Yesterday I heard a report that the names of two terminals at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport may be changed from Humphrey and Lindbergh to “One” and “Two.” The airport commission met to decide the issue. Commission members are held back from the name change by the estimated 2.2 million dollar cost to change signs both inside and outside the airport. At the end of the report, the reporter said, “People don’t understand these terminals because more signs are needed.”
“Wait a minute!” I thought. “They are changing the name of the terminals and spending over two million dollars in new signs because they need more signs?”
Checking out the story more thoroughly online, I discovered that the commission is reacting to complaints from those unable to find their flight. Some people have missed their flights due to the situation. This happens because the two terminals are three miles apart off different exits and have no road connecting them. If a person goes to the wrong terminal, finding the other one means retracing the route back to the highway and taking another exit.
The signs indicating the terminals do not list which airlines fly out of each one. Airlines switch terminals, too. If one’s last flight on Midwest left from the Humphrey terminal, today Midwest flights leave from the Lindbergh terminal. Without a listing, how would a traveler know that?
Not surprisingly, travelers have complained. In one week 600 travelers complained at the information booths around the airport. Travelers have also gone online and registered their complaints. As we all know, those with complaints get our attention. We tend to react to their complaints, often without checking out precisely the size of the problem and without thinking through the problem from the customer’s point of view. Since some complaints have voiced that the names “Lindbergh” and “Humphrey” are meaningless to them, the commission apparently feels that the names of the terminals are not memorable and, therefore, a great deal of the problem.
From what I read online, I suspect that the names of the terminals are not the problem. The problem is not knowing which airlines board at which terminal. I don’t think any traveler cares about the name of a terminal. He or she just wants to board on time. Thus, rather than changing the names of the terminals, the commission could solve the problem by listing the major airlines that board at each terminal. Doing so would make choosing the exit much easier, which would dramatically decrease the number of people going to the wrong terminal.
Incidentally, the new names of terminal one and terminal two will be for highway exit purposes only. In actuality, the terminals will still retain their historic names.
Huh? That sounds like more confusion will ensue.
To solve a customer’s complaint, you must get to the problem. Often, the problem is not what the customer voices. Those who voiced that they couldn’t remember the terminals were merely blaming the names because the names weren‘t “relevant.” I question that terminal one and terminal two would have any relevance, either. In fact, I can image myself getting to the exit and thinking, “Was that terminal one? I think so. Wait a minute, maybe it was terminal two…”
The real problem is behind what the customer voices. In order to discover the real problem, you must ask the customer questions. Don’t ask the customer what he or she thinks is the problem; find out what the customer wanted that he or she did not get. That information will point to the problem and, then, the solution.
Are you asking customers questions to discover the problems indicated by their complaints?
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Reminder Marketing
Last week I froze strawberries. I love to savor their peak-season freshness at off-peak times, and, thus, every year I freeze several quarts. I froze the first few quarts in a store-brand plastic bag. When I ran out of those bags, I opened a box of Ziploc bags.
As I pulled the first Ziploc bag from the box, I immediately noticed a difference from the store-brand bag. The plastic was a heavier, distinctive blue color. Boldly printed across the front of the bag was “Ziploc” followed by a white space to write a reference to the bag’s contents.
“Look at that,” I thought. “Ziploc has used reminder marketing.”
I returned to the berries. Reaching for the last lush, ripe, juicy berry at the bottom of the flat, I noticed something under the strawberry that was red, too. It was a sticker. The sticker said, "Govins' Meats and Berries," followed by a listing of the products that they offer, “All natural beef and lamb, free range chicken and turkey, strawberries, and pumpkins,” and ended with their phone number and Web site address.
"Good for them!" I murmured. Govins, too, had used reminder marketing.
The next day I had lunch at Taco Johns. After removing my food from the tray, I noticed a coupon for a free cini-sopapilla bites with a five dollar purchase. Taco Johns was giving me an incentive to spend another five dollars, either that day or another.
All three of these are examples of reminder marketing. Each business was reminding the customer of the origin of the purchase and inviting the customer back. Three important characteristics of reminder marketing are that it is easy to find, provides information that the customer wants, and offers additional benefits. Let's look at each of these more closely.
Reminder marketing must be easy to find. While this may sound obvious, I know of a business person who placed the business's name on the bottom of a cup rather than on the cup's side. Unless the customer totally drained the cup, the name was hidden. Notice that Ziploc positioned its name boldly toward the top of one side of the freezer bag. Govins' name caught my attention from the bottom of the empty flat, and Taco Johns invitingly slipped the coupon underneath my lunch so that when I removed the tacos, I saw it.
Further, each of these gave me information that I wanted. The Ziploc name on the bag was a convenient reminder of the brand of bag, making it easy for me to know what to buy next time. Govins’ information gave me a handy reference to call for additional berries and told me of other products which I may want. Taco Johns informed me of a new offering that sounded delicious.
Finally, two of them gave me an additional benefit. Ziploc left a white space on the bag in which to label the bag's contents. Taco Johns gave me a free sample with a purchase.
These additional benefits left me with a good impression and a reason to do business with them again. The benefits took me a step beyond reminder marketing, setting me up for my next purchase.
Every business has opportunities to invite the next purchase. Every business has ways to do reminder marketing. This is a simple but critical method to develop a customer.
How many ways does your business implement reminder marketing?
As I pulled the first Ziploc bag from the box, I immediately noticed a difference from the store-brand bag. The plastic was a heavier, distinctive blue color. Boldly printed across the front of the bag was “Ziploc” followed by a white space to write a reference to the bag’s contents.
“Look at that,” I thought. “Ziploc has used reminder marketing.”
I returned to the berries. Reaching for the last lush, ripe, juicy berry at the bottom of the flat, I noticed something under the strawberry that was red, too. It was a sticker. The sticker said, "Govins' Meats and Berries," followed by a listing of the products that they offer, “All natural beef and lamb, free range chicken and turkey, strawberries, and pumpkins,” and ended with their phone number and Web site address.
"Good for them!" I murmured. Govins, too, had used reminder marketing.
The next day I had lunch at Taco Johns. After removing my food from the tray, I noticed a coupon for a free cini-sopapilla bites with a five dollar purchase. Taco Johns was giving me an incentive to spend another five dollars, either that day or another.
All three of these are examples of reminder marketing. Each business was reminding the customer of the origin of the purchase and inviting the customer back. Three important characteristics of reminder marketing are that it is easy to find, provides information that the customer wants, and offers additional benefits. Let's look at each of these more closely.
Reminder marketing must be easy to find. While this may sound obvious, I know of a business person who placed the business's name on the bottom of a cup rather than on the cup's side. Unless the customer totally drained the cup, the name was hidden. Notice that Ziploc positioned its name boldly toward the top of one side of the freezer bag. Govins' name caught my attention from the bottom of the empty flat, and Taco Johns invitingly slipped the coupon underneath my lunch so that when I removed the tacos, I saw it.
Further, each of these gave me information that I wanted. The Ziploc name on the bag was a convenient reminder of the brand of bag, making it easy for me to know what to buy next time. Govins’ information gave me a handy reference to call for additional berries and told me of other products which I may want. Taco Johns informed me of a new offering that sounded delicious.
Finally, two of them gave me an additional benefit. Ziploc left a white space on the bag in which to label the bag's contents. Taco Johns gave me a free sample with a purchase.
These additional benefits left me with a good impression and a reason to do business with them again. The benefits took me a step beyond reminder marketing, setting me up for my next purchase.
Every business has opportunities to invite the next purchase. Every business has ways to do reminder marketing. This is a simple but critical method to develop a customer.
How many ways does your business implement reminder marketing?
Friday, July 3, 2009
Sticking to Your Objectives
On Sunday morning I watched a news story on CBS about an amazing relationship between an elephant and a dog. The story took place at an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. As the reporter remarked, "An elephant sanctuary in Tennessee? That sounds like a story in itself!"
This sanctuary rescues elephants that are no longer wanted or have been abused. When an elephant arrives at the sanctuary, it immediately bonds with another elephant. The elephant in this story, Tara, did not bond with another elephant; she bonded with Bella, a stray dog which had shown up at the sanctuary. They go everywhere together. Last year when Bella got sick and had to stay in the sanctuary office for three weeks, Tara stood outside the entire time, waiting. To appease Tara, Bella was carried out to see her. Since then, this unusual twosome go all over the sanctuary together.
Evidently, CBS had reported on this story previously and the report that I watched on Sunday was a follow-up piece because the owners of the sanctuary referenced the first story and what had happened after it aired. "After that story aired," remarked the wife of the husband and wife owners, "we were bombarded with calls. We had request after request about Tara and Bella. Disney even called and wanted to do a film about them starring either one or both."
"Disney!" the reporter exclaimed. "So what happened with that?"
"We thought about it," she continued. "Our reason for having this sanctuary is to give the animals here an opportunity to live life for themselves and to be the creatures that they are rather than be performers for the entertainment of humans. For them, just being who they are has intrinsic value. That is our goal with this sanctuary. We turned Disney down."
The reporter was stunned, and so was I. They turned down Disney. They turned down a great deal of money. Most amazingly, they stuck to their objective.
Sticking to an objective is not easy. It's easy to forget your objective. It's easy to be swayed from your objective by lucrative offers. It's easy to rationalize out of your objective by the temptation of an offer. Diverting from your objective is much easier than following through on it.
That's why you set objectives. Objectives state what you want to accomplish. They require a great deal of thought to formulate. Once written, they are a ready reference and best when reviewed consistently. They help you maintain your focus. They keep you on the path toward achieving your goals.
The elephant sanctuary stayed on its path by following its objectives.
How are you doing following your objectives?
This sanctuary rescues elephants that are no longer wanted or have been abused. When an elephant arrives at the sanctuary, it immediately bonds with another elephant. The elephant in this story, Tara, did not bond with another elephant; she bonded with Bella, a stray dog which had shown up at the sanctuary. They go everywhere together. Last year when Bella got sick and had to stay in the sanctuary office for three weeks, Tara stood outside the entire time, waiting. To appease Tara, Bella was carried out to see her. Since then, this unusual twosome go all over the sanctuary together.
Evidently, CBS had reported on this story previously and the report that I watched on Sunday was a follow-up piece because the owners of the sanctuary referenced the first story and what had happened after it aired. "After that story aired," remarked the wife of the husband and wife owners, "we were bombarded with calls. We had request after request about Tara and Bella. Disney even called and wanted to do a film about them starring either one or both."
"Disney!" the reporter exclaimed. "So what happened with that?"
"We thought about it," she continued. "Our reason for having this sanctuary is to give the animals here an opportunity to live life for themselves and to be the creatures that they are rather than be performers for the entertainment of humans. For them, just being who they are has intrinsic value. That is our goal with this sanctuary. We turned Disney down."
The reporter was stunned, and so was I. They turned down Disney. They turned down a great deal of money. Most amazingly, they stuck to their objective.
Sticking to an objective is not easy. It's easy to forget your objective. It's easy to be swayed from your objective by lucrative offers. It's easy to rationalize out of your objective by the temptation of an offer. Diverting from your objective is much easier than following through on it.
That's why you set objectives. Objectives state what you want to accomplish. They require a great deal of thought to formulate. Once written, they are a ready reference and best when reviewed consistently. They help you maintain your focus. They keep you on the path toward achieving your goals.
The elephant sanctuary stayed on its path by following its objectives.
How are you doing following your objectives?
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