1to1 Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 17) On the Beat we love it! what were they thin king ? by Mila D’Antonio Marriott Sends Unsol icited Email Marriott really wants to know what you think about its hotels—whet her you want to tell the company or not. A cus tomer recently shared a story on The Consum erist blog about an email he received from Marriott. The email read: “Because you are a valued customer and your opinion is imp ortant to us, we would like to periodica lly ask you to provide feedback regarding you r experience with our hotels…. However, our records indicate that you have not given us permission to send customer survey invitat ions to you at this email address please give us permission to contact you at this em ail address to complete future survey s. This ? permission is for resear ch purposes only and doe s not give us permission to send you any marketing or promotional informatio n.” So Marriott sends emails to ask if it can send emails? Probably not the most sound marketing strategy. Carly Is the New Face of San Carlos When the City of San Carlos, CA, was faced with budget cuts of approximately $1.2 million last year, it meant losing a receptionist at city hall. To continue to provide visitors with a positive experience, Jasmine Frost, the city’s webmaster, created Carly, an interactive avatar that resides on a computer screen at the city’s front desk. Carly, named after the town, greets visitors and provides the assistance a human used to offer. Users can click on the icons that surround Carly, gaining access to information including department phone numbers and directions to the many city hall offices. The virtual receptionist is poised to save San Carlos $90,000 per year. “San Carlos has always been committed to excellent customer service,” Frost says. We think Carly serves as an example of how to reduce costs while maintaining quality service in these tight economic times. ? ? “It’s so easy to shut an idea down. But the essence of innovation is giving something a go and trying new ideas. ” — Jana Bowgerald, general manager, Group Lean Sigma, Qantas Speaking Up Ron Kelly, Vice President, Customer Services, Drugstore.com In the coming months, marketing dollars are going to be hard to come by. Kelly says that companies must hang on to the customers they already have. Here he explains what he thinks will be Drugstore.com’s biggest challenges going forward. What would you say is Drugstore.com’s biggest challenge as it relates to the customer? I’d say the demands of the customer. Every year the expectations get higher and higher and that puts stress on the customer service organization given that we’re tasked with providing the best possible service at the lowest possible cost. And that can be a challenge with the budgets we all have to face. We really pride ourselves with the service we bring to the Drugstore.com value proposition and that we can do it at a low cost. But it certainly is a challenge and it’s something that not only us but other organizations face day in and day out. Drugstore.com doesn’t do a lot of traditional advertising. Does your customer service organization promote the brand and conduct sales? We don’t do a lot of brand advertising, but there are three ways we want to touch a customer. The first is through the website, the second is the box that shows up on the doorstep, and the third is the touchpoint into the care organization when there is a problem and we want to place an order. That’s the voice that they talk to because they don’t see our brand out there in the traditional methods, so it’s vital to provide that great experience and demonstrate who we are as a company. Especially now with the current economic climate, companies may focus on cost savings.Why is it important to keep the focus on service? Given today’s economic environment, you might see companies slow down with their marketing spend. For us that may be search and affiliate type programs. It costs a lot of money to acquire customers, but it doesn’t cost that much to keep them. It’s all about providing that great customer experience, so if you can, continue to raise the bar on the great service offerings you have—whether it’s integrating new technologies to meet customer demands or services like chat. Customers continue to raise the bar on us, and it’s that much more vital given the economic conditions today to keep the customers you’ve got coming back to you. “It costs a lot of money to acquire customers, but it doesn’t cost that much to keep them. It’s all about providing that great customer experience.” ONLINE EXTRA: View a video interview with with Kelly, go to www.1to1media.com/links/kelly.html http://www.1to1media.com/view.aspx?ItemID=29293 http://www.1to1media.com/links/kelly.html
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