Three simple tales of bad experiences with three national brands …

By Bill Duggan

I purchased a pair of slacks at a well known retailer.  The pants required tailoring and the salesman asked if I’d like to get an email when they were ready.  I agreed and provided my email address – bduggan@ana.net.  A couple of days later I got a “sell” email from the store.  A week later I got another sell email.  I never got a notification that the tailoring was done.  I picked up the pants and opted out of further emails from this retailer.  Maybe if the first email notification was for my pants, and then subsequent ones were sell or promotion emails, I would have been more receptive.

I dropped off a roll of film at my local branch of a national drug store chain (yes, even in this digital age I sometimes like to shoot with film).  A week later, on a Saturday morning, I received a phone call with an automated message that my pics were ready.  I wrote my number on the envelope, which is where they obviously got it.  I was a little bothered about getting this type of call, especially since there was no notice or option on the envelope requesting my permission to get such a call.  Plus, it was pretty early on a weekend morning.  I picked up the pics.  The next Saturday, I got another automated call (sorry, but I didn’t drop off any more film) and the next Saturday another.  I went back to the store and told a clerk who said she’d alert the manager.  The next Saturday I got yet another call!

I was out with a friend for a couple of drinks, my treat.  I gave the bartender my credit card when we ordered the first round.  After another round (maybe two), I asked for the check.  I went to the bathroom and upon return my friend announced, “Your card is NO GOOD!”  I was late for a payment and the card service shut me down.  I have had this card for a long time (maybe 10 years), pay on time most of the time, and have rung up embarrassingly high interest payments over the years.  No more with this card.  It’s now deep in my wallet as a back-up.  Since this was my primary card for both personal and business expenses, I am sure that I have been a “heavy user” … a long time, heavy user.  Why on earth couldn’t this company give me the courtesy of a call or email to tell me that my payment was late?  And when I called the company to discuss my payment I asked them this very question … and the concept of such a courtesy seemed completely foreign and unnecessary to them.

Of course, there are obvious lessons here for marketers:

• Keep your promises. I was promised an email to alert me that my pants were ready and that never happened.  
• Know your boundaries. It’s wrong to call me when I gave no prior permission to receive such calls.
• Make sure your systems work. It’s even worse that I keep getting these calls after my pick-up.
• Know your customers and act accordingly. Don’t you think a long time, heavy user deserves just a little bit of extra respect?

Comments

[Bill Duggan]

Dear ANA L-T member – We are indeed of keenly aware of email overload – both what we get in our own boxes and what we send out. One step we have taken is the removal of most broad emails to promote ANA conferences and training programs. Instead, we have introduced a twice weekly newsletter (Tuesday and Thursday) called ANA Today. ANA Today provides content and insights to members (so it gives members something, unlike our prior conference and training emails, that only asked members to buy something). Meanwhile, conferences and training are now incorporated into ANA Today, but are usually a secondary focus to the content and insights. The ANA Today archive can be accessed here – http://www.ana.net/news/anatoday

We still have a few members that opt-out from receiving ANA emails. And while we hope that you don’t, that option is indeed available to you.

And by the way, we don’t have “secretaries” here at ANA as we are a lean organization and everyone gets their hands dirty.

[Marla Currie]

You're right that you might not have cared as much about the store's promotions if they had did what they'd promised to do for you as a consumer.

Jumping on that trend and responding to multicultural consumers usage of the Internet (second only to TV), we're launching a new digital-only magazine that has "consumerism" editorial as its focus, "The Penny Wiser" (http://www.the-penny-wiser.com).

We're using Permission Email to distribute to 1,000,000 Black and Latino consumers quarterly.

The PW promises to be a unique vehicle, editorially for its subscribers and very cost-effective for advertisers. Email has the highest ROI of any online marketing tool.

We're LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS for our March 15, 2009 debut issue.

I'd like to speak with you further about the ANA's support of this new, viable multicultural medium.

Marla Currie
Targeted Media Online
mcurrie@targetedadgroup.com