The Brand Value of Putting your Customers First

We have heard it over and over again, communication is no longer a one-way street between your brand and your customers. In fact, more often than not, your brand reputation lies in the hands of internet-savvy consumers who will advocate for or against your brand outside the realm of the traditional marketing mix.  Marketers must consistently engage these advocates with flexibility and understanding. 

If you handle a customer complaint poorly, it can severely hurt your reputation. On the contrary, going above and beyond to amend the situation will give your brand credibility and earn trust. For example, I recently ordered food from Domino's only to find out they don’t deliver to my house, even though they have delivered there in the past. I wrote an email complaining about their inconsistent service and expressed my disappointment. The next day I received anemail apologizing for what happened, the email included an offer for two pizza pies on them. This is an example of a brand that is putting the customer first by making the extra effort to invest in a disappointed customer to keep them loyal.

Another prime example was during the big snowstorm of 2007 that resulted in JetBlue cancelling 1000+ flights. JetBlue was a young company at the time (7 years old), and they knew one mistake could drastically hurt their reputation. The CEO, David Neeleman, decided not to hide from the problem, but address it head-on. He went straight to the press, apologized, and rolled out a “customer bill of rights” as a solution for future problems. This bill of rights gave customers monetary compensation for delayed or cancelled flights. The best part is that he allowed customers who suffered through the snowstorm to benefit from this new bill, even though it was created after the fact. This decision initially cost the company millions, but their efforts to keep their customers loyal and happy went a long way.

Safeguard your brand reputation by educating your employees on how to stay true to your brand values and company mission. Demonstrate that you can consistently be there for your customers and they will reciprocate with kind words and recommendations to friends, family, and the online community.

Using Gamification to Influence Business Travelers' Behavior

Gamification is proving to be successful when applied to many different subjects. In the classroom children are scoring higher. In the workplace employees are becoming more engaged at work and generating more revenue for their employers. Now it is being applied to business travel.

Business travel has changed a lot in recent years. A recent Forbes article highlighted the changes in corporate travel in recent years.  Employees are increasingly personalizing their travel experiences by updating seat assignments, customizing in-flight meals and booking their own hotel rooms without the involvement of a corporate travel planner. But with all of this flexibility, business travelers are pushing the limits of their company’s travel rules and budgets. Companies have turned to gamification to solve this issue. Here are two examples of tactics companies are using to change employee behavior.

Travel management company Ovation rewards travelers for obeying the company’s policies. They earn points and can redeem them for merchandise from digital stores.

Rocketrip, a gamified travel service for companies, rewards clients' employees who adhere corporate policies with cash. The closer they follow or beat the budget that is set, the higher the reward.

In an age where personalization is central to consumer's experiences, convincing people to sacrifice a bit of that experience for the good of the company is a tough task. Entrepreneurs have risen to the challenge and used gamification as a means to fix this trending problem. And it’s working.

Tesla’s Play to Change the Auto Industry

My new favorite magazine is called The Week. It is only 35 to 40 pages long and does not have a lot of advertising in it. It reminds me of the Cliff notes version of Time or Newsweek. It is a synopsis of the week’s news through the eyes of bloggers, news bureaus’ op-ed pages and newspaper reporters. Any given article is no more than a half of a page long and summarizes the topic by providing quotes by reporters/bloggers who have written on the topic over the course of the week. I like reading it undisturbed by cell phones and tablets on Saturday afternoons while sipping a hot cup of tea or occasionally a glass of white wine.

You see, during the course of my busy week I rarely have time to absorb and relax with newspapers like I used to. I’m inundated by email, texts and web browsers shouting at me delivering what they want rather than what I want to know. I find this form of reading enjoyable, meaningful and fulfilling in understanding and gaining information about the world around me.

I recently read an article about Elon Musk and Tesla. The crux of the article stated that many states have laws on the books that prevent manufacturers from marketing their automobiles directly to consumers. “State officials have raised a stink over the company's direct-sale business model, claiming it violates a state law requiring companies to sell cars through certified dealerships”. Basically, cars have to be sold and serviced through a dealer network. “But dealers say allowing direct sales "would harm consumers, limiting their ability to shop around for the best price, trade in vehicles, or obtain financing for a new car." What?

After reading the article I was really upset. Here is an innovation created by a true 21^st Century innovator and the mainstream dealer establishment around us is holding us back. That would be like saying that Apple would only be allowed to sell its technology through Best Buy, Target and Walmart instead of at Apple stores or online. It makes no sense.

As a marketer, what does one do? I can think of at least 3 ideas. In the new social media savvy world that we live in, customers must become more engaged and speak up against this resistance to change. Becoming an advocate of the free market reinforces our democracy and capitalism. Second, we need to let the leaders at Tesla know that they have a strong backing of support that should strengthen their resolve to change the marketplace for the better. And lastly we should lobby the established distribution/dealer network as well as our government leaders to express our displeasure over their manipulation of the law due to money interests and lobbyists. If dealers become irrelevant, so let it be. Did we restrict car manufacturers and dealers from being established in order to protect buggy manufacturers, blacksmiths and buggy whip makers?

I may never actually buy a Tesla but just the idea that outside “protectionist dealers” could have an unfair advantage based on irrelevant laws that were put in place long ago is just something that seems to be wrong and out of date. What do you think?

Connect with Allan on Twitter @shteinman