First, Happy Halloween!

OK, that’s out of the way. To me, the best part about Halloween is that it marks the unofficial beginning of the holiday shopping season. At Macy’s in Herald Square, just a quick jaunt around the corner from CRM magazine’s office in Midtown Manhattan, you can already see Christmas lights being strewn up in preparation.

Not only are people getting a head start on hanging lights to spread holiday cheer, but they are also shopping earlier. With an economy that make many say “no, no, no” instead of “ho, ho, ho,” consumers are looking for the best prices as early as possible as their budgets for discretionary purchases continue to shrink.

With less than two months left until floors are littered with torn wrapping paper with images of sleighs, Charlie Brown, snowmen, and other images of holiday yore, many small businesses looking to cash in during this usually prime shopping season seem to be increasingly focused on shoring up the customer experience it provides to those poring through their shelves — or online catalogs. As my fellow CRMer Lauren McKay points out in an earlier blog post, the stakes are even higher this year for businesses because of the economic downturn.

A study conducted by RatePoint, a Needham, Mass.-based customer feedback solution provider for small-to-midsize businesses (SMB) finds companies are getting the message loud and clear:

• more than 80 percent said business reputation and solid customer support impacts their ability to attract and retain consumers;
• forty percent report they are hiring up to five new employees for customer support over the holidays to help manage inquiries, orders, and returns; and
• most will spend an average of 10 hours monitoring their reputation to safeguard against any possible early warning signs of customer issues.

To Richard Turcott, chief marketing officer or RatePoint, this shows him many in the SMB segment are realizing the importance of forging quality customer relationships, as he says this is directly correlated with company reputation. He was particularly shocked by the second survey nugget, the fact that almost half of SMB owners say they’re hiring up to five new employees despite the economic environment.

While he admits the new hires may not all be full time, it is the principle that matters most. “The SMBs are sticking their necks out, providing exemplary support, and demonstrating they are customer-centric businesses,” he says. “These [new additions] are primarily part-time employees, but [nonetheless] provide a great view in which the small business community sees feedback and service as an important driver to helping them stay strong through this tough economic climate. These [organizations] are building equity rather than short-term hits.”

In a time when Web 2.0 technology is the soapbox du jour for many consumers sounding off about a company’s products or services, having a strategy to proactively cull and act upon customer feedback is even more important. “The prevalence of social media perpetuates the ease in which competitors and disgruntled employees can say negative things about a business,” Turcott says. “For small businesses, it’s more a necessity than a luxury to actively manage its online reputation. If they don’t know it now, they will very soon.”

For the SMBs — and also larger enterprises — out there gearing up for the holiday season, what strategies are you using to manage customer feedback and consequently improve the experience your shoppers have?

“See ya later,” says Mike in the red polo shirt as he hands me my change. I grab my pack of Trident and 32-ounce fountain drink and exit the glass doors of my local QuikTrip. I say aloud, “I love how the QT guys know me well enough that they say ‘See ya later,’ to me. They know I’ll be back tomorrow.” My friend flashes her “You’ve got to be kidding me” face. “They say, ‘See ya later’ to everyone,” she says, bursting my bubble and not seeming to care. Crushed as I was that the QuikTrip employees weren’t singling me out for my repeat business, I couldn’t help thinking what a simple, yet great customer service and branding idea that is. That one phrase made the cross-over from formal to friendly. If I was fooled by the “See ya later,” surely others were too (right?). QuikTrip, although a Tulsa-based convenience store chain (sorry you coasters, it’s mostly in the Midwest and the South) still maintains that neighborhood-store kind of feel, where you think everyone might know your name.  

That got me thinking about corportate catch-phrases — ones to convey brand identity and remind customers what company they are interacting with. [Sidenote: In college, I waitressed at a sports bar that insisted on its servers shouting "Game On!" when placing plates of food in front of guests. Needless to say, I did not last long at that particular establishment.] It truly can make a difference, albeit slight, in the customer experience. The trick is to make the saying short enough to not warrant a phone click. Think of being on the phone with a customer service rep. Your need has just been taken care of and now all you want to do is get off the phone, but the rep starts spealing into a memorized/read monologue to the extent of, “We value your business Mr. XXX at XYZ. We hope you…blah, blah, blah.” Do you stay on the phone until the agent has finished his required speech? Or do you try to hurry the ordeal along with several snippy “yeahs,” “uh huhs,” and “thanks.” [Hint: the agent won't speed up... no matter how ubruptly you encourage it.] Or do you simply end the call without hearing how grateful the agent is for your call and your business? 

It’s funny how words can make such a difference. When researching this topic, I came across a list of the “Top 15 Things Retailers Should Never Say.” I think many of these can be applied to CRM in general:

1. I don’t know
2. All sales are final
3. Calm down
4. Did you see any?
5. We’re closed
6. Will that be all?
7. It’s over there
8. I can’t do that
9. That’s not my department
10. We’re out of that
11. It’s against our policy
12. I’m new here
13. Hold on
14. I’m busy right now
15. You’re wrong

On Tuesday, we ran a news story about how marketers/businesses who have invested in online marketing and Web analytics are going to continue doing so. This, according to Jim Sterne, author of the report and founder of the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit (eMOS), is a testament to the fact that those who are using these tools are seeing results and standing by them.

The Association of National Advertisers concluded its “Masters of Marketing” conference two weeks ago (Oct. 16-19) and it, too, launched a survey to its attendees. Though this one captured a much wider audience (approx. 1,400 attendees comprised of marketers, analysts, and agencies), results still point to a similar conclusion — marketing budgets, in general, aren’t plummeting as much as everyone had feared, as long as they’re showing the numbers (and the money). In fact, BtoB magazine will be hosting a Webcast tomorrow where Stefan Tournquist, Research Director at MarketingSherpa, “explains why cutting budgets in a tight economy may be a shortsighted approach.”

Check out the survey and results after the jump, as well as a few words from Barbara Bacci Mirque, executive vice president at the ANA.

Read on… »

Maybe it’s a side effect of skimming the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal every morning, but I’m starting to feel really bad for people who work in finance. Not all of them, of course; the ones who got us all into the mess we’re in deserve the scorn they’re receiving, along with some corporate alchemy (turning golden parachutes into lead). But banking and financial services are huge industries that everybody depends upon, and the worldwide ugliness we’re experiencing has got to be taking a heavy personal and professional toll on the folks who are left holding the bag.

Banks and investment groups are bigger brands today than ever before in history — though I can’t say I’ve done a whole lot of research to back that up — so whenever there’s news of a crisis or misstep, everything related to that brand takes a hit, and so does public confidence in general. The latest victims are in the Persian Gulf; Kuwait is planning a bank bailout, and Saudi Arabia is about to loan some $2.3 billion to low-income borrowers. (Link may require free registration.) Qatar’s stock market lost nearly 9 percent of its value yesterday. If you think they didn’t like the U.S. before, just wait — blame for the worldwide economic ugliness can be laid at our doorstep, and I’m sure some more fists will be shaken in our direction before this is over.

How do bankers and investment brokers deal with all this, and keep their customers from putting their money in the First National Bank of Mattress? you knew I’d work my way back to this … the answer is good CRM practices. The banking industry should be marketing the safest account options for individuals and businesses, and brokers should emphasize the securities that are the most, er, secure. They have to turn a profit, but the way to do this is to restore a feeling of confidence — relative to the rest of the world, if not absolute — that will encourage smart saving and sound investment. Account managers have to be even more consultative than usual, and make sure they’re selling a good solution for what the customer wants. If ever there was a time for long-term thinking, it’s now. Well-served customers are not only more likely to keep their business with you, but to keep their business — period. With financial uncertainty comes greater risk of failure, and any further mishandling at this point can destroy lives and livelihoods.

The need for good CRM is evident in any business when times are tight; financial services companies just have it harder right now because of the huge black eye they’re sporting. As with many shakeups in the past, the key is confidence. Panic leads to disaster, and FDR’s words have never rung more true: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

There are just some things that you wish to keep personal and out of the public eye. Thanks to the amassing of information on the Web, community forums and wikis, and even social networking, social engagement and the quest for knowledge is able to be done behind a computer screen and anonymous, if the user so wishes.

Take Ask.com’s most recent adverstising campaign, for example. The search engine is taking the approach that you can ask virtually any question you want online, from whatever identity you choose.

At last week’s Teradata Partners conference in Las Vegas, a rep from retail store JC Penny presented on the benefits of online communities. When JC Penny launched its newest –and the biggest private brand launch for the Penny Co.– lingerie brand named Ambrielle, the Customer Relationship Marketing team wanted to create better brand recognition than it has with its existing lingerie brand Delicates. The team decided to launch a community site for Ambrielle to engage customers with a forum, feedback outlets, and news and promotions specifically for those community members.

The campaign began with trigger postcards, inviting recipients to visit the Ambrielle site, give feedback, and opt in for the Abrielle “Advisory Team” — a group in which, the presenter, admits they hadn’t really formulated. 65 percent of those who visited the site, opted in to join the team — a whopping number. Perhaps that shows that the topic of lingerie interests women; however, isn’t exactly a topic they would want to contribute about face-to-face.

What I’m getting at here is that social media and Web 2.0 are breaking barriers with customers. Companies are now able to communicate and converse with them about subjects that might have been taboo or just too personal in the past. Look at online dieting sites. The traffic is immense and the marketing targeted and valuable. User participation runs wild. Why? It’s a subject people care about, but need the shield of a computer screen to feel comfortable contributing.