Today i received an email from Comscore. Usual PR lingo but this time i noticed something different… No “noreply” email, this was different. The first line of text said “Please feel free to respond to this email if you have any questions” blablablabla…
Online communication ( if not all communication!) stopped being one-way long time ago[1]. Email is still top activity in the web (along with search). Email is an open door to my own attention, it is Permission Marketing because I allow them to send me their stuff. It is interest based because I did allowed them to do so based on some common subject of interest. It converts better because of all that!!! (conversion means “more money”, if you like…)
Stop using excuses and talk with your customers if they want to talk to you!
Companies have email as an key touchpoint opportunity but few fully leverage it. “We have no one to reply to the emails” is the same as saying you don’t have people to answer your phones. More, email is hassle free which make users more willing to initiate some conversation with you (how value is that?). Some of them will be your friends forever.
So, why do organizations fail to leverage it?
Cross-departmental cooperation may be one reason. Often the people that spend the money on Websites, Email Marketing (newsletters), etc… are usually to detached from the Sales guys for instance (Sales guys talk more with the clients because they have bigger incentive to do it).
Lack of understanding why it is important… No Freaking way… Call me and i will advise you on that.
Why “smart” Email Marketing (or Customer Service for that matter)?
Think about one great service you enjoy on the web. Now, how is their customer service? I’m pretty sure 99% of people will say “great”, “hassle-free”.
Customer Service doesn’t have to be complex. It should actually not be complex. It should be direct, honest, open, fair. Zappos.com is one of my favourite. I’ve already mentioned before and will do it again: They will recommend one competitorto their clients if they cannot offer what they need. Why? Because client satisfaction is first and on that case client satisfaction means giving clients what they are looking for… Simple…. or maybe not….
PS: Not everything was good in that email. I noticed him because it went to my SPAM folder (not many have that honnour).
NOTE
[1] I guess they call one-way communication a monologue.
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