PlusOne – Marketing Musings

Just last post I wrote about how a reduction in product size and perceived reduction in product quality can turn away a customer of 30 years (yes I did buy soap from a different manufacturer yesterday).

But just as easily, providing great products and above the norm service can lead to not only you and your business being seen as heroes, but the person dealing with you can also be seen as a hero by those around them.

Here’s what I mean – two recent emails from clients of our caricature gifts website:

Hi Matt,

Happy New Year! I hope you enjoyed your holiday with the family and the Festive Season.
Just wanted to let you know our Kris Kringle presents were absolutely fantastic! Everyone loved them.

I had to wrap 17 mugs and 17 A4 prints plus another full set for our company scrap book but it was worth it.

n the morning I made eggnog for everyone, played Kris Kringle (complete with Santa hat) for all the “usual” presents, then sat down and pressed play on my PowerPoint Presentation… Oh my God – people could not stop laughing. I had people randomly chose a number between 1-17 to pick the order, and funnily enough I got 17th. Once I’d made it through everyone, I stopped and then everyone realised I hadn’t shown mine – if there was a laugh-o-meter mine would have broken it!

Later, at the Christmas Party, both bosses (including their wives) said it was the best Christmas present ever – with one boss telling me I was irreplaceable.

So thank you again, to you and Zalo for you fantastic efforts.

Will be in touch again soon for the birthday present we spoke about late last year.

Regards
Michael

The part which really touched me was this was sent over a month after his caricatures were delivered to him. I feel great and he is a hero at work for having such a great idea.

Here’s another local hero:

Hi Matt,

I have been so “blown away” by this caricature, and have been so busy showing it off to everyone I know, that I forgot to e-mail you back. Sorry! This caricature WAY exceeded my expectations! I now have it printed and framed (16 x 20, chose matting in white w/blue trim) and it is absolutely fabulous, can’t wait to give it to my boss this coming Friday!!

I even liked the black & white draft so much, that I printed that and have it in a 5 x 7 frame for his desk top. The quality of Roy’s work is terrific! The likeness is incredible! And I was so pleased to receive my order early, especially during the holiday time.

The office manager where I work (Jan) even printed a small color copy of the final version and has used it in a glass paper weight as an additional gift. My only fear is that my boss may actually think I like him, ha! Jan already plans to contact you all next year and have some caricatures done for her family.

We are a small law firm, 35 lawyers & staff, and everyone I’ve showed the caricatures to has asked for your website. We’ve checked out the accessories too, great stuff!

I will most certainly be back in touch with you to place more orders. What a wonderful gift and very reasonably priced. Thank you so very much!

Wendy

The quality of the work is obviously important. If you have products supplied by others, then it is essential that you have agreements in place that stipulates acceptable quality and steps to deal with situations where it may slip. I am lucky in having great artists who deliver great work.

The other factor is customer service.

For me this means responding to emails quickly. Despite being in Australia and many customers being in the USA, I often get replies thanking me for the speed of my response. At most this is normally just a few hours, somethime within minutes and at other times as long as eight hours. (Hey, a guy has to sleep!)

On the internet, customer service means communication. Responding promptly to enquiries,  keeping people informed of progress and any other information is essential. While we offer live chat we have found that 99.9% of people do not use it. We also offer to ring people back, but very few ask. So good old-fashioned email remains the primary and most comfortable communication method, though on occasions when I ring internationally people are really impressed.

By combining good products with great customer service, you have a winning combination.

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