"My car saved my life, but I'm buying something else."
How important is your front line in building engagement with your customers? This story from a Front Line Marketing client is a powerful, telling account of an engaged client - lost.
'I was coming home from work, clipped a car at the bottom of the hill and flipped my German made car, ending up against a tree. I was OK, as was the driver of the car who's bumper I clipped. My car was not OK. The car was only a few months old and not totaled, so they took it to the local dealership where it stayed for a few months. When I finally got it back, it just wasn't right, so it went back in again.
All through this process, I never met the dealership owner or the service manager. Finally after several more weeks and frustrated calls, I went by the dealership only to find my car in pieces on the floor, like a jigsaw puzzle. Since the car was only 4 months old I expressed my desire for a replacement. No response. Finally I simply told them that I was getting another German engineered car, from another manufacturer.
That is when my phone rang with the President of the car company on the other end of the line. I politely told him, I only met your Service Manager last week when I said I was turning in the car.
I love your car, it saved my life. But I'm changing car companies, because you have not engaged me as a client."
How engaged are your employees and clients? Visit Front Line Marketing and download the C12 and CE11 for free. These short surveys are the start to making Engagement a priority in your business. Contact us to find out more. |
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2009 New Media Trends: This in from Front Line Marketing connector, G. Schroeder
This years digital media SXSW Interactive Conference, often dubbed the Sundance of new media and a bellweather of what lies ahead, offered insights on the new media. Their number one and two? 1. Compassion for the customer and commitment to a vision of service: Their example was online retailer Zappos with revenues of $800 million in 2008 and projected revenues of 1 billion in 2009. Where pricing, distribution and other standard operations are just details. 2.Customer service and marketing are the same thing.Watch for the rise of customer service to become the chief marketing tool.
At Front Line Marketing we too believe that advertising is wasted, if the client is not engaged at the point of contact. |
