Four Tips for Customer Retention

There is a common theme at Happy in 2012. A theme that is as relevant across all the different sectors we work in; and across b2b and b2c. The theme? Retention.

More and more of our clients are asking “ how do we retain our customers; and gain their loyalty?”
It’s widely recognised that it costs far more to acquire a new customer than to keep one you already have. And in a tough environment with shrinking markets, customer retention has grown in importance at board level. Companies are recognising the benefit of nurturing and protecting one of their strongest assets. So, how do you keep customers loyal?

Loyalty is no longer just about rewards points, discounts, miles – it’s about engagement. And the stronger the engagement the stronger the bond. The stronger the bond the more unbreakable that bond is. Deeper engagement is the way to achieve loyalty.

Here’s my four tips to increase customer retention and improve loyalty.

1. Be consistent across all touch points

Live your brand and its values at every touch point and at every stage of the process. Delivering a memorable experience and consistent service quality helps build that emotional connection. Creating that type of customer experience involves delivering quality customer service consistently across all touch points. So, have you considered all of your touch points?  Remember your touch points are ALL the places you interact with your customers.  Recently in my local supermarket I heard staff complaining about colleagues and how awful it is to work at that supermarket; discussing it openly in the aisles for customers to hear. Quite oblivious to the impact they were making on their customers. A touch point faux pas.

We are living in an hugely interconnected world, and it is vital that companies are delivering their brand promise at every touch point.

2 Get serious with your data

Good data has often been cited as one of the major obstacles Marketing Managers contend with. I’m not talking about mailing lists, I’m talking about the real-life data on which marketing decisions can be made. Analysing the facts and figures of customer transactions helps companies understand customer buying patterns. This data can be used to build loyalty programmes, create segments and produce more targeted messaging that your customers will engage with.  Earning loyalty via deeper customer engagement and data gathered from loyalty programs can be used effectively to drive a quality experience at all stages of the customer lifecycle.

3. Customer Intelligence

We like to call it CID  - Customer Intelligence Devotion. Companies who really understand their customers are the more successful ones. Understanding your customers can take many forms. Appreciating their likes, dislikes and preferences helps with segmentation and messaging for retention. Understanding preferences gives brands the deep level of customer intelligence needed to deliver the most relevant, highest quality customer experience and drive long-term loyalty. The voice of the customer should be at the heart of your marketing. Listening to your customers through focus groups, individual face to face or on the phone. How are you helping them? Why are they engaging with you? What do you do well? What should you do more of? What issues do they have in their industry? How are they interacting with your brand; what touch points work for them? The answers are with the customer.

4. Random acts of kindness

Use the element of surprise. Send an offer or promotion code to a loyal customer – they rarely expect it; share your extensive industry experience in a free how-to guide, remember important dates such as birthdays, anniversaries, send your customers a card, a text or email. Be personal. Delivering beyond expectations works.

Creating a deep emotional engagement with customers will have the largest impact on customer retention. This doesn’t just mean having jolly chats, it is using the data and information you have and using it gain a deeper understanding of the true relationships you have with your customers.  From this point you can make rational and more considered judgements on your customers.  Ally this to a clearer understanding of what you (your brand) stands for and you are in pole position.  Then it is a case of showing that you care and meaning it.  There is just no getting away from the truth… A happy customer is a loyal customer.

Karen Lambert is an experienced strategic marketer and Managing Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk

Shooting a Corporate Video – Part 1

‘Fingers crossed for the weather’. It is a simple phrase that holds such a disproportionate amount of power when it comes to video shoots. On all our video production projects we leave nothing to chance. Everything is accounted for, but the one thing that we have no control over was the weather. Oh, and we hadn’t planned for Chris, our main cast member, getting food poisoning on the morning of the shoot but I’ll get to that later.

When walking boot mega brand Brasher approached us to produce a number of videos promoting their new product launches, happiness levels in the office reached fever pitch, which is a great start of the process that all our corporate video projects follow.

So, let me take you through our tried and trusted process for video shoots.

The Crucial Preparation

Having already met the client and been fully briefed, the first stage is unavoidable meetings. At these, we discussed the products, in this case different boots, their unique attributes and the types of terrain that they were suitable for. These discussions along with existing brand styles gave us a basis for what Brasher wanted to achieve.

This part of the process is massively important as it provides you with your objectives. Each product video went through the same planning process. The first video would provide a template for the rest, but each of them would have their own sense of identity.

Storyboard It

This part of the planning is covered by a storyboard meeting. It involved the whole project team including the director of the shoot. At its most basic, a storyboard fleshes out and provides a context for the shoot. Descriptions of what will be seen, whether video or graphic, are put together. Cast and props are discussed and timescales for possible shots and locations are planned.

Location Selection

At Happy Creative, we are very fortunate that we have two areas of outstanding natural beauty on our doorstep – the Lake District and the Forest of Bowland. Our love and knowledge of these two areas would prove crucial for this particular shoot.

The video director and myself covered over two hundred miles in two days of driving and walking to source the locations that would be suitable for each product. We discussed scenes, angles, camera positions and the logistics of what you could reasonably achieve in a single day’s shoot.

Such a ‘recky’ gives you a visual reference for the next stage of the planning process which is finalising a storyboard and creating a script. We took photographs of each location, got wet, checked our shots, and then created a story board around our ideas for each location and each product.

Storyboard Again and Script

The storyboard process is when firm production decisions are made. There are many options available to tell the viewer a story. These are decided on the requirements of the shoot. For example, would we need actors, is there going to be a voice over, a vox pop, or pieces to camera? This process comes together when the script is written up as a Industry Standard Storyboard.

An Industry Standard Storyboard includes:

• Each line of video script separately numbered. These are the storyboard numbers and are essential in organising a successful shoot.

• Each numbered line of script will have detailed visuals and exact locations set against it.

• A Shoot List – a list of all the locations required for the shoot, shown as storyboard numbers against location.

• A Cast List – details of all cast members, either provided by the client or hired actors.

• A Props List -details of all props whether client or producer provided.

• A Graphics list – details of any graphic or caption sequence that a designer can review separately.

• A Stills List – details of any still photos or logos within the film. It’s more than a shooting script. It’s also a complete list of materials required in making a film.

Shoot Planning Meeting

Finally, a shoot planning meeting takes place, which is where we confirm that all locations are available and suitable, equipment is in place and personnel are ready. This is also an opportunity to revise script details with the client.

And to the shoot…

All this happens before we’ve even hit the slopes for filming. At this point, ready for the shoot, and as I waited at the meeting point for our client to arrive, I had 30 minutes to dwell on the two factors that we didn’t have control over – rain and food poisoning.

In true Happy Creative spirit… we just had to go for it. Jason and the rest of the crew went to our first location and I went down later with our client. As we walked to the top of the hill, we saw Chris (our main cast member) hunched over and I wondered how we were going to juggle Chris’s obvious discomfort with what we wanted to achieve.

How we did that and overcame noisy waterfalls, road cleaners, cars, lorries and not so silent hotel rooms, I’ll answer in my next blog!

James Chantler is Creative Director at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk

Small is Beautiful! (and a Much Nicer Customer Experience!)

I was out walking a couple of weeks ago (a forty- minute round trip that passes through my local village) and paid a visit to the DIY shop which exists on a busy corner of the main thoroughfare. I had remembered that I needed to buy some bolts and screws to fix a bed, the originals having been mislaid. It’s a small store that has been trading for at least thirty years, it’s quite cold in there (the door is always open!) and  it’s packed to the ginnels with all manner of items DIY. They also have a useful space attached to the side where they saw wood. I only went in this part once, to get some wooden washing line props which I still have after 15 years!

Occasionally, I have found myself avoiding going in when it’s quite busy and I’m not really sure what I want (mildly embarrassed because it is all male staffed) but that’s just me, nothing to do with my experiences of shopping there.

Each time I have been in there whether it is a weekday or the weekend it is always busy. There is often a mixture of tradespeople and keen (and maybe not so keen!) DIY’ers  crowding out the shop, picking amongst the shelves or seeking advice from the staff. There are usually at least 3-4 of these, eagerly willing to help and keen to ensure you go home with the correct equipment for the job. I don’t think I have ever been in and had to wait more than a couple of minutes to be asked if I needed help and know I can just explain the nature of the DIY job and asking what they would recommend.

In essence, the little place is thriving and rightfully so. It’s interesting because about 15 minutes away by car is an enormous B&Q store so not too far away and obviously with many more products on offer so why are people choosing to shop here instead?

I do wonder if people still visit the the local DIY because it isn’t so big (which can sometimes be overwhelming and a little daunting) and they can quickly aquire the goods they want with a smattering of good advice too should they need it? In my experience, shopping at some large superstores can be exhausting. Not all of them offer a friendly: “Hi, can I help?” and it is sometimes very difficult to find exactly what you want or to locate someone you can ask for help.

For example, about six months ago I went to B&Q to purchase some paint and decided on one of their own brand paints (to be made up in the store). When eventually, I managed to find a member of staff, he practically groaned when I asked him if he could help! I handed him the shade card with the chosen colour marked clearly. First of all, he said they didn’t have enough of the base shade in stock (after looking under the counter), fair enough, so I enquired if there might there be any in the stock room. He typed into the computer and said “yeah, I’ll have to go and get it”. Off he went and 15 minutes later returned with said base colour. He really didn’t seem like he could be bothered, no interaction whatsoever and as I watched him adding (what I hoped) were the correct quantities of each colour I inexplicably felt it was going to be wrong. He popped the lids on and belligerently handed me the two pots. Needless to say, it wasn’t a great experience and regretfully the colour turned out to be about 5 shades from the actual colour on the shade card. Now, I know that the colour when mixed cannot possibly be exact (they do point this out) but I’m sure that he added the wrong proportion of red to blue so where I wanted pale lilac I had battleship grey! I painted the whole room hoping that the colour would be better when dry….but it wasn’t. I ended up going to an alternative branch and was assisted by a lovely gentleman who couldn’t have been more helpful. It did cost me another £40 though!

I suppose the point I am trying to make is that the larger retailers mostly get things right otherwise we wouldn’t all be making purchases from them. I do think there is room to learn something from smaller independent retailers though, certainly in terms of customer experience. A warm welcome as you walk through the door, an appropriate measure of time before you are politely asked if you need any help and maybe a friendly exchange about the item you are purchasing. As you are handed your item/s and receipt a genuine, “thank you for shopping with us, see you again” makes the whole shopping experience a little more pleasurable. So, have I been back to B&Q since? Interestingly, no, but I’m sure that I will when I need a larger purchase or something that my local shop doesn’t stock. it’s just that when I was last in there I observed that there were fewer staff to be seen and they have put all automated tills in so no human interaction or friendly exchange with anyone before you leave the store………….don’t even  get me started!!

Debbie Lewis is a Customer Support Executive at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk