customer communications

Poor Integration and Sales Bombardment Equals Bad Customer Experience

Harvey Chimoff Leave a comment

It’s hard to create good customer experience when sales teams are not aligned and compete against themselves.

Credit: iStock

When customer-facing personnel from the same organization, including across different divisions, are not integrated, customer experience is likely to suffer. It may go unrecognized, but eventually the ultimate one suffering is the company itself, with lost sales.

Poor integration, combined with lax management, can cause the classic “left hand, right hand what the heck is going on syndrome.” And the terrible question: Who’s managing the customer touchpoints?

Thanks to Cision and PR Newswire, I’m such a victim. Good news, though. It’s a mild case and I’ll be fine. Continue reading →

5 Pointers for Writing a Letter to Your Customer

Harvey Chimoff Leave a comment

We all get “letters” from companies we do business with. Most go right in the garbage.

But, sometimes, a letter stands out.

The letter I’m going to tell you about was noteworthy because it reflected these 5 Pointers for Direct Customer Communication:

  • Be Authentic
  • Be Relevant
  • Keep it Straightforward/Concise
  • Convey appreciation/thanks for the business
  • Provide a Call-to-Action

“A few personal words.”

kingsize-brand-manager-letterThat was the title of the letter I received after a recent purchase from online retailer KingSize.

The one-page communication was a surprisingly good example of customer relationship engagement — that almost didn’t happen. That’s because the envelope and letter felt like just another typical piece of unneeded “junk” mail and I almost threw it out twice before reading the letter.

So, what made me read?

It was the title of the letter’s author: Brand Manager. That stood out to me as a marketer and former Brand Manager myself. Continue reading →

Planet Fitness Drops Dumbbell with Gym Member Communication

Harvey Chimoff 4 Comments

It’s not only what you say, but sometimes what you don’t say, that irritates your customers.

Similar to poor communication, a lack of communication can also be damaging if you’re trying to maximize positive customer engagement.  Case in point:   my gym, Planet Fitness, just dropped a dumbbell and they didn’t say excuse me.

Here’s what happened.

Photo: Planet Fitness Facebook.

Photo: Planet Fitness Facebook.

When I signed-up for membership a little more than one year ago, automatic monthly billing was set-up via card credit.  I haven’t had any problems.  The process has worked fine.

Last week, my credit card on file with the gym was deactivated due to fraud concerns.  Once I received the new card, I made a special trip to give the gym my new card number.  I figured it would be easier and faster to handle it in person rather than calling by phone.

It was neither.  To my surprise, I was informed that Planet Fitness no longer offers billing by credit card.  I was told that, based on a recent change, payment is now only allowed via checking account direct withdrawal or debit card (seems the same to me). Continue reading →