Casual Fridays

When you hear “customer loyalty,” what do you imagine?

The Happy Couple
The customer gleefully spending all their money with you out of some sense of belonging.

The Ol’ Ball & Chain
The customer is locked into a relationship with you because of terms and conditions or simply a lack of better choices.

The Gold Digger
The customer only stays with you because of the ‘gifts’ you give them.  Once the flow of giving stops, so does the love. 

I saw a billboard for U.S. Cellular the other day.  It read, “We Believe Loyalty Matters.”

It was unclear what they meant by that and it made me think.  I wondered, “Whose loyalty matters?”

Businesses today are so focused on creating customer loyalty.  It is a lofty goal to aspire to be such a great company that people will not leave you for a lower price or better rewards program.  How do you do that?  Which above version of customer loyalty do you pursue?

What if we completely changed our vision of customer loyalty to something like this:

Be loyal to our customers.

Now, what does that change?

A friend of mine was considering a position as pastor of a church. The church is an hour or so away. He declined the position because of the distance. My wife said the church probably would want someone who lived in their community anyway.

She’s right. Not only is proximity an issue, but there’s something comforting in another person knowing the “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant we love or the fact we had a relative in the obituary this morning. Not because we told them, but because they experienced it… they saw it.

Don’t we all want that? We want communers at our table, not commuters interrupting our lives. When we go to buy hiking equipment, we want an experienced hiker to help us find what we need. But more than that, how comforting is it to hear, “I remember my first hike. I wish I had one of these smaller backpacks. I wore myself out carrying too many unnecessary items. Since you’re going on a weekend hike, I’d recommend keeping your load light.”

As marketers (which we all are, to a degree), we have to remember this.

Do we drive in, drop off our marketing message, then speed back home? Or do we take the time to experience real community with our customers? Do we experience a part of their lives? Eat from their table? Drink from their cup?

Our agency helped a client develop a customer advisory board. We brought in 15 of their top customers, fed them dinner and discussed the company, the community and the customers. It was eye-opening. Assumptions were shattered and revelations came forth.

We made new friends and discovered something new about ourselves. I’m so glad we did it.

Try to commune with your customers. I think you’ll be amazed at the information, insight, and loyalty you gain.

Kem posted:

What is it with the human need to turn everything into an acronym? Really. I cut this out of a magazine I was flipping through last week about, of all things, CUSTOMER SERVICE.

A few weeks ago, I was doing research on eHarmony commercials. I thought I’d show you what we did with that research.

These were some fun TV ads we created for a Tulsa area business. It really fits their brand, since they’re known for matching people with just the right appliances. We’re hoping to build on this concept.

As a fun little riff, I thought I’d share with you a variety of snapshots from my cell phone and a few thoughts on each:

This is called a Whisper Phone. Our daughter’s elementary school teacher showed it to us at a parent/teacher conference. Children use the whisper phone so they can hear themselves read out loud, but not disturb the other students. Our innovative teacher had created hers out of PVC materials and spend less than a dollar on each phone. The manufactured versions retail for about $8.

Interesting how homemade is a style instead of a process now. Trust me, Ryan did not make this at his home. If it were homemade, you think it would come with a mass-produced sign containing a registration mark?

OK, who was the genius who decided to use Boise State quartertback Jared Zabransky to promote NCAA 08 in Oklahoma Wal-Marts?

I understand he’s on the cover of the game, but don’t they realize Boise State upset OU last year in the Fiesta Bowl (it was an amazing game, by the way)? I would think the promotional materials, if not the game cover itself, would be made as appealing as possible to each region it’s shipped. A Big XII player would have been much more appropriate. But being an Oklahoma State fan, I find this rather humorous.

I’m sorry, but I have a hard time sympathizing (literally) with someone who doesn’t put the name of their pet on their sign.

Tulsa is finally getting an Apple Store! This one is within just a few miles of my home. It won’t be done in time for the iPhone debut today. Below are the construction photos I took through a hole in the facade (geek alert).

Looks like we’ll be waiting a bit longer for our Apple Store to be fully operational.

Why have this sign at all if the exclusions are so broad? Why not put stickers on the Quarts that do come with a free pint? Of course this same frozen custard shop locked the doors behind us at 9:45 when their sign stated they close at 10:00. They had a bucket of mop water on the customer side of the counter (YUM!). They turned the outdoor lights out as we were enjoying our deserts al fresco. Guess they were in a hurry. Too bad we inconvenienced them with our business.

This picture isn’t very good, but you can probably tell it’s a flat tire. Nothing surprising, until you see what this tire is attached to.

It’s the tire rack at our local tire and lube center. The irony was too good to pass up.

Hope you enjoyed today’s SnapThoughts.

My brother-in-law and I had an interesting incident over Memorial Day weekend. We were having a party for my son’s first birthday. So, we went to Albertson’s to pick up my son’s birthday cake and some propane for my grill.

After we paid for everything, the clerk tells the grocery bagger to help us exchange my empty propane tank for a full one.

Bagger: (Blank look) I don’t know how to do that.

Clerk: Ask Suzie.

Bagger: (Blank look)

Clerk: Suzie? Can you help him exchange propane for these customers?

Suzie: Sure. (pulls out and holds up keys) Here are the keys, you know where the tanks are.

Bagger: (Blank look) I don’t know how to do that.

Suzie: (Scary look) You’ve got to be kidding me. They just gave me these keys this morning and I’ve been doing it all day.

Bagger: (Blank look)

Then Suzie helped us.

Wanna hear the REALLY ironic part?

The baggers name was “Will”.

I think his middle name is “Not”.

Update: Looks like Mike Wagner at Own Your Brand ran into his own “Will” recently. He’s asking for suggestions to overcome the “$30,000 Toothbrush Scandle”.

Maybe we can volley suggestions back-and-forth on how brand managers can overcome issues like Albertson’s Will and the Mike’s Toothbrush Nazi.

Mike Wagner has yet another fascinating post pondering the wisdom of incomplete brands. I love his thoughts and wonder why we don’t acknowledge how often the customer is wielding the paint brush, let alone encourage them to do it more.

Here are a few tidbits from my presentation yesterday. I spent most of my blog time (and more) preparing to speak at Entrepreneur’s Day, so this might be my only post this week.

The Marketing Proverb

If this is a marketing proverb, what is the moral?

or, some ad agencies prefer to

…simply entertain.

Do you ask this question?

How did you hear about us?

TV

Radio

Newspaper

Direct Mail

Billboard

Other

Hey car dealers… want to see some results?

When you see 71% of car purchasing decisions are influenced by word of mouth…

You’re right, but you can…

How do you influence word of mouth?

I’m not talking fashion trendsetters (unless you’re an apparel company). If you’re a technology company, these are the geeks. They’re the raving fans of your industry.

Do you make it easy for people to hand off your message to others?  More on this here.

The coupon above might get one person to show up, but it doesn’t encourage them to hand off the baton.

This coupon creates social currency. “You’ll like me more because I got us all free drinks.”

Online (blogs/message boards) or offline (customer advisory boards/customer events).

So, maybe we add two lines to our marketing proverb:

And the moral of our NEW proverb is…

We’re on the lookout for wolves.

You know… back-stabbers, saboteurs, spies and just plain evil-doers.

We suspect they’re among us. The wolf in sheep’s clothing.

But there’s something much more dangerous in our midst, also masquerading as sheep.

This “silent killer” of companies is much harder to find than the wolf. He wears the disguise well, even fooling himself. Her mission is so well embedded, if she doesn’t kill the company she most surely kills herself – her future.

This assassin might be you.

It is not the wolf you should fear, instead you should be looking for the PEOPLE in sheep’s clothing.

These are the people who are sheepwalking (thanks Seth) – mindlessly staying in line and feeling as though they’re “doing their job.” This is the cashier at Walgreen’s telling me I can’t purchase a giftcard with my credit card, but not knowing why. Worse yet, it’s the manager telling me the same thing – “It’s just our policy. That’s what they [corporate] told me.”

It’s the pilot not fighting orders to keep passengers on the tarmac. Even after he realizes he is close to having a mutiny of passengers on his hands. He knows they’re much less likely to fly his airline next time, but he’s just “doing his job.”

What a far cry from Southwest’s interpretation of the golden rule:

Treat others the way you want to be treated

Answer every letter
Call back
Bend the rules
Do the right thing
Find ways to say yes
Treat with respect

This is an excerpt from a wonderful luncheon presentation I recently attended. Kris Holt and Scott Moore of Southwest Airlines came and spoke to our marketing association in Tulsa, OK.

Look at that list again.

Bend the rules? Find ways to say “Yes”?

Are you doing that?

Better yet, are you building a culture that encourages it?

Stop pulling the wool over your employees’ eyes. Stop pulling it over your own.

This would have been perfect if it were chocolate milk (see below).

Two experiences this week that caught my attention.

———-
First
———-
My family came by the agency to eat downstairs at Gina and Guiseppi’s. As we struggled to commit the kids to a drink selection, the waitress suggested chocolate milk (which wasn’t on the menu). She was met with a resounding “Yes!” from our little ones.

Later on, the kids asked for refills. The waitress politely offered soft drinks instead. She explained they ran out of ingredients for the chocolate milk. To make the first batch, she got what she needed from the coffee shop next door. She had just offered chocolate milk to us, she didn’t want tell us they were out.

In the end, she got a nice tip from us and we’ll definitely recommend Gina and Guiseppi’s to our friends.

———-
Second
———-
I stopped by QuikTrip to grab a cup of coffee the other morning. The place was slammed as usual. (You have to understand that QuikTrip dominates the convenience store business in my area) As I set my cup o’ caffeine on the counter, I notice the cashier isn’t as fast as usual. She hesitates now and then, seems just a little lost. The young lady at the other register slides over and says, “Let me take your register. We’ll switch.” Just like that, she takes over and quickly starts tallying transactions and cheerfully sending us on our way.

—————
Bottom Line
—————
The bottom line is to know the bottom line: make the customer happy.

How do you do that? Well, typically not through corporate policies and a command-and-control management style. Corporate policy wouldn’t want cashiers swapping registers. Who would be accountable for an unreconciled till? Command-and-Control wouldn’t want waitresses borrowing from neighbor businesses on their own initiative.

You make customers happy by empowering your employees to do so.

“I don’t trust my employees to do the right thing.”

Then you have big issues, my friend. Either you’ve hired the wrong people, or you underestimate their ability when given clear objectives (see a trend here? You should by 6 lines into it.).

What are your objectives?
Do you hire the right people to fulfill your objectives?
Do they know the objectives?
Are they empowered to do it?

There’s one character who appears in The Incredibles only three times, but he really says it all, that little kid on the tricycle. When Mr. Incredible yells at him, “Well, what are you waiting for?” the kid replies, “Oh, I don’t know. Something amazing, I guess.” That’s what we’re ALL waiting for.
Andrea Gronvall interview with Brad Bird, Director of Pixar’s The Incredibles.

My wife and I were talking the other evening. She said, “I’ve been thinking about you all day.”

It’s not what you think.

My wife is a dental hygienist. She had been at a “team meeting” with the dental office. My wife thought the dental consultant said something I would say. They discussed how to ask patients questions and discover what the patient might want done to enhance their smile. The hope is that they discover something the patient is passionate about changing. The consultant then encouraged the office staff to be passionate about that change with the patient.

That’s being CoPassionate.

Being CoPassionate is the difference between being considered an inspiration and being considered a nut.

Being passionate about what you offer customers is great. Understanding why your customers get passionate and reflecting that back to them is even better. When you do that, something amazing happens.

That’s what we’re ALL waiting for.

We manage our brands.

We are careful with the corporate identity, making sure we don’t use the wrong font or use the wrong PMS* color. We are diligent to ensure all our marketing pieces are “on brand”, using the same taglines and having the same look and feel.

How much difference does it make? Yes, I agree it is helpful. I give clients such advice myself. I just wonder whether it makes a difference when, after all the marketing has brought in customers, they experience the opposite.

The pristine images of a luxury car ad lead you to an encounter with a rude, smoke-in-your-face, let-me-ask-my-manager, what-will-it-take-for-you-to-drive-home-in-this-car salesperson.

The fun and quirky ads lead a teenager to experience the same drab decor, lousy customer service, and bland burger with cold fries.

So, how do you manage your brand?

Here are specific examples:

I had a third party get their noses out of joint on a co-branded marketing piece. We failed to spell out their name (i.e. 35th instead of Thirty-Fifth). I was happy to make sure it was corrected, but I was surprised they were so indignant.

A friend told me about an interaction he had with “customer service” about an unexplained fee for new members. He was told it was an administrative fee. “For typing in a name?” he asked. The representative’s answer was, “Yep.” Remember, this is for NEW members. Welcome to the club.

Here’s the problem:

We know which one of these gets fixed, the typo. Colors get fixed and names get corrected, but customers (and often employees) still get shafted by technicalities and policies.

I think we have this backwards. We are rigid with the flexible areas of our brand. Meanwhile, we bend the inflexible areas until something snaps… usually our customers.

Your indignation shouldn’t arise when the corporate ego is bruised. It should reveal itself when your customers and employees experience anything contrary to the ideals your brand represents.

*PMS = Pantone Matching System. Yes, it is an unfortunate acronym.

Is there a difference between depth and authenticity?

… between shallowness and a lie?

We’re a society that is defined more and more by soundbites. Defining others more and more by snapshots. The problem is we’re not that good at it.

In the majority of companies and the majority of ad agencies today, there is no discussion of soundbites and snapshots. There is discussion of stategies, of big picture direction. What about the little pictures and the stories they tell?

Ask yourself next time you’re reading/watching an ad, perhaps your own: “What snapshot am I left with?”

Ask yourself next time you leave a retail experience: “What soundbite am I repeating to others?”

Without asking these questions, we tend to commandeer others’ soundbites. We fall back on the same clichés. We’re disingenuous. We “photoshop” our snapshots so that they are no longer windows to the truth. They’re the curtains we hide behind.

Give yourself permission to ask these questions. All of the sudden, branding becomes less like clay and more like marble. We don’t stretch it into a new form, we chip away the extraneous in order to discover the form within.

Educating potential customers can be powerful and perhaps nothing educates them better than experiencing your product. This is where free demos and bite-sized samples come in handy.

Maybe you have a Kool-Aid Point with your product. People are polarized to either love you or hate you. Those who love you are labled or attacked by the haters. What to do? Kathy Sierra give some good advise from horse trainer Pat Pirelli:

So, I asked the guy who knows a whole lot about it–Pat Parelli. “What do you when your users are accused of being card-carrying, koolaid-drinking, Parelli cult members?”

He offers two simple suggestions we can use:

1) “Give users the tools to represent what you do accurately.” (He gives his users a free-for-the-asking DVD that clearly demonstrates what the program is about.) “Don’t expect–or ask–your users to defend you.”

But the most important one–the simple ‘doh-slapping-the-forehead’ one for me–was this:

2) Ask the critics, “How long did you try it before you came to these conclusions? Because the feedback is really important to us.”

But what if you don’t know how to represent your product accurately? What if the demo doesn’t give them a real feel for your service? What if you don’t have complete influence over the experience?

This doesn’t just affect businesses. This affects how people view and accept you, your church, your activities, your methodologies, and your beliefs.

This is why I believe door-to-door evangelism is less effective for the church. This is where multi-level marketing gets muddled. It’s where franchises lose their way.

Before you get amped up to go out and educate the ‘uneducated’ about the virtues of what you offer, take stock in what you’re offering. Is the audience uneducated in regards to your product, or are you uneducated in regards to their wants and needs?

Who really wants or needs green eggs and ham anyway?

Apple recently released some fairly clever advertising.

What Works
As usual, Apple’s ads are carefully branded as they continue with a very clean and cool image. Unlike most of the iTunes ads, these strike a humorous tone. They are playful. Even so, they are not insultingly simple. Instead of playing the PC as a stupid or obnoxious character who you hate, he is a lovable but slightly incompetent representation. Amusingly, John Hodgman bears a striking resemblance to a chubby Bill Gates. Actually, the choice of Justin Lang as the Mac may be an allusion to a young Steve Jobs as well.

The spots tackle some pretty important issues separating PCs and Macs: restart issues, Apple’s bundled software, plug-and-playing nice with 3rd party hardware, viruses, and product value.

What Doesn’t Work (at work)
I don’t find a whole lot wrong with this advertising. It perpetuates the current word of mouth for Apple’s computers while subtly addressing what were once weaknesses (networking with PCs, software availability, pricing). Still, it may reinforce too heavily the opinion that Macs are only for personal use. If you want a business computer, then go with a PC.

If this is the entirety of Apple’s creative direction for their Macs, then ads like these may not give much help to one of the few brown spots of Apple. The ads do mention two factors very important to businesses: networking with PCs and running Microsoft Office. But the visual representation of the Mac in these ads is anything but business. In a 2004 interview with Walt Mossberg (yes, the same guy who said the iMac is ‘it’s the finest desktop PC on the market, at any price.’), Steve Jobs was quoted as saying,

… you know, we’re not so good at selling to the enterprise…

I don’t think these ads do anything to change that statement.