Category Archives: Marketing thru Operations

Relationship Marketing Economics

Customer Experience, DataBase Marketing, Lab Store, Marketing thru Operations

Just opened up a carton from a manufacturer we use in the Lab Store.  Every unit inside looks like this:

Bad nozzle

Here’s your challenge:

Would anybody in your business recognize this as a problem?  Or would they just shrug and transfer the item to the picking racks?

In other words, finding this, would you or an employee:

1.  Ship to the customer as is, let the customer figure it out

2.  Cut the nozzle off so customer doesn’t have to even think about it, doesn’t have to send you e-mail or call asking about it

Your answer to this question depends on:

1.  How customer-centric you / your org really is

2.  How much you understand about the financials of your business

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Lab Store: Year End Analysis

DataBase Marketing, Lab Store, Marketing thru Operations, Web Analytics

Some stats from the Lab Store (Background) for the year:

Processed 10,172 orders, up 3% from last year, despite a logistical problem in the business model we did not have control over (breeding of animals).  Fixed that, so should not be an issue going forward.  Merchandise Return Rate of .3% on dollars, which is quite low.

Returns cost money to process, imply negative Social feedback, and increase customer defection by creating poor experience.  We do everything we can up front to keep returns and other negative experiences from happening in the first place by screening products and actually taking action on customer feedback and analysis.  Often, we modify packaging, create our own instructions, or assemble products we know people will have trouble with.  More on this idea here: Marketing through Operations and Panic Pack!.

We retained between 75% – 87% of our best buyers depending on what time frame you use, and further improvement in these stats is pending test results.  More on this idea here: Frequent Buyer Analysis.

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Operations is Operating Just Fine

DataBase Marketing, Marketing thru Operations, Web Analytics

99.99% Up time and No Broken Links – What Else Do You Want?

Do you remember web sites when the web was ruled by engineers?  Before Marketing-oriented folks  forced issues like analytics, usability, and testing into the mix?

Just because systems are Operating within Operational guidelines doesn’t mean they’re Optimized for Marketing / Experience.  Yet often these systems are responsible for customer touch point execution in one way or another, directly or indirectly, and have measurable effects on customer value.  Call center screens and scripts.  VRU’s.  Invoices and Packing Slips.  These are the obvious ones. 

Here’s some others:  Contact Reason Codes.  Payment processing.  Inventory management.  Mail room and Address Correction.  Depending on your business model, there are probably dozens.

Continue reading Operations is Operating Just Fine →