filter by tag: planning

Customer service is more than just a 1-800 line or salesperson who helps you. As a marketer, I believe it is really about external brand communications and ultimately enhancing brand equity. Now more than ever, a small, isolated customer service incident can become a national PR disaster. For those companies who don’t make customer service a priority or handle situations the right way, it can cost them dearly.

It’s simple – failure to meet consumers’ expectations can damage brands. According to a recent study from Genesys, with research firm Greenfield Online and Datamonitor/Ovum analysts, U.S. companies lose an estimated $83 billion each year due to lost purchases and customers as a direct result of a poor experience. In fact, 71 percent of consumers have ended a relationship because of a poor customer service experience.

Consumers don’t want to feel like they are not being heard. These days, with the help of social media and other channels, consumers have a much bigger voice. This is something we saw with film director Kevin Smith and his recent Southwest Airlines flight experience. While Kevin has a slightly larger platform than most, he was still able to catapult his unpleasant flight experience to national news.

It is important for brands to set up the proper infrastructure to ensure communication is being trickled all the way down and to the right people. There is nothing worse than consumer-facing employees not being educated about programs or products that are heavily promoted through other disciplines (e.g., ads, POP, email newsletters). Some things to consider when developing a customer service strategy are:

• Ease of implementation
• Employee communications
• Pertinent information distribution across all appropriate channels
• Program-specific reactive responses
• Online conversation monitoring
• Direct-to-consumer communications, if appropriate

Brands should be willing to adapt to the times and be open to change. A plan that was well received for the last 25 years might still be outdated. At the end of the day, the ball is in the brands’ courts. If they choose to put emphasis on evaluating their customer service efforts, it may save them big in the end and win the hearts of consumers across the country.

-- Jessica Lappen, Account Supervisor

When does a meeting need to be face to face?

Fast Company poses this question to our CEO Jens Bang in its online series "30 Second MBA," whichfeatures CEOs andother executive leadership sharing best practices for business management.

As he explains, a face-to-face meeting allows the participants to "express the emotionality behind the communication."

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime. Offer him free fish, and hoards of people will overrun your restaurant so fast you’ll risk food shortages and riots. Or something like that…

It seems there’s no end to restaurants and food brands offering coupons for free meals and products. What’s surprising, however, is just how little the participating companies understand the power of the word “free.” In this economy – or any economy, really – you’ll find people hard-pressed to pass on free food, as any parents visiting their child at college can tell you. Offer to take the roommates to dinner, and suddenly you’re staring at a two-hour wait for a table for 10.

So, why do marketers continue to underestimate the demand? Didn’t the Oprah-KFC incident teach us anything? Apparently, we’re still waiting for the lesson to sink in. Just last week, restaurant chain TGI Friday’s had to face the ire of Facebookers everywhere when coupons for a free Jack Daniel’s burger or chicken sandwich ran out 24 days sooner than expected. To stem the groundswell of negative comments, TGIF hastily extended the promotion. What was initially an offer of free burgers for the first 500,000 Facebook followers of TGIF “fan” Woody, has been opened up to the first million. At the time of this post, Woody is closing in with 970,739 followers.

In a similar incident, Smucker’s launched a promotion offering 20,000 coupons for free packages of Uncrustables Sandwiches. Within hours of going live online, the coupons were gone. The program was slated to run through October, and it didn’t even make it out of September. According to a Smucker’s PR executive, it doesn’t look like the company will make any more coupons available. This hardly seems like a good move, especially as Smucker’s tries to drive moms to its Web site to submit tips on giving their kids and the whole family “a wholesome, satisfying and convenient snack.” Moms can still provide tips, but they shouldn’t expect free sandwiches.

The lesson here? Take a cue from the Oprah-KFC effect. Coupons for free food will inevitably run out – and faster than you think. So, take the time to prepare a contingency that won’t leave consumers feeling cheated. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

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Recently, I assisted in the execution of “Dog’s Night Out”…the first-ever restaurant for dogs in Boston, Mass!

Having planned over the years for several different types of events, and implementing hundreds of them, let me share some tips that could help you get started on a future event.

Start out by thinking in four different phases.

First Phase: Plan
You need to begin planning three months to a year or more in advance, and determine the event’s purpose. Decide who your intended audience is and create a marketing plan; include a budget and the number of people you need to execute the event successfully. Do your homework, and conduct research surrounding your planned event date. See if there are any partnerships you can tap into to share some of the expenses.

Second Phase: Time to Tackle
By now...the decks are clear and you’ve rolled up your sleeves. Develop checklists, determine and confirm where your event will take place. Begin thinking and creating your event flow; choose your vendors and begin developing your promotional/media materials. Depending on your event type, invites should be in the mail, all media outlets contacted with appointments secured, and if you are considering a broadcast satellite feed, make sure that’s in place. Lastly…have a back-up plan in place for those “what-if” scenarios!

Third Phase: Nearing the Finish Line…The Event
Today’s the day…All your vendor contracts are signed, purchase orders secured and you’ve checked…you’re on budget! Lastly, your briefing books are assembled and you’ve reconsidered all the “what-if” and back-up scenarios. Team has arrived and everyone is there to work and achieve great results.

Fourth Phase: Wrap-it-up
Immediately following the event, make sure you send thank-you notes to everyone, including the team. Check to make sure that all the vendors are paid, and lastly…make yourself proud of you and your team’s accomplishments…merchandise your results.

Remember, no two events are the same, and these phases are meant to be used only as a guide.

--Helene Fletcher, Account Supervisor