Heard a heartening story today about (real) estate agents. Not the usual joke about them all losing their jobs, ha ha. This time about how one firm has handled the uncomfortable reality of a downturn.
A friend of ours has worked for an agency for four years, and has been made redundant in the latest response to the changes in the UK housing market. She was unhappy, and requested a meeting with the Managing Director.
Not only did the MD meet her, he showed her financial reports and statistics - in confidence - to explain the background for the decisions; then he showed her the numbers and selection criteria used for those who would lose their job. Last, he gave her a personal reference, and his cell/mobile phone number.
Good to hear that somebody is doing the right thing in a difficult situation. Hats off to the man.
Thursday, 29 May 2008
"Oh no, you need Sales for that, we're Customer Services"
You probably guessed most of this from the title. Except it's about a UK insurance company with a fantastic reputation in a competitive and profitable niche ...
I call to change the starting date on an insurance policy. I talk to the Customer Services team (I'm skipping the part about how it took seven minutes for my call to be answered). I am told I will need to cancel the policy and start a new one - OK, not ideal, but no problem, until I learn that Customer Services can only do the cancellation part; "No, we can't set up a new policy for you, you have to talk to Sales for that".
Where to begin with this ... well:
1. You could at least have offered to put me through to the other department
2. You could have recognised that this was possibly a bit of a pain for me, and therefore it was a distinct possibility that I just might not do it
3. This is a competitive marketplace - why don't you behave as if you know that?
4. How come we are still dealing with companies organised around the needs of the operation, rather than the needs of the customer?
It's amazing, and pretty sad to witness a corporate mentality that seems not to recognise the link between service and sales
I call to change the starting date on an insurance policy. I talk to the Customer Services team (I'm skipping the part about how it took seven minutes for my call to be answered). I am told I will need to cancel the policy and start a new one - OK, not ideal, but no problem, until I learn that Customer Services can only do the cancellation part; "No, we can't set up a new policy for you, you have to talk to Sales for that".
Where to begin with this ... well:
1. You could at least have offered to put me through to the other department
2. You could have recognised that this was possibly a bit of a pain for me, and therefore it was a distinct possibility that I just might not do it
3. This is a competitive marketplace - why don't you behave as if you know that?
4. How come we are still dealing with companies organised around the needs of the operation, rather than the needs of the customer?
It's amazing, and pretty sad to witness a corporate mentality that seems not to recognise the link between service and sales
Tuesday, 15 April 2008
Open mail
A large mailing pack arrived this morning from the RSPCA, and it’s asking for money. I'm not a member, I've never given them anything, and it’s not even addressed to me. So it has all the hallmarks of ‘junk mail’. Except …
On the back, in reassuringly large type, it has the following message:
"This letter has cost just 11p to print and send to you: not everyone
will respond to it, but it is one of the best ways we have of finding new animal-lovers to help us. Don’t throw this away – please support the RSPCA."
Please would every copywriter in the English language note the brilliant simplicity and importance of this message. Please would every client contemplating the use of unaddressed mail, take note, and incorporate similar concept in their own marketing.
Maybe there is hope after all for the idea of environmentally sustainable direct mail.
On the back, in reassuringly large type, it has the following message:
"This letter has cost just 11p to print and send to you: not everyone
will respond to it, but it is one of the best ways we have of finding new animal-lovers to help us. Don’t throw this away – please support the RSPCA."
Please would every copywriter in the English language note the brilliant simplicity and importance of this message. Please would every client contemplating the use of unaddressed mail, take note, and incorporate similar concept in their own marketing.
Maybe there is hope after all for the idea of environmentally sustainable direct mail.
Monday, 14 April 2008
Terminal thinking
How could a massive project go wrong so unexpectedly? One day, perhaps, we will understand why British Airways (BA) managed to make such a mess of the launch of Terminal 5 (T5). Until then, I have a theory …
Thousands of people worked on this project for years. The whole thing was tested, using members of the public, in advance of the launch. What did they miss?
And then I read a profile of the Chief Executive, Willie Walsh, in ‘The Economist’. It talked about how important T5 was to him, how often he referred to it, and how he knew, to the hour, how much time remained before launch.
Now I had my theory. Something in the culture of BA translated the CEO’s message about the critical importance of a project, into a corporate refusal to accept any bad news about it. I am certain that within BA, a lot of knowledgeable people knew very well that the launch was likely to fail; believing that failure was not an option, they had decided to keep quiet.
It’s a tough challenge for a leader. How do you show strong leadership across a massive organisation, whilst allowing time and space to hear clear messages coming back the other way?
Thousands of people worked on this project for years. The whole thing was tested, using members of the public, in advance of the launch. What did they miss?
And then I read a profile of the Chief Executive, Willie Walsh, in ‘The Economist’. It talked about how important T5 was to him, how often he referred to it, and how he knew, to the hour, how much time remained before launch.
Now I had my theory. Something in the culture of BA translated the CEO’s message about the critical importance of a project, into a corporate refusal to accept any bad news about it. I am certain that within BA, a lot of knowledgeable people knew very well that the launch was likely to fail; believing that failure was not an option, they had decided to keep quiet.
It’s a tough challenge for a leader. How do you show strong leadership across a massive organisation, whilst allowing time and space to hear clear messages coming back the other way?
Monday, 3 March 2008
Flying by the seat of your pants
When you pilot an aircraft, you have lots of important information on your dashboard. Beautiful and intuitive displays show precise data on key performance criteria (are you going up or down, how fast are you travelling, which way are you heading, are the engines OK?).
When you fly complex manoeuvers, there’s a lot going on. Every control input has a primary and a secondary effect (if you roll the wings to the left, you may well find the nose starts to point off to the right); there are several other factors such as engine speed, even which way the propellor turns, which all make a difference to what actually happens to the aeroplane as you go through your sequence.
To make that complex manoeuver look graceful and accomplished, you need to understand the aircraft and practise a lot; and whilst you’re actually flying it, you need to spend almost all of your time looking outside to see where the horizon is and which way your nose and wingtips are pointing. You get a lot of information literally from the seat of your pants as you feel yourself being pushed to one side or the other. Your elegant dashboard is almost useless until you are back into normal flight: it doesn’t tell you what you need to know, and even glancing at it makes you miss the really crucial information.
You definitely want to have your state-of-the-art dashboard. At the same time, in a complex world when you need to make difficult moves, you need to spend a lot of time looking out of the window.
And just to stretch the metaphor even further … when you’re in cloud, or when there’s no clear horizon or reference point, no sensible pilot attempts a complex move - you just concentrate on your dashboard.
When you fly complex manoeuvers, there’s a lot going on. Every control input has a primary and a secondary effect (if you roll the wings to the left, you may well find the nose starts to point off to the right); there are several other factors such as engine speed, even which way the propellor turns, which all make a difference to what actually happens to the aeroplane as you go through your sequence.
To make that complex manoeuver look graceful and accomplished, you need to understand the aircraft and practise a lot; and whilst you’re actually flying it, you need to spend almost all of your time looking outside to see where the horizon is and which way your nose and wingtips are pointing. You get a lot of information literally from the seat of your pants as you feel yourself being pushed to one side or the other. Your elegant dashboard is almost useless until you are back into normal flight: it doesn’t tell you what you need to know, and even glancing at it makes you miss the really crucial information.
You definitely want to have your state-of-the-art dashboard. At the same time, in a complex world when you need to make difficult moves, you need to spend a lot of time looking out of the window.
And just to stretch the metaphor even further … when you’re in cloud, or when there’s no clear horizon or reference point, no sensible pilot attempts a complex move - you just concentrate on your dashboard.
Thursday, 28 February 2008
Another way through the line
It looks as if someone has managed to create a single platform for analysing both on- and off-line customer activity, and then turning that data into effective media-neutral marketing activity. Huge step forward. It's no accident, they've been working on it for two years. Will be fascinating to see how it develops.
One of the early challenges is going to be how to describe it to a client or prospect. You can't call it CRM because that's become meaningless now; it's a lot more than 'web analytics' or 'modelling'; 'campaign management' also sells it short. Here's a suggestion - Integrated Customer View Marketing (or ICVM).
For a bit more detail, take a look at http://www.talkingnumbersmagellan.com/index.html
One of the early challenges is going to be how to describe it to a client or prospect. You can't call it CRM because that's become meaningless now; it's a lot more than 'web analytics' or 'modelling'; 'campaign management' also sells it short. Here's a suggestion - Integrated Customer View Marketing (or ICVM).
For a bit more detail, take a look at http://www.talkingnumbersmagellan.com/index.html
Tuesday, 19 February 2008
Inertia, and word of mouth
Interesting insights yesterday from a conversation with a lady who has just moved her home insurance policy after more than 25 years. Why now, I wondered?
Well, she has been thinking about it for a few years, because the price keeps going up, but each time she got round to looking at the policy, it had already passed its renewal date. This time, some friends told her how much money they had saved by changing.
She read the policy, decided that there were a lot of things that she didn’t need (for example £5,000 cover for home entertainment equipment), made some comparisons, and switched to another insurer for half the price. When she called to cancel her original policy, the company told her that they had a range of offers which could save her a lot of money. This simply confirmed her decision to move, since, as she pointed out, they had never bothered to tell her about these money-saving offers before.
What can I learn from this:
1. Inertia, and the comparative difficulty of making a change, continue to be strong influences on decision-making (has any insurance company tried a two-year policy, or 18 months, to take advantage of this?).
2. The influence of friends is so powerful, especially when it is spontaneous and where the friend is just being friendly, with no axe to grind or product to sell (and of course it’s pure coincidence that the company this lady now insures with, is the same one that her friends first mentioned)
3. Beware the product features that you turn into benefits – the cover for ‘home entertainment’ might be a benefit for some customers, but others can see it as something they are paying for that they don’t need
4. Amazingly, companies are still putting existing customers at a disadvantage compared to new ones. In a world where so much information is available so quickly (in the UK financial world, look at information exchanges like http://www.moneysavingexpert.com, or to the consumer champion Which? http://www.which.co.uk), it’s just bizarre that we still think this is sustainable.
5. Isn’t it interesting how much you can learn by listening to people?
Oh, and the company that used to insure this lady’s house? Northern Rock.
Well, she has been thinking about it for a few years, because the price keeps going up, but each time she got round to looking at the policy, it had already passed its renewal date. This time, some friends told her how much money they had saved by changing.
She read the policy, decided that there were a lot of things that she didn’t need (for example £5,000 cover for home entertainment equipment), made some comparisons, and switched to another insurer for half the price. When she called to cancel her original policy, the company told her that they had a range of offers which could save her a lot of money. This simply confirmed her decision to move, since, as she pointed out, they had never bothered to tell her about these money-saving offers before.
What can I learn from this:
1. Inertia, and the comparative difficulty of making a change, continue to be strong influences on decision-making (has any insurance company tried a two-year policy, or 18 months, to take advantage of this?).
2. The influence of friends is so powerful, especially when it is spontaneous and where the friend is just being friendly, with no axe to grind or product to sell (and of course it’s pure coincidence that the company this lady now insures with, is the same one that her friends first mentioned)
3. Beware the product features that you turn into benefits – the cover for ‘home entertainment’ might be a benefit for some customers, but others can see it as something they are paying for that they don’t need
4. Amazingly, companies are still putting existing customers at a disadvantage compared to new ones. In a world where so much information is available so quickly (in the UK financial world, look at information exchanges like http://www.moneysavingexpert.com, or to the consumer champion Which? http://www.which.co.uk), it’s just bizarre that we still think this is sustainable.
5. Isn’t it interesting how much you can learn by listening to people?
Oh, and the company that used to insure this lady’s house? Northern Rock.
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