Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

What takes place between consenting
adults is everybody's business

When a customer consents to do business with you it’s a liaison that deserves more than a peck- on- the cheek “Thank You.” It’s another opportunity to show that you’ll still love him or her in the morning. Good customer relationship management programs can help foster fidelity. But these programs can’t automate good judgment. And that’s why what takes place in this relationship is everybody’s business.

In the July/August issue of Sales & Marketing Management, Scott Hornstein, president of Hornstein Associates, Redding CN, presents a powerful case for treating customers as individuals rather than as a group, and that requires good judgment.

The author says, “Interaction with the individual is widely viewed not as an opportunity, but as a cost to be driven down.” That’s a dangerous viewpoint that can evolve from looking at customers as a group rather than as individuals. This attitude or lack of attention to individuals presents an opportunity for sensitive marketers who have empathy for their customers.

Permission marketing seeks a conversation with customers. And this requires thinking of them not as a group, but as individuals. Every contact should reinforce the relationship. Every contact is an opportunity to continue to woo and wow and make each one feel special. CRM is everybody’s business

Scott Hornstein is coauthor of Opt-in Marketing: Increase Sales Exponentially with Consensus Marketing. He can be reached at: edit@salesandmarketing.com

Marketers should keep trolling
to find hot sales prospects

Media reps will tell you concentration is the best way to make maximum impact. Spread your message around, they say, and you’ll only weaken it.

Okay. Yes. But. If you continue to only fish in the same spot you may not catch some of those who are extra hungry for what you have to offer.

Why not compromise? Depending on your product or service you might invest some of the budget in low- cost print and ezine classifieds, radio spots, or paid search marketing. These media and directories attract prospects that are already in the market. In a sense, this is permission marketing. The buyer is looking for those with a solution. His visit is your permission to present your offer. So, why not make it easy for him to find you?

Some excellent prospects may not be swimming in that big lake where you placed all your lures.

Now, you can do all sorts of sophisticated cost analysis about media buys. Or you can just go ahead and give this idea a shot. Innovate. Explore. Discover. Then adopt, adapt or abandon the tactic. Chalk it up to R&D. It’s a tactic that can help shape your strategy, hone your appeal, and discover hot spots that need attention.

One of my clients was the largest distributor of hearing aids in South Jersey. He used both classified and display advertising in daily and weekly newspapers. While the display ads were good for his brand, it was his heavy schedule of low-cost classifieds that produced the most leads for his reps.

Let’s assume you’ve concentrated your budget in full page insertions in the number one publication for your market. Can you still dominate a page with less than a full page? Of course you can, and you’ll have a few bucks left over to go trolling in other pubs or venues.

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USPS Deliver Magazine
delivers lots of ammo
for direct marketers

Okay folks; let’s put aside snide buzzwords like “snail mail.” The United States Postal Service that contributes so much to the success of so many deserves better. True, it can’t get to the target with a click of the “send” button, but it can do a lot of things that email can’t do alone.

Deliver Magazine is one of the nice things USPS does six times a year for direct marketers. Each issue is a valuable resource of ideas, insights and techniques for marketers. For example, the July 06 issue is 30 pages of fast- reading content- rich material. It contains articles on strategy, targeting, customer retention, refining customer targets, and changing demographics.

Any emphasis on the mailing of printed material as part of the marketing mix is purely intentional. (Come on, that’s their business!) The refreshing thing is that any bias is supported by facts and presented with objectivity.


Here’s a taste of just a few of the goodies you’ll find in the July issue:

Jeanne Bliss’s opinion column, “Customers in Captivity” debunks the customer loyalty myth. “It’s not about the “stuff” we give.” she says. “More importunately, it’s about doing business with us and about how important they are to us.”

Jennifer Haupt’s article, “Perfect Harmony Sells,” makes the case that loyalty programs based on price reductions or rewards don’t work.” In the B-to-B world,” she says, “you need to develop long-term relationships where you treat customers as partners.”

Another article tells how the Pfaltzgraff Co. used Yankelovich Research findings to guide their marcom by helping them identify eight different groups of customers, differentiated by values, world perspective and motivations.

Marketing guru Seth Godin, interviewed by Scott S. Smith, suggests that in today’s world, customer needs have already been met. Your product needs to satisfy their wants, and these wants are subjective and irrational.

And that’s just a sample of the great content. The July issue also announces a contest to show what we can learn from failed campaigns. The editors want to hear about the half-baked strategy or the lamest client pet project you’ve ever had the joy (?) of experiencing ---and what you leaned. They’ll feature the best (of the worst) entries in an upcoming issue.



Deliver is a pub that’s worth your time. It should be read by every one who has anything to do with marketing. And if you’re in business, that’s everyone. To subscribe go to www.usps.com/deliver.