Here it is...I am laying it all on the line for you...or at least someone else did!!! I know this was not a promised week to blog, but I just found this article on Gather.com and had to share it with you.
And for those of you who are not familiar with Gather.com, it is essentially a site that will take the blogosphere and condense it into bite sized chunks of similar topics.
I think next week we should talk about eMarketing. If you enjoy reading this blog or any other blog, you should be blogging for you bank. I will help you get started on Monday! In the meantime, read and share this fantastic article regarding the importance of marketing planning...including how to get started!
Happy Marketing!
Jenna
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
The greatest gift of all...
Tis the season for giving thanks, Norman Rockwell paintings, the Coca Cola bears, strategic planning and thanking your best customers with candy or apples or some other typically edible arrangement they can share with all of their staff.
My blog today may seem like a bit of a rant but I so whole-heartedly believe in this topic that I feel it is necessary to talk about, so let's get started.
You all have the right idea. Because your customers have been faithful to you for so long it is important that during this season of giving you find a way to say "thank you." But here's the thing...(I will go out on a limb here) most of you say thank you with food. UGH!
Your grandmother has loved your for your entire life, do you say thank you to her with Florida Oranges? And what about your siblings? Do you tell them how much you love them with a basket of assorted meats and cheeses? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's talk for just a minute about how we give gifts. For those family and friends we know the best...we know what their financial situation is, we know what their family life is like, we know what they need (because they tell us) and we know what they want (because they tell us), we give them what we know they will love.
My mom this year will be receiving a Kitchen Aid hand mixer in red because she is tired of splattering cake batter all over the kitchen...her current hand mixer doesn't have a low setting and the new one will...I tested it. I could have taken the easy road and given her a gift card to pick out something she wanted, but that isn't very personal.
I will be getting my hair cut this week with the same woman I have had cut my hair for the past several years. We have a 40 minute conversation every six weeks or so...I don't know her well, but I know she just bought a new car a few months ago, and I know that she and her husband love to eat at a restaurant called nine75. I could get her an assorted meat and cheese basket because it's easy, or I could get her a gift card for car detailing, gasoline or a great meal.
I have a point...do you see it yet? I guess I'll have to get to it now...
For those of you out in marketing land, don't take the easy road with gift giving. Sure you save a little money when you buy in bulk. But your best customers are as different and individual as your family members. If your practice is to give gifts based on the longevity of the relationship, that's OK...but have you thought about REALLY thanking the customers who help you (the bank) the most? Have you thought about thanking the most profitable customers you have? If not, try it. I lose sleep over the amount of money we spend as marketers to thank the customers who are 80 years old and have 3 CDs and opened a young savers account for their granddaughter 20 years ago.
Granny deserves thanks, but what about the small business owners who have both their commercial and retail accounts at your bank, they own a home, own a business, have a couple of cars, offer direct deposit to their employees and have half a dozen deposit accounts with you...are they worthy of the assorted meat and cheese basket (even if there is wine in it)? NO, they deserve better than that. They trust you with their livelihood. You know more about them than you do about your second cousin who's name you drew for the family gift exchange.
I believe your best customers will appreciate an annual review of their accounts to be sure they have the best rates and lowest fees possible more than they will appreciate the food. That builds value in a way that your competition will never understand. Not to mention the fact that you may learn about a new challenge or opportunity that profitable customer is facing...talk about a HUGE opportunity to be the expert and get the lifetime relationship.
And from a cost perspective, at the very least it will save you a little money...it could even make that customer more profitable which will put money on the bottom line...which is more than I can say for the assorted meat and cheese basket!
Think about it. It may be too late for this season, but try it next year or the next time you give your best customers a gift. Let me know if you need help calculating the ROI on your giving...or even an ROI projection of a new giving program. Trust me. Reevaluating your gift-giving procedures will be worth it.
And check out this video...it will solidify some of the points I am trying to make!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jenna
My blog today may seem like a bit of a rant but I so whole-heartedly believe in this topic that I feel it is necessary to talk about, so let's get started.
You all have the right idea. Because your customers have been faithful to you for so long it is important that during this season of giving you find a way to say "thank you." But here's the thing...(I will go out on a limb here) most of you say thank you with food. UGH!
Your grandmother has loved your for your entire life, do you say thank you to her with Florida Oranges? And what about your siblings? Do you tell them how much you love them with a basket of assorted meats and cheeses? NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Let's talk for just a minute about how we give gifts. For those family and friends we know the best...we know what their financial situation is, we know what their family life is like, we know what they need (because they tell us) and we know what they want (because they tell us), we give them what we know they will love.
My mom this year will be receiving a Kitchen Aid hand mixer in red because she is tired of splattering cake batter all over the kitchen...her current hand mixer doesn't have a low setting and the new one will...I tested it. I could have taken the easy road and given her a gift card to pick out something she wanted, but that isn't very personal.
I will be getting my hair cut this week with the same woman I have had cut my hair for the past several years. We have a 40 minute conversation every six weeks or so...I don't know her well, but I know she just bought a new car a few months ago, and I know that she and her husband love to eat at a restaurant called nine75. I could get her an assorted meat and cheese basket because it's easy, or I could get her a gift card for car detailing, gasoline or a great meal.
I have a point...do you see it yet? I guess I'll have to get to it now...
For those of you out in marketing land, don't take the easy road with gift giving. Sure you save a little money when you buy in bulk. But your best customers are as different and individual as your family members. If your practice is to give gifts based on the longevity of the relationship, that's OK...but have you thought about REALLY thanking the customers who help you (the bank) the most? Have you thought about thanking the most profitable customers you have? If not, try it. I lose sleep over the amount of money we spend as marketers to thank the customers who are 80 years old and have 3 CDs and opened a young savers account for their granddaughter 20 years ago.
Granny deserves thanks, but what about the small business owners who have both their commercial and retail accounts at your bank, they own a home, own a business, have a couple of cars, offer direct deposit to their employees and have half a dozen deposit accounts with you...are they worthy of the assorted meat and cheese basket (even if there is wine in it)? NO, they deserve better than that. They trust you with their livelihood. You know more about them than you do about your second cousin who's name you drew for the family gift exchange.
I believe your best customers will appreciate an annual review of their accounts to be sure they have the best rates and lowest fees possible more than they will appreciate the food. That builds value in a way that your competition will never understand. Not to mention the fact that you may learn about a new challenge or opportunity that profitable customer is facing...talk about a HUGE opportunity to be the expert and get the lifetime relationship.
And from a cost perspective, at the very least it will save you a little money...it could even make that customer more profitable which will put money on the bottom line...which is more than I can say for the assorted meat and cheese basket!
Think about it. It may be too late for this season, but try it next year or the next time you give your best customers a gift. Let me know if you need help calculating the ROI on your giving...or even an ROI projection of a new giving program. Trust me. Reevaluating your gift-giving procedures will be worth it.
And check out this video...it will solidify some of the points I am trying to make!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jenna
Monday, November 5, 2007
Survey Says...
Any Family Feud fans out there? Good ole' Richard Dawson! I used to watch that show a lot. But this post really has nothing to do with that so I will get to it...
How many of you are members of a loyalty program? I collect miles on every airline, I participate with every major hotel chain, the grocery store, Sephora, Eddie Bauer, the corner convenience store (fountain soda punch card anyone?) and any other company who asks me to become a member so I can receive great perks and valuable discounts. I am a sucker. But I also pony up so I can see how they market their programs and reward their loyal customers.
It should start coming together for you now!!!
So, as I have mentioned before, I am as faithful to Hilton properties as I can afford to be. They let you double dip (so for each stay I get airline miles and HiltonHonor points!) and they are everywhere!!! Mostly I stay with the Hampton Inn properties...that's my price point!
I have mentioned the new Hampton Inn near the MarketMatch headquarters to you in the past...remember the remarkable customer service I received from Jason a few months back (go back and read the blog from September!). Well, he did it again.
Every few stays at a Hilton property, I receive an email asking me for 10 minutes to complete a survey to evaluate the quality of my most recent stay. I finish the survey every time they ask because the way I see it, if they didn't want to know, they wouldn't ask. This has been going on for YEARS. The more I do it, the less I think the information actually goes anywhere.
So, I filled out the survey for my most recent stay at the Hampton Inn near the Dayton Airport...They scored a perfect score on nearly everything. Toward the end of the survey, they asked questions about the sundry shop in the lobby of the hotel...this was not a perfect score for me. Hilton is notoriously faithful to Pepsi products, and I have been a faithful Coke-a-Cola girl my whole life. So, when they asked an open ended question about how they could make the sundry shop better, I replied with, "I wish they carried Coke products...Diet Coke to be specific," and left it at that. A few more questions and the survey was over.
The next morning, I was in my office checking email, and imagine my surprise when I had a new message from Jason, the General Manager of the Hampton Inn near the Dayton Airport...His message simply said, "If you wanted Diet Coke, you should have asked...I stock the cooler myself and try to keep a good mix, but for our loyal guests we want to make sure to have what they want. I will have Diet Coke for you when you return in November."
HOLY CATFISH! They actually share that information with the general managers? I had no idea!!! I am so glad to hear that those surveys don't go into the survey abyss!!!
So, what's my point? I have more than one...
1. Do you reward your loyal customers? You should. It doesn't have to be costly, but it does have to be warm and fuzzy.
2. Do you ask your customers about their recent experiences? WHY NOT?!?!?! You should be.
3. If you are asking what your customers think, do you take the feedback seriously?
3.5 Do your customers KNOW you are taking the feedback seriously?
4. How do you communicate the changes you will implement?
My grocery store has teamed up with United Airlines and for every $250 I spend at the grocery store, I get 125 United Airline Miles. You need to reward loyalty and give your customers a reason to not shop on price. There is a Super Wal Mart two blocks away from my grocery store...they carry the same products at a much lower price, but I really like to travel so those miles mean more to me than a few bucks at the grocery store.
Creative loyalty rewards can be what makes you different...What makes you different is NOT your customer service or the fact that you are a community bank...everyone says that.
No great reward comes without great risk. Dare to be different!! Reward your customers creatively!
Jenna
How many of you are members of a loyalty program? I collect miles on every airline, I participate with every major hotel chain, the grocery store, Sephora, Eddie Bauer, the corner convenience store (fountain soda punch card anyone?) and any other company who asks me to become a member so I can receive great perks and valuable discounts. I am a sucker. But I also pony up so I can see how they market their programs and reward their loyal customers.
It should start coming together for you now!!!
So, as I have mentioned before, I am as faithful to Hilton properties as I can afford to be. They let you double dip (so for each stay I get airline miles and HiltonHonor points!) and they are everywhere!!! Mostly I stay with the Hampton Inn properties...that's my price point!
I have mentioned the new Hampton Inn near the MarketMatch headquarters to you in the past...remember the remarkable customer service I received from Jason a few months back (go back and read the blog from September!). Well, he did it again.
Every few stays at a Hilton property, I receive an email asking me for 10 minutes to complete a survey to evaluate the quality of my most recent stay. I finish the survey every time they ask because the way I see it, if they didn't want to know, they wouldn't ask. This has been going on for YEARS. The more I do it, the less I think the information actually goes anywhere.
So, I filled out the survey for my most recent stay at the Hampton Inn near the Dayton Airport...They scored a perfect score on nearly everything. Toward the end of the survey, they asked questions about the sundry shop in the lobby of the hotel...this was not a perfect score for me. Hilton is notoriously faithful to Pepsi products, and I have been a faithful Coke-a-Cola girl my whole life. So, when they asked an open ended question about how they could make the sundry shop better, I replied with, "I wish they carried Coke products...Diet Coke to be specific," and left it at that. A few more questions and the survey was over.
The next morning, I was in my office checking email, and imagine my surprise when I had a new message from Jason, the General Manager of the Hampton Inn near the Dayton Airport...His message simply said, "If you wanted Diet Coke, you should have asked...I stock the cooler myself and try to keep a good mix, but for our loyal guests we want to make sure to have what they want. I will have Diet Coke for you when you return in November."
HOLY CATFISH! They actually share that information with the general managers? I had no idea!!! I am so glad to hear that those surveys don't go into the survey abyss!!!
So, what's my point? I have more than one...
1. Do you reward your loyal customers? You should. It doesn't have to be costly, but it does have to be warm and fuzzy.
2. Do you ask your customers about their recent experiences? WHY NOT?!?!?! You should be.
3. If you are asking what your customers think, do you take the feedback seriously?
3.5 Do your customers KNOW you are taking the feedback seriously?
4. How do you communicate the changes you will implement?
My grocery store has teamed up with United Airlines and for every $250 I spend at the grocery store, I get 125 United Airline Miles. You need to reward loyalty and give your customers a reason to not shop on price. There is a Super Wal Mart two blocks away from my grocery store...they carry the same products at a much lower price, but I really like to travel so those miles mean more to me than a few bucks at the grocery store.
Creative loyalty rewards can be what makes you different...What makes you different is NOT your customer service or the fact that you are a community bank...everyone says that.
No great reward comes without great risk. Dare to be different!! Reward your customers creatively!
Jenna
Friday, November 2, 2007
Site Search Now Available
We recently announced several new features. Beginning today, all Google Analytics accounts have access to the first of these features to be released: Site Search. It's currently only available if your language preference is set to English; it will be available in all languages soon.
Google Analytics has always shown you how people search to find your site. With Site Search, you can now see how people search your site once they are already on it. This is a goldmine of information because every time visitors search, they literally tell you in their own words what they are looking for. You'll not only see their initial searches, but how they attempted to refine searches when they didn't find what they were looking for. You'll see which pages they searched from and where they ended up. And you'll see how site search correlates with conversion and
ecommerce activity. As we beta tested this feature, we became even more convinced of the value of having a search box on a site.If you don't have a search box on your site yet, you might consider using the new Google Custom Search Engine (both free and paid versions are available). If you already have a site search solution, it is highly likely that our new Site Search reports will already work with it (including Google's GSA and Mini products).
The Site Search reports appear within the Content section. You'll need to enable Site Search to see the reports in the navigation.
Perhaps the easiest way to dive into the reports is to click Overview under Site Search and explore the links that appear on the right hand side of the report. (See the screenshot of links, above.)
For those who want to use the report navigation, the reports are broken down as follows. Overview is both a summary of site search activity and a jumping-off point to discover additional site search information. Usage allows you to compare visits that included site search against visits that did not include site search.
Search Terms shows you what people search for and how they attempt to refine unsuccessful searches. Start Pages and Destination Pages shows you where visitors begin their searches and where they end up. Categories shows you the product groups and areas on your site that visitors search. Trending allows you to track individual search metrics over time. The Segments menu, available in most reports, allows you to cross segment any group of searchers
We have several new articles in our Help Center to help you get started like How do I set up Site Search for my profile?
Posted by Alden DeSoto, Google Analytics Team
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