Posted by S Swaminathan on Mon, May 17, 2010
With digital marketing taking centrestage, it time to reassess and evaluate age-old marketing techniques and adapt them to new digital world. Here's how Domino's Pizza is doing it.
Domino's Pizza is using the persuasive power of socially connected consumers who have huge influence over each other; the key idea here is how they harness that power and put it to work for thier brand—with rewards, of course, for the consumers in question.
Domino's Pizza has developed a widget that consumers can place on their social networking profile, blog or other online presence, which their friends can then click on in order to order a pizza. For every order, they get 0.5 percent of the sale.
Read more here
Posted by Ajay Kelkar on Fri, May 08, 2009
The complaining customer - we just can’t stand them! Well, most of us can’t stand them. The reality is that business organizations should love them. Shep Hyken comments that "A complaining customer tells you where you can improve. They actually come forward and show us where we make mistakes. But, most of the time, people hate to hear the complaints. First, a few facts you should know about people who complain. Most of the time, when people have a complaint, they complain to everyone else rather than the person or people who caused the complaint. If you resolve your customers’ complaints, you will keep them most of the time. But first you have to know there is a complaint. So, how can we find those complainers? Well, most likely customers won’t tell us, so, we have to ask them. It is that simple. Call them up or ask them in person. Actively solicit feedback to find out what they are thinking."
And most criticaly use Customer behaviour data to spot Customer service failures as they occur. Customers are constantly leaving behind a data footprint of "failed brand promises". Direct data analytics to spot incidents of customer promises "not met". The crux of " Analytical marketing" is using data to drive an improved customer experience. Imagine if a bank were to call you up and say " I am sorry sir ,we are one day behind schedule on your cheque book request,please accept our apologies and your cheque book will be with you tomorrow morning". Or better still build predictive models to find customers where "service levels are likely to slip" and then proactively monitor that customer's transactions to create a moment of delight.
And when you find a problem or complaint, resolve it on the spot. No company is perfect. So find out what those imperfections might be. And, when you hear about a problem, fix it. And make sure you give that customer a reason to come back so you can do it right the next time. Take that moment of misery and turn it into a MOMENT OF MAGIC.See what Shep Hyken has to say about ‘The Complaining Customer’http://www.hyken.com/Article_11.html
Posted by Ajay Kelkar on Sat, Apr 18, 2009
Each time a customer makes contact with an organization through any channel, it is an opportunity to build the relationship and also revenue!In fact even a customer complaint call is actually a gold mine,because very few customers actually care enough for the brand to actually complain! In growth countries like India ,the added opportunity is to use the inbound calls as vehicles for customer education leading to better onboarding of customers.
There are monumental gains to be realized when companies prepare themselves to engage with customers who are calling in. When consumers contact an organization, whether a communications firm, financial institution, retailer or otherwise, that organization has already incurred a cost, simply by answering the phone or putting up a Web site. The challenge is how to more effectively convert those interactions into value opportunities for the consumer and the brand alike.
In order to do this, marketers need to change their perspective and let the customer history, marketplace and business objective drive the engagement at an individual level. Aligning key elements of the customer engagement model, such as channel, cycle, content, cost and competition, as well as embedding advanced analytics into the offer catalog, facilitates personalized one-on-one communication. With an integrated process, high-volume consumer brands can increase conversion rates, identify qualified leads, improve retention and increase satisfaction levels by engaging consumers in targeted conversations.
See what Diane Lucero has to say about ‘Optimizing customer engagement'.
http://www.dmnews.com/Optimizing-customer-engagement/article/127545/
Posted by Ajay Kelkar on Mon, Sep 08, 2008
There's always a lot of thinking & data-driven insights needed on how to approach segmentation of customers. At Cequity, we have always believed that we have to connect transactional data with behavioral observations that can help us identify customer types and segments more precisely. Here's a method adopted for the travel & hospitality business. Read on:
This questionnaire, developed by travel researcher Stanley Plog, divides travelers into six personality types. At one end of the spectrum are "venturers" who like to strike out on their own to remote places. At the other are "authentics" who prefer Disney World as an adventure.
Two people can take the exact same trip and come away with completely different impressions. Many travel experts offer a short quiz to help define your travel personality. If you love going places, you may be an adventurous traveler. This means generally you love going places you've never been, keep your passport current--just in case--or laugh at the very idea of a travel guide book. You are spontaneous and curious and like learning about the world by experiencing it. You look for last minute deals that provide you a chance to explore new places.
Structured travelers like to have a plan in place and look for low stress. You even have an alternative plan if something should go wrong. You like to look at your hotel room by online video so you know exactly what to expect. Laid back travelers handle stress without much anxiety. You choose a relaxing vacation one time and an active one another. You often wait until you arrive at your destination to decide what you will do while you are there.
To find out your travel personality try taking a quiz at a new Web site, http://www.besttripchoices.com/