By Jen Pete, Co-Founder, SlingShop and Partner, Zifty.com
Retailers are often looking for touch points — new ways to connect with customers on a personal level.
Gone are the days when customers bought into generic loyalty programs. People expect to see rewards and communication tailored to their unique behaviors and spending habits.
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One of the pioneers of truly connecting with customers is Zappos, the online shoe retailer that made “wowing” its users part of its company mission. Zappos empowers its employees to make on-the-spot, unique decisions based on their interactions with a person. A “wow” can be defined as making someone’s experience with your company personal and customized.
How do you “wow”? By simply identifying details specific to a customer and acting on that information, you can “wow” the customer or perform the unexpected. There are many ways through technology (both email and live chats) as well as the good old-fashioned pen-to-paper way to “wow” a customer.
- Acknowledge a negative situation. Think of a customer’s critical tweet, Yelp review, or a difficult phone call. Own up to it as publicly as possible and turn it into something positive. Companies tend to shy away from this feedback versus embracing it.
- A handwritten note in this day in age of tweets, texts and emails goes a long way. Just a simple note to say thank you, happy birthday or a gift or coupon to honor a shopping anniversary has impact. Nordstrom’s is one company that has historically used this method and not dropped it despite growths in technology.
- Catch the details in a phone call. Hear a baby crying, a cough or a dog barking? What can you do with this information to personalize an order?
- Just like Twitter, Facebook is a great place to connect with your customer in a very visible way. Get away from the form responses and engage the person.
- Has one of your customers or partners made positive headlines lately? Celebrate that publicly. You don’t need to take out an ad in The New York Times to do so. Simply use social media to acknowledge them with no money spent.
At the end of the day, most companies can differentiate themselves by reinventing their approach to customer interactions. The trick is to do so without a formula and in the most authentic way possible. This means no canned responses or generic handouts like a free cookie, a sample of product or even a thank-you card. It always has to go one step further to truly connect and “wow."
Jen Pete spent eight years post college doing business development in corporate America. Eleven years ago she made the leap into the start-up world by joining the single man team of Zifty.com where she became known as Driver No. 2 and partner. Her focus has been growing the business to where it is today; a company that continues to grow by 30% each year with over 90 employees. She is now in the midst of her second start-up SlingShop, that offers same day delivery to retailers. She also enjoys running, obstacle courses of all varieties, traveling, and chasing after her son Seven.
