienced.  People missing work is largely an anomaly.  Sick days are practically non-existent.  People laugh, enjoy themselves, are passionate, respectful, and professional.  We take pride in our work and love to learn about better ways to do it.

Having said all this, problems do arise.  In a later blog post, I will talk about addressing issues in a respectful manner.  Let me just say that when problems do arise, they’re easily remedied in an atmosphere of mutual respect.  We’re eager to fix our flaws as employees.  We’re eager to coach to make each other better.   We want to be better, we believe we can be.

When I think about making a purchase of any kind (aside from my post-workout fast food meal – don’t judge me), I look first for the benefit the item will get me right away, and then I think of what I get from it down the road.

For example, I like to get coffee at my local gas station. I bought a travel mug from the gas station a few months back, and since I bought that mug, I get a discount on coffee, as well as one free coffee with every six fill-ups. I go fairly often, and can find out online how close I am to getting another free coffee.

The thing is, I could get coffee at any of the other gas stations in my area. The fact that I pass up the other guys is to earn my free refill. This gas station found a great way to entice me with a sweet looking mug, and they keep me coming back to earn that free refill. It’s not a big offering for the gas station, but for me, the customer, I love it. I earned that free mug of coffee, and I’m coming back in to start earning that next one.

This interest in getting free coffee has led to me making other purchases there, as well. If I’m already at this gas station for their coffee, I might as well fill up my car, or get a few candy bars. This gas station brought in a customer who makes purchases at their location all the time, and all they had to do was offer a small discount. Think about that for a minute. One small offering from the gas station turned this passive customer into a passionate one.

Think about your purchase habits, and why you choose one business over their competition. Chances are, it could have been started with a small offering.

An interesting subject came up this afternoon in my office regarding unsubscribe links.   What started out as running a new format for our opt-out footers by a coworker turned in to a 15 minute debate about the size of the opt-out link.  My colleague felt it was a bit too prominent, being two full points above the surrounding text.   I disagreed.   Here’s why.

As a marketer, talking about unsubscribing can be a touchy subject.  No one wants to lose recipients.  It might be your initial thought to make your subscribers look for any link to unsubscribe to your email publications, in hopes that they will just stay on your list and keep seeing your message.  I certainly felt this way in the early stages of my email marketing career.  While you don’t want to encourage recipients to unsubscribe, it’s important to remember this: once a recipient becomes disenchanted by your message, it’s unrealistic to expect them to scan your email figure out where the link is remove themselves from your mailing list.  At that point, they’re more likely to just click the SPAM button, which as anyone knows, is going to hurt your deliverability more than anything.

Of course, the re:member group strives to avoid unsubscribes and SPAM clicks by building compelling, relevant messages that interest subscribers, along with great subject lines and great looking HTML design.  However, the reality is that a certain percentage of your subscribers just won’t be interested in your message.  While the percentage of unsubcribes for emails the re:member group sends is less than 1%, a mailing list of 100,000 recipients gives you hundreds (at least) who are likely to be disinterested in your message.  You can imagine the impact on your deliverability when those hundreds of people click the “SPAM” button, –dropping your sender score and landing your message in SPAM folders (or worse yet, the dreaded junk folder).  Let me put it this way:  a list of 80,000 with a high sender reputation  and good deliverability is worth a lot more to your marketing efforts than a list of 100,000 with deliverability problems loaded with recipients who are frustrated by continually receiving your message.

Don’t advertise your unsubscribe links, but make it as easy (or easier) to find as the SPAM button.  Here’s another idea: along with a link in the footer, include a small link at the top of the message, as a service to your members.  But don’t stop there.  Next to the unsubscribe button, include a “Contact Customer Service” link, to give your customers an opportunity to contact you to resolve an issue, instead of just saying goodbye.  It might look something like this:

Unsubscribe here    •    Contact Customer Service

The bottom line here is to give customers what they want.  Provide relevant content and good products – and when they’re not interested, give them an easy out.  It’s good practice, and even more importantly, good customer service.

Alan Krutsch is the Director of Marketing for the Walser Automotive Group, which operates 14 Dealerships in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Mineesota. He breaks down the Walser Rewards program to describe all the benefits members receive.

Ready to start building your branded loyalty program? Contact the re:member group

Location:Walser Automotive, Bloomington, MN

It sure is cool when you can just post on the fly.

If you’re anything like me, you may spend well over an hour a day reading emails.  Email has easily replaced the phone as the primary form of communication on a daily basis.  It is one of the most powerful vehicles there is in terms of communicating with friends, colleagues, clients, and vendors.  You can leverage this power in an effort to strengthen your customer base and increase your bottom-line.

In this article, I will discuss what I believe to be “Best Practices” in email marketing.  Everything mentioned are practices that can easily be implemented by the Arrow ® Email Marketing department at re:member group.

re:member group Arrow® Email Best Practices

Determine Your Format.
Most sources say that HTML emails are the best selection for emails.  This allows for a concise format, where you can hyperlink and include images to deliver the most relevant, succinct message.  While HTML emails are preferred, text emails can be designed in a favorable format.  Ideally, you will want to use both and a tool that can determine which version to send the customer, based on the client they are using.

Create attractive emails.
Use plenty of space around text, use unique colors for links, use images that are pleasing to the eye and match the general style of your email.  Email sections should be clearly defined and recipients should clearly know what they’re looking at.   Have your graphic designer come up with attractive banners and images that are pleasing to the eye.

Brand your email
It should be easily know who your email is from.  The email should match your product brand, colors, etc.  Usually your emails should match your website, and vice-versa.

Call-to-action
Give your recipients a task, whether it’s reading an article, buying a product, or taking a survey.  That item should have another call to action, and so on.  Don’t let your recipients get bored.

Personalize.
If you were trying to get someone’s attention you knew, you wouldn’t simply shout “HEY!”.  You would say “Hey John!”.  The power of personalization can also be used in emails.  If you capture this information, you can use it effectively in the subject line, such as “John Smith, check out our newest product”.   Emails should always include whatever personal information whenever appropriate, if you’re capturing it properly.  If a member has points, include that.  If a member has an account number, include that as well.  Remember customers are marketed to for a matter of hours every day.  Commercials, billboards, you name it, it’s all very general.  Email gives you the ability to target a customer is a very personal way.

The one-second subject line
Make your subject lines easy to read at a glance.  Don’t make them too many characters, as most clients will cut off your subject lines at a determined amount (depending on the client).  It should be poignant and relevant, such as “10 Tips for Saving Gas Mileage”, or something relevant to your customer base.

Consider personalizing the “From” field.
If you have the ability to do this, it can be a powerful thing.  An email from “Tim at re:member group” can be more powerful and more interesting to a reader than “re:member group”.  This gives your message a more personal touch, and it recommended if your message is appropriate.

Be CAN-SPAM compliant.
Each email should have your physical address, a working phone number, and an easily-accessible link to unsubscribe from your email database.  Unsubscribe requests should be processed as soon as possible, no more than 1-week from when the request was made.

Don’t underestimate the power of Social Media.
Give your recipients an easy way to share your message over Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In, etc.  In the evolving world of social media marketing, more and more users are moving toward Social Media networks as their primary form of communication.  While email looks alive and well for the foreseeable future, many recipients appreciate the opportunity to have a message communicated with them on their preferred Social Media platform.  In addition, as soon as your message is shared, your recipients “friends” now have an opportunity to view the message, expanding the potential number of viewers to an exponential level. 

Make sure you have an up-to-date applicable Social Media page and update it frequently.

Determine how often you wish to send emails while staying relevant to your customers.
Unfortunately, there is no “silver bullet” or specific metric that you can use to determine this.  The answer can only be determined by you and may vary depending on the customer.

Tipping point Labs puts it best:
“Only you can determine how often you send out your email newsletters before your opt-out rates skyrocket.  I can tell you if you’re providing your audience with valuable content that directly addresses their issues on a daily basis, you can send out an email newsletter every single day and still retain the highest quality email database.  If your content is too widely targeted, chances are you’re trying to speak to everyone while reaching no one, and your opt-out rates will be really high.  So, I suggest you create some digital profiles or buyer personas, and then segment your email database using those buyer personas.

Now, determine how much high quality, relevant content you can create for each of those audiences, and distribute it as frequently as you can.  At that point, the people that opt-out are probably people you didn’t want to communicate with anyway.    So, how often can you distribute an email newsletter before your opt-out rates skyrocket?  Only you can actually answer that question, but it has nothing to do with your audience, and everything to do your content. “

In other words, email frequency depends largely on your subscriber’s preferences and attention-span.  How often can you create TRULY relevant messages?

As a guitar lover, I get weekly messages from Gibson Guitar.  It’s always a welcome email to see, and I’m always eager to open it and see what the latest offering is.  This week was their new “Aaron Lewis Southern Jumbo” guitar.  A single product, two images, and two paragraphs of text.  View the email here. Sometimes the email includes articles from Rolling Stone, Top-Ten albums lists, etc.  The point is, the email is simple, to the point, and plays on my interests.  I always find it interesting, and now when it lands in my mailbox, I don’t even read the subject line.  I just open it up, and I’m never disappointed.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays
While the day of sending (as it relates to response and open rates) varies by company and industry, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are widely believed to be the best days for sending.  On Mondays, people are generally getting ready for the work week, while Fridays tend to be the days people are looking forward to the weekend.

Throttle Your Emails
One way to avoid SPAM filters is to avoid that “batch-and-blast” method of sending emails.  Throttle your emails based on the general sending of emails depending on the day, emulating the typical sending behavior of any company during a typical business day.  While the exact numbers are proprietary, an example would be to send most emails in the morning, which is the general sending trend of most companies.  This will give SPAM filters the impression that you aren’t just SPAMMING recipients – you are just another company sending emails.

Use Feedback Loops
Feedback loops are essentially notifications from major ISPs that recipients have clicked the “SPAM” button, indicating the recipient considers your message SPAM.  Removing these recipients from your email database will lessen the amount of times your ISP considers your message SPAM, increasing the possibility they will deliver your message to the Inbox.

Repeat, consistent emails are key.
Make sure to balance out sending relevant messages and being as consistent as possible with your messages.  If you decide to send emails once a week, bi-weekly or monthly, stay on task and send emails along this schedule to remain familiar with your recipients.  Don’t send emails on a weekly basis and then go silent for a period of time.  Make sure to stay in the forefront of your customers’ minds.

Use Time Release Campaigns
A welcome message should always go out within 24 hours of a recipient enrolling in your program.  This confirmation of their enrollment can include a member number, a thank you message, tips and tricks, etc.  Don’t let your time-release campaigns stop there.  Set up messages to go out in a pre-determined time frame after a member enrolls.  For example, after a week, you could send the member a points-earning special.  Two weeks later, a 15% off coupon.  Three weeks later, a “unique opportunity” to take an action.  The time frames and actions would vary, but this is an opportunity to get a member “cemented” in your product and stay in communication.

Use Action-Based Messaging.
Set up unique messages to be sent based on specific “clicks” by recipients.  For instance, if you have a product line or offering that a member clicks on, have another message ready to send based on that same product line.  If you sell furniture, and a member clicks on your special for a table, send them an email for specials on chairs.  If you sell books, and a member clicks on a sci-fi novel, send them an email about your clearance on your L Ron Hubbard collection.  If you sell music, and a member clicks on a James Taylor album, send them your latest folk-music selections.

Conclusion
While the fine points of email marketing can be difficult to determine, the “30,000 foot view” is this:  1) Get to know your customers,  2)  Give them a hook to open the email, and 3)  Give them what they want.  If you can accomplish this, you will find your email marketing program ROI to be more than acceptable.

Let’s say you’re ready to start building a loyalty program for your organization, but you’re not quite sure where to start.  Read below for an overview on how to formulate a high-level plan for your organization’s loyalty program.

First, you want to identify what sets apart buying, servicing, and owning a product from your organization verses your competition.  What makes you different?  If customers know what makes you different, and they identify with it, they will already think about being loyal to you.

Second, start asking for email addresses from every customer that comes into your organization. Require an email address for enrollment in your program.  This is something you can begin now, even before your loyalty initiatives are fully identified and implemented.

Send regular emails to your members informing them of discounts, benefits, and opportunities to earn points. But even if you’re not ready to send emails, remember this acronym: ACE – Always Collect Emails.

Third, hire a company to assist you to develop a comprehensive points program.  What you need is a points-tracking system along with a comprehensive plan to build customer loyalty with points.  Look for a reputable Loyalty Marketing Company to assist with this, and don’t think you have to pay an arm and a leg. Any good loyalty program should increase your company’s profitability between 25 and 85%, and have an ROI of $13 to every $1 you spend in loyalty marketing.

Don’t think you have to do all of this at once. Rome was not built in a day, and Airline Frequent Flier Programs also have evolved from simply earning miles for taking flights into a comprehensive system for rewarding customers.  Once you start rewarding your customers for coming to you, you’ve got them on a loyalty cycle, and they’re on the road to being Customers For Life.

Speaking of ROI, your most expensive and unprofitable customers are the ones that only come in once. Whether someone does business with you once, or half a dozen times, your initial marketing investment to get them in the door is roughly the same. Why not spend that money just once, and keep the customers coming back on their own? The only thing that changes over time is your Return on Investment.

When a customer comes back of his or her own accord, you don’t have to spend money to convince them to come back in. At that point, with less overhead required to lure customers in, the products you sell will be at a better gross profit.

There is a sense of entitlement that customers have today that hasn’t always been evident.  Marshall Field, the American department store owner coined the phrase, “Right or wrong, the customer is always right”.  I opine whether he took into consideration the type of customers who are price conscious, yet expect the deepest appreciation for their having done business with us.

I don’t blame these customers.  I earn the money I make, and I want to keep as much of it as possible.  Even if that means driving all over town to save one- or two-hundred dollars on my $20,000 purchase (which, if I think about it, is only a 1% discount).  But there is the thrill of the negotiation, too: how much can I get in free stuff for the money I spend?

So here is a new twist on Mr. Field’s phrase:  “Right or wrong, the Customer is always tight”.  That doesn’t mean we should treat them any differently.  On the contrary, we should be thinking of creative ways to foster that sense of entitlement and help them save money.

If my twist on the above phrase is true, then think about it some more, dissect it and place the emphasis on a different word: the customer is always tight, whether they are negotiating for a vehicle, buying gas, ordering pizza, or renting a car.

You can help your guests save money, earn their respect and their business by leveraging your customer base. Get other merchants in your community to discount their prices or give away free stuff to your customers.

For starters, consider all the small business owners in your community.  Make a list of merchants who sell high-frequency sundry products, like meals in restaurants, dry cleaning, or groceries. Partner with them to send your customers to their establishments in exchange for an agreed-upon discount.  You’re exchanging free promotion to your customers, and merchants are happy for the free publicity.  You could call it “the tight customers club,” and I would be your first member.

When selecting merchants partners, take into consideration their level of competition in the community.  If they have no competition, they will be less likely to offer a discount.    Also, make sure the discounts merchants are willing to offer are strong, so customers are less likely to find them anywhere else.  Lastly, take the smell test: what’s your impression of the merchant?  You don’t want to align yourself to a business with a bad reputation.

Once you’ve established your little club, you’ll need a medium for the merchants to identify your Members.  This could be in the form of a card, a key chain, or a tattoo.  Just take into consideration that you want there to be an expiration date, so your customers will be compelled to come back for future vehicles.

When you get compelling discounts for customers from your merchant friends, the $200 they might have saved at the competition will dissolve in the face of the potentially thousands of dollars they will save in the club.  Instead of saving 1% off my vehicle purchase, I could save 10 to 15% over the course of a year.

Train your salespeople to show your prospects the value during the sales process.  For example, if only one merchant offers a “buy-one-get-one-free” meal, and the average meal costs $10, the customer only needs to go to that restaurant ten times in a year to save $100.

What’s more, this gives your salespeople something to get past “hello.”  A customer benefit like this moves the conversation away from price and helps your staff begin to build a real relationship with customers, which ultimately will bring those customers back again.

Here’s what will happen:  Customers will be carrying your name in their wallets, on their key ring, or printed on their forearm (if you go that route).  They’ll be members of an Exclusive Club:  Your Tight Club.  Every time they use their Membership, they’ll be thinking of what great value you brought to their entitled, price-conscious lives.  That’s a Customer for Life.  That’s advertising you can’t buy.  And it’s a value your competition won’t be able to offer.  Unless they offer it first.

Paul Long is the President of the re:member group, and one of the tightest customers on the planet.  He can be can be contacted by visiting  www.remembergroup.com.

This video was posted on iMEdiaConnection.  Agencies, including ours, want to do great work and make clients happy. But where do you draw the line with a disrespectful client?  Watch the video and see what some of the experts think