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The Valley's Premier
Business to Business Marketing Newsletter
Serving the Colorado
River Valley Corridor, as well as Vail, Aspen and Grand Junction Areas |
| Feature Article | Spotlight Interview | One Minute Marketeer | Ask AIMS! | ||||
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Profiting From the Three Ps of Branded Customer Service |
Fifteen Minutes With Fred Strothman, Owner of Confre Cellars, Palisade, Colorado |
Five Fast Pathways to
Customer Connectivity
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Creating a
Customer Survey Card...
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Profiting From the Three Ps of Branded Customer Service |
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Going Beyond the Basics
The true essence of
customer service can be surmised by the old adage: “The customer is always
right”. While this is a strong premise, inching yourself ahead of competitors,
holding on to your lead and creating a sustainable, scalable, profitable
business from that premise requires planning and strategy. This article explores the increasingly refined framework which defines branded customer service, providing specific insight into the three main components which contribute to a successful branded customer service program and the vital role they play in the success of your business. Branded Customer Service in a Nutshell Though you may not realize it, you probably already provide some degree of branded customer service to your customers. The question is: Is it something you and they are glad to recall, or is it something which is quietly cursed and resentfully ignored? Your development of pricing, quality, convenience, value and customer service are among the many ways in which you can compete in the marketplace. Surprising to many, customer service is an area which requires integrated thinking, careful structuring and long-term commitment, but investing in it can pay off in many worthwhile ways. Weaving brand recognition into your customer service delivery can do more than keep customers happy - it can increase their connection to your brand. Brand recognition is tied to everything your company employs in the pursuit of its image and market share. These attributes include: your logo, your name, your systems and policies, product, staff, location, buildings, vehicles, and peripheral equipment. When a customer interacts with one of these attributes, their perception of your brand is reinforced. Perception leads to belief - a belief which reflects actual experience and substantiates what your customer feels they can expect from you time and again. When expectations are positive, the effects of this type of commercial, though no less personal, bond produce emotional associations and inspire customer loyalty. Branded Customer Service, then, takes all the old ideas of what makes outstanding customer service, and combines them with the culture, ideals, objectives and processes of a business to create a new kind of product in and of itself – one specific to the company implementing it, and one which meets all claims advertised and often exceeds customer expectations, strengthening brand image for the customer. The Three Ps of Branded Customer Service: Process; Presentation and Performance The 'Three Ps provide a platform from which you can launch a branded customer service program. They are the dynamic aspects of the collective experience which define the level and quality of service a customer can expect when engaging in a transaction. P-1... The Process The Process of any customer service program is defined by a collection of policies or advance directives which are established by company leadership and which aid in facilitating smooth transactions. A sound process equates to higher levels of internal efficiency and customer satisfaction. It considers, foremost: convenient customer access to a quality product or service and establishes routes toward fast, effective and confidential resolution in the event of conflict. The process accounts for all resources, inclusive of personnel, methodologies, systems, tools and technologies brought to bear in order to achieve this objective. Defining Brand Through Customer Analysis Before you can design a branded customer service program, you must determine how you and your customers perceive your brand. This involves recognizing your brand apart from competitors and identifying a set of branded attributes you wish to convey. You also must consider your brand from your customers' point of view, analyzing the myriad ways in which they access and interact with your brand. Because your brand includes, but goes beyond your basic service or product, you should consider how your brand represents your company identity – how you conduct yourself as an identity, appear to the public as an identity, provide your service or product, and handle customer complaints. Among the questions you should ask are:
Once you've assessed the aspects of brand perception, it is then time to evaluate the physical systems in place and determine which of them sustain, enhance or degrade positive customer perception about your brand. This, of course, can reveal areas in need of revision. The first step in this process is to determine which existing policies and work-flow procedures contribute to the desired customer service experience, and therefore, a customer's perception of your brand. Chances are, some programs and systems may require only slight revision to better compliment your new approach. When re-designing an existing system, special attention to this aspect of your planning phase can help preserve the integrity of existing work capacity, helping ensure less disruption to vital systems and reducing the stress and burden thrust upon staff and other resources during periods of modification. When placing your workflow procedures under the microscope, note the physical environment in which they occur as well as the ways in which people interact with the environment and with one another. Further, examine project coordination protocol and the systems and policies in place intended to facilitate staff/customer interaction. For example: In your effort to automate, have you inadvertently caused your customers and/or employees to perform repetitive and seemingly pointless tasks - like repeating or reentering information, or re-looping through a maze of telephone prompts in their effort to seek an answer to a question? Perhaps you have resisted automation of any kind. If so, do you tie up a customer's time with unnecessary front-end processing, which could be performed after the customer encounter, better directing staff to fulfill the mission and objectives of your customer service program while freeing the customer's time and further enhancing the customer's experience? Streamlining processes and systems and fitting them within the framework of a physical environment is known as human factoring, or, ergonomics. It involves analyzing the cooperative environment of anyone who, daily, must engage systems, objects and other people in order to achieve an end objective. It is, therefore, widely used in the industrial design of everything from instrument panels and computer networks to neighborhood developments and your kitchen floor-plan. You can bet a human factoring team worked diligently designing the interior of your car, so that slipping your coffee cup into its holder and reaching up to adjust your mirror is a seamless effort with minimal distraction. There are many commercial interests which seek to continually refine their physical applications to better accommodate customer service objectives. Banks and other internet-based sites, which deal with high volumes of personal data and other important information, desire to provide a secure transaction environment for their customers. Doing so properly can give these companies a competitive edge. However, in their zeal to provide a secure environment, they often overburden the very people they intend to assist. In creating a secure environment, a very real human factoring consideration is that people forget passwords. That’s simply what people do. In our modern society, we increasingly encounter frustrating navigable environments, and not just on websites. There is a risk of degrading customer satisfaction from the use of such systems, particularly those which are more complex and extensive. People can react to these human-designed, and therefore fallible, environments by becoming impatient, frustrated and sometimes angry. A great risk of over-automating customer service options is that it creates three potential levels of removal from direct resolution. Level One: Removal of the customer from personal contact. Level Two: Introduction of potential confusion, frustration and negative emotional responses. Level Three: The problem may go unresolved. Automated phone reception systems can transport customers to even greater levels of frustration; and, if basic functions must be carried out regularly under such conditions, can eventually end in severed commercial relationships. As a designer of your customer service program, you should, as a primary measure, take into account the physical circumstances of the people involved in your processes. Strive to make efficient and effectual daily interactions and activity flows, while minimizing the potential for failures. Adequately addressing and providing for the 'humanness' we all share can help ensure that everyone enjoys smoother transactions and benefits from higher levels of customer satisfaction. By performing some basic analysis of the people, environment and systems in place which impact the public's perception of your brand, you can strengthen efficiency and thereby improve the likelihood that each customer's experience will be a consistently positive one. When considering how people will interact with a given environmental circumstance, consider the following:
Staff
Staff Within a Specific Environment Assess the placement of physical objects which are integral to daily operations, thereby eliminating needlessly repetitive movements. Refine physical output to that which is essential to your end objective. This trims wasted time and reduces fatigue and frustration for your employees - and you. Something as simple as moving the copy paper closer to the copier, or adjusting the temperature to a standard everyone can live with, may not produce a smile, but it can definitely help eradicate seething disenchantment. Eliminate needless steps in protocol. Provide a fast-track to resolution by enabling employees with appropriate levels of authority. This can free a lower level employee to address simple customer satisfaction related issues while preserving vital resource allocation throughout your company's hierarchy. Another benefit of this type of approach is that, in more complex areas of conflict, the lower level employee can maintain a more congenial or empathetic relationship with the customer while the supervisor wrangles the sticky wicket. This preserves at least some degree of positive association for the customer and, therefore, improves the possibility of a reinforced positive relationship later. During the design and testing phase of your program, solicit candid feedback from the end users of any designed system. Ask where improvements can be made and be willing to acknowledge failed policy where it rears its ugly head. Project Management All organizations undertake projects throughout the course of their daily management affairs. Proper coordination of these projects can provide for a much smoother and more predictable transition, ultimately enhancing the infrastructure which sustains your branded customer service program. When undertaking a major project - including, for instance, the creation of a branded customer service program - ensure that you possess:
Regardless of the nature of your business, in designing efficient system flow, designers and administrators should work the front lines. This is particularly important for more time-sensitive, complex operations. The failure of administrators to acknowledge field realities in implementing policy can create catastrophic, though often preventable, failures. It is not enough to assume that employees will divulge inequities in policy. Despite theoretically functional 'open door' policies, the more levels of authority or fracturing of divisional duties and oversight that exist in any operation, the greater the opportunity will be for confusion, deceit, pettiness and other manifestations resulting from power and territorial struggles among and between employees. If there is no direct route for a consumer to take toward a person in a position to quickly and agreeably resolve an issue, or if the route seems complicated or will take a sizeable investment of a customer’s resources, they will likely, depending upon the investment in their purchase, make their next purchase elsewhere. Exceptional branded customer service is advanced by invested management and is measured in its design. In designing your approach, you must first consider your environment, then the people in it, and, finally, the process through which all elements interact. P-2... The Presentation All processes need a delivery system. Your branded customer service program will depend upon your staff to deliver it effectively. Beyond developing a workable design, you now must turn your attentions to the presentation of your program. Integral to presentation is the 'packaging', or how you structure your program anticipating and influencing the way in which the customer perceives your program's set of policies and processes as they are literally enacted or presented by your staff. While Process certainly crosses over in its considerations of Presentation, the aspect of Presentation, in this section, specifically examines the role of the employee as a Process delivery vehicle. This includes how representatives are selected, trained, outfitted or uniformed, behave individually, interact collectively, and are organized within a hierarchy. It also refers to the appearance and condition of your store and peripheral equipment.
The Importance of People All employees should be thoroughly acquainted with the brand and all the objectives associated with its furtherance. A knowledgeable, competent, rewarded and properly empowered employee who is valued and inspired by your example can win loads of loyalty for your brand by making customer interaction one which is strategic, highly focused and efficient - structuring, by design, room for prized personal attention and a conveyance of shared values often undervalued or altogether absent in many of today's transactions. With these foundations in place, and with the respect, interest and support of management, you then begin to build a co-efficient team and, gradually, as the system reinforces a sense of achievement and fulfillment, an employed culture dedicated to the mission of branded customer service. Importantly, your recruitment strategies should take into account these projected goals, and enable you to hire people willing and capable of participating in such an objective.
The Importance of Place The area in which staff perform their function and the atmosphere created is a fundamental aspect of the customer experience and serves to generate a great deal of customer perception, conscience or otherwise. Not only is the setting of your customer interactions a tangible representation of the quality of your organization, but, perceptions gathered from a customer’s exposure to other customers in the area, as well as the ambiance, the attitudes of employees, and peripheral observation of the experiences of other customers receiving assistance, all add up to a collective impression. In one large department store chain, there are numerous check-out stations distributed throughout the store and tucked discretely among the merchandise. This serves three powerful strategic purposes: 1) it makes check-out more convenient for the customer by providing many and varied locations; 2) It divides customers into shopping segments and shields what might be going on at one counter from the direct observation of customers in another area – even if it is in near physical proximity; and, 3) it keeps customer attentions focused on surrounding merchandise rather than on the check-out process. Should a potentially negative situation arise, few will be privy to the disruptive exchange. Should transactions flow according to plan, there are enough participants in near proximity to ensure a sense of positive consistency. The Importance of Product or Service Obviously, no amount of attention to place or the training of qualified staff will further a customer’s desire to associate with a faulty product or service, or one which is inconsistently presented. Equally, you should not put an employee in a position of defending it. Ensure that your product is everything you say it is, then work to educate the customer about its value through appropriate marketing and advertising, as well as the retention and investment in enthusiastic personnel and the presentation of a complimentary environment. P-3... The Performance The Performance aspect of branded customer service involves assessing both staff and customer interaction under conditions imposed by policies as well as the customer service environment in which all elements coordinate and define the actual customer service experience. Performance is truly where the rubber meets the road, and, in gauging how well your design holds up and delivers the results you’ve projected, you are likely to discover areas in need of fine tuning. The payoff will equate to how well the elements coalesce into a unique or ‘branded’ experience the customer is not only happy to repeat, but positively connects with in terms of their expectations under a range of past and future possible customer service scenarios. One cannot assess performance without examining its costs and benefits. Following, is a list of potential issues which might dissuade a business owner from investing in the expense of a branded customer service program – until the benefits of the same are revealed… Personal Attention Cost: By encouraging your staff to offer enhanced personal attention to your customers, there is the potential for the loss of productivity. Benefit: Though productivity might wane, you can save expenses, here, by better preserving your existing market base and, further, enjoying the often resulting word-of-mouth referrals. Dollars saved from new advertising costs can be invested in greater personnel resources. In one case study with a national brand, it was calculated that “It costs five times as much to win a new customer as it does to retain one you already have.” Further, improved productivity can often be achieved through re-tooled workflow systems and greater efficiency. Staff Empowerment Cost: Granting your employees latitude to offer branded customer service on a case-by-case basis can result in poor decisions, inconsistency, slower service and lead to complaints of favoritism. It can also result in greater costs associated with hiring and training. Benefit: If each customer is satisfied, and similar solutions are applied to similar problems, there is less chance for complaint. Giving your staff tools to attend issues and resolve complaints leads to quicker, more targeted, responses to customer needs. Other benefits include a greater sense of self-confidence and job satisfaction which often leads to better job retention. Importantly, staff should be counseled against wasted effort. Not every single customer will be worth your investment. This sounds harsh and anti-customer on the surface, however, some customers will be dissatisfied regardless of efforts to present a product in its best light or correct customer dissatisfaction. When confronted with such a circumstance, determine whether the customer's problem is real or perceived. Are the customer’s expectations reasonable? Is your approach to product fulfillment and service reasonable and accommodating to a great degree? As with all relationships, abuse undermines trust and stability. Know when to say enough, and invest your customer care where you stand to reap a better return on your investment. Eliminate the pursuit of the ineffective customer and pass the joy on to your competitor. Extensive Staff Training Cost: More and better training is more expensive. Benefit: This investment should translate into greater efficiency and greater competence in the use of authority. A sound hiring policy should further mitigate some of this expense. Involving Employees as Stakeholders Cost: Recruiting, training and motivating employees is a constant challenge, soliciting input can interfere with production, and offering rewards or incentives can be costly. Benefit: It is in your long-term interest to build and sustain a strong team. Ultimately, you should regard your employees as you want them to regard your customers. This will cost in terms of pay, perks, benefits, profit sharing or similar incentives; but, the payoff can be exponentially rewarding – word of mouth is a two-way street. You can count and capitalize on the fact that people share their experiences (both good and bad) as well as new-found treasures and recommendations with friends and family. Again, hire well and reduce turn-over. Rewards and incentives can not only contribute to an employee's sense of self-worth but also provide powerful incentive to remain a part of the team and contribute to and experience its enduring success. Weighing the investment Is customer service worth the investment of managerial consideration, allocated resources, special training and incentive programs? You'd better believe it. In the latest foray into neuroeconomics (the study of why people buy what they buy), a new study conducted by a team of researchers from Ludwig-Maximilians University, Germany, using the assistance of a functional MRI machine, revealed that popular brands activate areas of the brain associated with positive emotional processing, self-identity and reward. The results also suggest that familiarity and a sense of meaning, within the recognition of the logo images used in brand identification, played a great role in the production of a positive emotional response. Of concern to companies who choose to disregard the importance of brand enhancement in customer service scenarios, is the added revelation that lesser known brands activated areas of negative emotional response. Emotions are a powerful force, and, as this study suggests, when activated, they subconsciously stand to strengthen or diminish tendencies toward customer loyalty. The costs and efforts placed in developing brand identity, then, seem well founded if they further positive emotional association for the customer. The value of your customer service investment will be a direct reflection of the value you, as the owner, place in your business, your service or product, your employees or contractors as representatives, and, of course, your customers themselves. How effectively these three Ps fit together to achieve your objectives will determine the success of your customer service program and offer guideposts for improvement. The winning recipe for a successful business has always been to serve the customer and reliably provide them a merchantable product or service at a fair price. If that is your basis, and you provide policy to facilitate a fast, friendly transaction; pathways to resolution in the rare event of conflict; and, train your staff to properly represent your brand, your chances of building positive emotional recollection within the consumer improve dramatically. Brand loyalty then becomes something customers actively pursue themselves. Resources
Book
CMC -
RIfle Campus
Customer Service
Basics Plus
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Friday, January 26
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8:30 AM – 4 PM Contact: Teri Kinkade, Division Director, Colorado Mountain College – Rifle Campus, 970-625-1871 or tkinkade@coloradomtn.edu |
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Fifteen Minutes With Fred Strothman: Owner, Confre Cellars, Inc. |
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Meet Fred Strothman, Owner of Confre Cellars, Inc. The man behind the vine, Fred, a retired federal administrative judge, talks about the inspiration for his enterprise, his unique approach to winemaking, and the value of breaking with tradition in forging one of Colorado's most innovative and successful wineries. A little over eleven years ago, Fred opened Confre Cellars with his wife, Connie, a former travel consultant and meeting planner. Since then, the two have established 21,500 sq. ft. of tasting rooms, gift boutiques, production and warehouse facilities, and continue to produce - among many other signature products - prize winning Mead, or honey wine, considered by the ancient Norse to be "A drink of the gods." |
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photo: © Lisa Bracken, 2006 |
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Confre Cellars, Inc. |
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I rounded the corner of the Meadery of the Rockies and paused to appreciate the beautiful, pastoral scene before me. There, a golden sunrise crested Grand Mesa, as the warm light of autumn spilled across a fully matured vineyard crowding the southern horizon toward Orchard Mesa. The vines, harvested days before, draped heavily across the neatly mown rows -- their broad leaves, lightly enrobed in early fall's russet hues, cast deep shadows and caused me to wish for a moment I had the time and materials to paint this fleeting scene. (I did, however, steal a second to capture it with the camera) Exuberant and youthful, Fred's beaming expression and ready handshake belied a man preparing for his seventy-second birthday. "'C'mon," he said, "and I'll show you around the place.." From the country-style foyer stocked with Confre Cellar's unique products, to the processing plant occupied by huge stainless steel vats and bottling equipment, the Meadery mirrored the man: intimate, charming, and full of unexpected surprises. With its dependency upon weather, pest resistance and soil condition, not to mention the perennial task of adjusting for characteristics in each new vintage, winemaking is a daunting affair. This keeps the market relatively small, highly competitive, and, with the often prohibitive cost of commercial equipment, many vintners relegated to hobby, small-batch production. Fred and Connie Strothman’s enterprise has flourished in a relatively short time due, it soon became obvious, to great dedication to their work and an ability to adapt to consumer demand. AIMS "Your operation is quite large, can you tell me how it has grown over the last decade?" FRED "Connie and I began with the Meadery in 1995, then, in 1997 we added the Cidery. A couple of years later we added Satin fortified honey wines to our product list. In 1999 the grapes finally matured, and we began St. Kathryn, named after my mother, where we began producing grape, port and country fruit wines. We now also produce our own fudge including recipes incorporating our specialty wines." AIMS "You introduced Pomegranate wine in 2006. How has it been received?" FRED "Other than in the tasting room, it debuted at Winefest where it was featured at Enstrom Candies and paired with dark chocolate. Not only did we go through 14 bottles there, but the second day into the festival, we sold 24 cases between 11 and 2 o'clock. It's been very popular." AIMS "You have the distinction of winning numerous awards for your specialty wines." FRED "In 1996 we entered all our honey wines in the Indiana International Competition conducted by Purdue University. There, we competed with a number of national and international entries. We won two Gold, five Silver and one Bronze. Our grape and fruit wines have also won medals. Perhaps the most exciting award was given for our Guinevere. It not only won the coveted Concordance Gold Award and the Indiana Beekeepers Association award for the best commercial mead judged, it also received a gold medal in 2003 in the commercial division." Fred jumps up and grabs a bottle off a filing cabinet in the corner. "Concord grapes," he beams. "I made a batch of concord grape wine." He leans forward, assuming a tone much like you might expect to hear from a judge issuing a fatherly reprimand. "You see," he begins, "connoisseurs don't think you can make a good wine from concord grapes. It's what juice and grape jelly are made out of. Well, I made some. Then, got a wild notion to send it off to San Francisco to a tasting competition. They asked what to pair it with, you know, on the application…" Fred leans back as if to ascertain the merit of his own argument. "I said, pair it with peanut butter sandwiches." Suddenly he leans in and slaps the desk, startling me, "It won a Silver medal! Ha!" Visiting with Fred, it is evident that he loves his work, so I had to ask, "What do you most enjoy about this line of work? Like all farming, it must be challenging." FRED "The creativity. I just love it. The art of winemaking and the idea of what to come up with next is exciting, and getting it right is immensely satisfying." AIMS "What do you consider different about your approach to winemaking?" FRED "We work very hard to create wines and ciders which emulate the fruit of its origin – raspberries should be tart, strawberries sweet. I tell you, a lot of winemakers think winemaking is an art. And it is, don't get me wrong. But, really, it's 80% cleanliness. I've seen vats of product literally black with fruit flies. That's a lot of little feet covered in vinegar-producing bacteria, which can taint the flavor. You can focus on the art all you want, but if you don't have a good, clean batch to start off with - if you have to toss the batch because you've contaminated it - art won't help you. Then, 15% of it is about the math - the chemistry of creating wine. You have to have a good balance chemically between the sugars, acid and pH. Finally, there is the 5% - the art. If, by the time you've addressed your other 95% and you find your batch is slightly 'off' one way or another, then you correct it – that's the art -- the finessing of the product to get it exactly where you want it to be." AIMS "What do you feel sets you apart from your competitors?" FRED "Well, several things really. As I said, our approach, our philosophy is different; but, our process is a very big aspect of what sets us apart. In fact, it's proprietary. No one else in the world, that I know of, makes mead the way we do. You see, it's difficult to ferment honey – very difficult. It contains a natural preservative, so you have to overcome that. Our process allows us to not only ferment it properly, but I'm able to create variations on residual sweetness, producing a dry mead. This is very unusual among meads, since most are very sweet. The other thing that sets us apart is that we give customers what they want. If they want a bitter wine, I'll make them a bitter wine. If they want a sweet wine, I'll make them a sweet wine. I went to a business seminar once with a highly recognized wine expert. He said, 'I don't really care if you like it, if I like my wine, then that's all that matters.' How dumb can you be? That's just dumb. This is a business, and, in a business you listen to your customers and give them what they want. He's out of business, now, by the way. It's not a lifestyle or a culture or an attitude, it's a business. Some vintners think of winemaking as a calling. I'm neither a purist nor a hobbyist. I give the customers what they want. Winemaking is an adventure – so is tasting it." AIMS "Promoting a vineyard poses unique challenges. As a commercial producer you benefit from greater public awareness of Palisade as a wine-making region. Unlike beer, which has enjoyed a gradual evolution from a casual consumption culture to one which increasingly appreciates micro-brews, wine consumption has long been perceived as highly specialized; and, a person often feels they must be thoroughly educated about the process and various distinctions in order to partake with confidence, particularly in a social setting. Yet, there seems to be a growing trend toward more relaxed consumption. People seem to want to enjoy wine more, and are taking more adventurous steps toward its daily consumption. How has the enduring perception that one must a connoisseur to enjoy wine affected the industry, and how is the industry and Confre, in particular, working around it?" FRED "There are several issues which have acted to stymie the industry. To address those impacts to our particular region we should talk about a Colorado law called the Limited Winery Act. This Act made it difficult to produce commercially, because it forced wineries to buy Colorado grown grapes and fruit. Well, while this might have been popular with growers, this was a problem, because it gave growers tremendously unfair influence over a winery. For instance, a grower can only produce so much. Once that volume is contracted for, there is little opportunity for a new winery to obtain raw product. And that, as you might imagine, makes it hard for an industry to grow. It was completely unconstitutional, for Pete's sake! I worked to successfully repeal those unconstitutional provisions." Fred continued, "Another problem for the industry, as you suggested, is the perception among would-be wine drinkers that you have to know all about wine to drink it. Our tasting program is a very important aspect of listening to our customers. While it educates the public, if done correctly, it also educates the producer. You know what I tell people when they ask me how to tell if a wine is good? I say to them, if it tastes good to you, then it's a good wine. I myself cannot tell, since I don't drink -- gave it up forty years ago. Of course, [grin] I don’t know how to eat chocolate chip cookies either! We invite people into the experience. All this stuff about needing to "understand" wine to be able to enjoy it is not beneficial to the wine industry. Once you break down the fear barrier, people are very interested in the process and aren't too intimidated to ask about it. That's when it becomes fun for everyone." In an exasperated sigh, Fred shakes his head, "And, you know, often the attitudes of wine producers, themselves, get me. Some competitors actually believe that if another producer sells a bottle of wine, somehow they have taken an opportunity from someone else to sell one. No. This is the wrong attitude. If I sell a bottle of wine, and the customer likes it, my customers will come back looking for more good wine - from me and anyone else. AIMS "Mead, as a rather uncommon product, poses unique marketing challenges. Winefest, a local, extended annual event encompassing chef pairings and public tastings is designed to bring wine, vintners, and the pubic together. How important is an event like Winefest to your enterprise and the larger industry in raising product awareness? And how have you tailored your marketing approach to promote awareness of your brand? FRED "It didn't used to be, but mead is now considered quite uncommon, and we were first to introduce it to the region. But, it's the uncommon nature of it that also helps to sell it. Once it's tasted, it speaks for itself. We don't do a lot of conventional advertising, but we attend some festivals and, or course, Winefest every year. An event like Winefest is very important and provides us a chance to attend and interact with the public, and it gives them a chance to taste new products and learn a little about the process. We attend events like this all over the state." "Also, we tied in with a distributor early on, and that forced us to grow, simply to meet minimums. My son rode with the distribution rep and spent time getting to know the liquor store owners who carry our product. In fact, our approach to retailer relationships is very personal. It takes a little more time, but it's well worth it. We also diversify ourselves. Initially we introduced other products, like our fudge and other things, in order to keep the vats full and production moving along. But, the additional products draw customers and help to leverage our product brand. We're fortunate that there is interest in our product and that we've been given accolades for our efforts. Because of that, we do a lot of interviews and enjoy media coverage. We invite folks into the plant and conduct tours. Everything builds on the other, so that our advertising is relatively moderate." "We hang on to what works, but, we're always looking at new ways of doing things, and marketing is, by necessity, an on-going demand." [Fred pulls out his latest profit and loss statement.] "This document enables me to track to the penny what goes out and what comes in, for all the divisions and all of the inventory within each division. Here, I'm able to see what products are selling better than others, where I need to devote more attention to specific marketing or product analysis, whatever - it's all in here." AIMS "What inspired you to begin both Meadery of the Rockies and St. Kathryn?" FRED "I always wanted to be a farmer; but, I realized I didn't know the first thing about farming, and didn't really even know where to begin. So I went to law school and practiced as a lawyer, then I became a judge. But, this is my dream. I’m having such fun. It’s a lot of work for someone who is supposed to be retired - as Connie keeps reminding me... but, boy what a fun thing. To be working with the land, irrigating, pruning, fertilizing, it’s a great place to be at the end of my life. I lost my father when I was young. My mother, Kathryn, always supported my dream to farm. She passed away right about the time the grapes were coming in. She told me before she died that she would keep an eye on the vineyards for me. I tell people, it's easier to succeed with that kind of help!" AIMS "What has it taken to become the landmark Colorado company you are today?" FRED "I knew this much when I started." [Fred holds up his thumb and index finger representing a span of about an inch.] "I hired people – the best – to teach me. Then I knew this much." [Two more inches.] "Every time I brought them in, I learned this much more." [Again, two more inches.] "How much is there to know?" [He spreads his arms wide.] "But I don't need to know that. If you have a dog, you don't need to know how to bark. I can learn. I can research, I know how money works; and, I can recognize opportunities. And, I'm willing to work hard to materialize a vision and take advantage of those opportunities. I understand money and how to leverage it. That's not as common of a combination as you might think; but, it's necessary to make a business successful." AIMS "Any plans for the future?" FRED "We're developing our grape wines currently. And of course, we're preparing to launch a brand new product: Honey Sher´e, scheduled for release during the 2006 holiday season. As I sipped Fred and Connie's latest blend, the Honey Sher'e - an evocative combination reminiscent of a rich, warm brandy lightly embraced by the jubilant play of honey, I looked into the face of a man enraptured by his work, patiently awaiting my response. So I asked the obvious... "How do you define success?" FRED "To do what you enjoy. You know, I turn 72 tomorrow, and it's been an amazing journey - one I've participated in completely. If you enjoy what you do – and you do it well, I mean, you have to do it well, then everything else takes care of itself. At the end of the term, you may have a pile of money, or you may not, but have a good journey. Chasing money is like chasing smoke. If money is your motivation, that would be a great sadness. Fred, like the exotic one-of-a-kind combinations he creates for his label, is a unique blend of entrepreneur offering his customers something altogether rare in this highly traditional, competitive, and rather exclusive industry – he gives them what they want… and, as Fred says simply, it works.
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Five Fast Pathways to Customer Connectivity
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MARKET SHOT |
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Consumers often develop a perception of a brand which extends beyond what the branded item is expected to do or how it is expected to perform. Such associations are often the product of clever marketing, such as when the consumer associates an actual personality with the brand. One well known example of this has occurred with an insurance provider who uses a type of lizard to sell its message. In doing so, an actual personality has become attached to the brand itself. The brilliance in this type of campaign is that people relate more with a personality (including a talking lizard) than an insurance product. AIMS can help you develop your brand identity and integrate your marketing campaign to reflect on-brand strategies helping you build brand familiarity and leverage your brand’s influence within your market. |
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This feature encourages subscribers to write in and ask a marketing question. Only registered subscribers receive the 'submit a question' format (subscribe today!) Three questions which reflect topics of interest to subscribers, will be selected and posted anonymously together with responses in the next edition. The automated questionnaire, below, will not appear in archived editions, but all posted questions and answers will. AIMS reserves the right to edit any questions for clarity and/or brevity. Have a marketing question? Ask AIMS! |
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Q I am a small business owner looking for more ways to market my service. Without hiring staff, I want to share more information with potential clients. I also don’t want to have to direct sell to each and every prospect. Are there other ways to reach out besides with a website – which I already have? You are on the right track with a website, but putting in a 900 number is another great way to conveniently provide additional sales information through a recorded message to potential clients at precisely the time when they are ready to make a buying decision. Some services, such as real estate, are particularly well suited to this type of selling device. Some services and product sales require a considerable amount of consumer education (another great case for websites) but, there are still many consumers without computers and those who prefer to shop in other ways. Customers needing to make an on-the-spot decision, without a sales person to walk them through the process, can call a 900 number on a cell phone and immediately gain enough information to take the next step. Tip: Keep your message short but informative, and leave follow-up information. If a customer can’t get hold of you, they still want to feel they have made something of their time, have connected and are moving forward with follow-through, placing the ball in your court. |
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Q. Can you suggest ways I can help increase awareness of my holiday/seasonal product. There can be a lot of pressure to move retail items during times of seasonal demand, particularly when those times offer very short windows of sales opportunity. An effective way to help increase awareness can be to partner with someone who sells an item which could be considered complimentary. For example, if you offered a lawn-mowing service, you could partner with a landscaper and offer a discount certificate which the landscaper could distribute to their existing customer base. If you manufactured handmade body oils, you could partner with a local spa, and offer free samples. Such an arrangement can also open doors to co-operative advertising – that is, sharing the costs and benefits of an advertising investment. Large manufactures do this sort of thing all the time: “Buy this (from us) now / and get this (from them) FREE!” This type of marketing strategy is called a “banded offer”, and refers to two similar or complimentary items banded together. These kinds of relationships - as boundless as your imagination - can benefit the larger and smaller manufacturer and retailer by building on one another’s existing market base and providing an added value to the consumer. |
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Q. I want to create a customer survey card – what kind of information should I include? [this relates to a service business]
In preparing a customer survey card, first
think about what kind of information you are seeking. Are you looking for broad
insights, or, for example, specific feedback on a new product or store hours?
Offering an incentive can be a great way to inspire participation. For example, if you were a cafe', you could offer a free beverage. A hardware store could offer a free tire gauge. Make your form accessible to your customer and in a convenient location where filling it out might be a welcome distraction - like at a table in a restaurant, or at the counter back at the hardware store (you could ask them to fill out the form while they wait to be rung up). Make sure you tell them about your free offer! Remain consistent with your preformatted answer options. That is, if you pose your selections in descending order once, do so throughout. If you keep your responses within a selection range of three possible responses - try to do so throughout. One last tip: ask only about those things you can and are wiling to change. Longer hours, or a larger selection may be easier to facilitate than more parking spaces or a move downtown! Here are some sample questions:
How often do you use the service?
How would you rate your service today?
How would you rate your service experiences overall
this past year?
What is your favorite aspect of using our service?
How can we improve our service to you? Comments: __________________________________________________________________ You are our valued customer. If you have had a particularly wonderful or negative experience, please contact me, __________________, and let me know. I am the owner (manager, etc..) and I’d like to hear how our staff has met your specific needs; or, if we’ve goofed, I’d like the opportunity to correct the problem! Thank you for your time! |
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AIMS Marketing Trivia |
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Answer to the October
issue's question: Three hours and three minutes per day. |
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The Native Wave - January 2007 Edition © Lisa Bracken, 2007. All rights reserved.
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