From the marketing trenches...

A new tool for marketers.

I doubt I am alone in saying that, as a customer, I am annoyed by the automated customer service phone systems used by companies with whom I do business.

But as marketers, how can we track whether or not the automated system our company uses is damaging our customer relationships?

A new company, Get Human, is (indirectly, anyway) providing companies with just such a tool.

Their website keeps a database of customer service numbers and instructions to bypass the frustrating menu of pressing 1 or the # sign and speak directly to...a human. For example, the instructions for calling MetLife Bank tell you to "press 000 rapidly and repeatedly".

A nice tool for customers.

But the organization is also creating a database of customer experiences, including the amount of time callers are on hold and ranking customer experiences with calling the customer service line.

Although this is designed as information for consumers, marketers should leverage this valuable tool to gauge their customer's perception at a very important touch-point. Is the customer experience in line with the brand promise?

Search the internet by drawing a picture.

Watch out, Google, there's a new player in the search engine space, 3D Seek , that allows you to search the Internet via a free-hand sketch!

The nascent technology is currently available to manufacturing firms, allowing them to search for hinges, bolts and other small parts online with nothing more than a freehand sketch and a new search engine that uses enhanced particle pattern recognition software.

The consumer application can't be far behind.

 

A big brand's delimma.

Here's one to watch...Levi's, the denim icon since the late 1800's, is experiencing lagging sales. Their fix? Go head-to-head with the likes of  True Religion, Citizens for Humanity and Chip & Pepper.

Levi's finds itself in that dreaded place...the middle. (This is something The Gap knows all too well.) Competitor Vanity Fair is doing well with discount brands such as Wrangler and Lee. And the premium, designer jeans market has exploded with labels falling in and out of fashion based on the latest paparazzi photo of our favorite stars.

Levi's isn't just entering this market with an "improved jean", they're jumping in with a gimmick. Their latest, RedWire DLX, sells for $200 and contains a docking station, remote control, and headphones for the Apple iPod. Hmmmm. So that's what all those True Religion wearers have been seeking...a place to put their mp3 player. Right.

I think Levi's may be getting off at the wrong exit. While their sales have declined some, their brand is one of a handful that truly stands for something and has done so for over 100 years. And let's face it, people buy jeans with ridiculous names like Chip & Pepper because they are NOT Levi's.

This reminds me of Delta Airlines gunning for low-priced competitors such as JetBlue . Instead of doing what Delta does, but bigger and better, they responded by launching Song, a me-too discount airliner. Song didn't last long because it wasn't Delta doing what Delta does best.

Look, fashions come and go, especially those based on fads. But there is one fashion icon that has stood the test of time decade upon decade. And that's Levi's. Let's hope they discover a way to engage their loyal fans while continuing to be Levi's. If I want a new way to carry my iPod, I'll go to the electronics counter.

Web twist on an old model. And it's working.

Can you build a business on a foundation of free condoms?

Apparently so. An article in AdAge  (free registration required) points us to Gratis Internet, Inc. The company originated as a portal to obtain free condoms (freecondoms.com) and has moved on to loftier things such as www.freeipods.com.  They made Inc.'s 500 Fastest Growing Companies list this year coming in at number 18.

The model is simple. For example, at freeipods.com, you simply enter your email address and shipping information. Then you choose from a list of offers...these range from applying for a credit card to downloading free ring tones.

Next, you refer your friends to do the same. This forms a "conga line". As more of your friends sign up (remember Amway?), you get closer to your ipod and eventually receive one for free.

The 18-24 demographic has responded. Gratis is providing leads by the boatload to companies like CitiBank and Blockbuster. These corporations hire Gratis on a pay-for-performance basis.

Sound like your great uncle's pyramid scheme he tried to rope you into years ago? This new twist on an old model works because your friends, if they take you up on your referral, get something of genuine value. Plus you don't have to ride around selling cleaning products out of your trunk.

If You Market to Humans, Read This...

Target, prospect, click-through, c-level, consumer, buyer, decision-maker, web-site visitor, champion,   purchaser, audience, customer, end-users, responses, impressions, hits, clicks.

Actually, they are all people. Just like you and me...who make decisions using both sides of their brain along with the thing that makes them people...their emotions.

Don't forget that the next time you market to one of them.

Lost in Translation

I've got nothing against outsourcing, per se. In fact, outsourcing mundane business processes leaves the more thoughtful, interesting work for the rest of us.

Three different companies with which I do business have outsourced their call centers to eastern countries. Although the call center companies work diligently to teach their operators mid-western, American accents, it is painfully obvious you're talking to Dubai and not Des Moines.

But the real problem I have with them lies not in their language skills, but in their inability to solve my problems. Talking with one of these customer representatives is like having a conversation with a robotic parrot. They've learned canned responses that were meant to cover every question or problem that might arise. Detecting subtlety is not their thing. Often, the same answer is repeated back to me even though the question has, from where I sit anyway, changed significantly.

This creates an extremely frustrating consumer experience. Something is definitely lost in translation.

Some of it, due to cultural and language differences, cannot be avoided. But knowing this, companies who outsource to this pool of workers should strive diligently to compensate for it. Deeper training and inculcation into the company's brand, products and procedures is needed. The conversation with the customer must move beyond reading flash cards.

Just because the labor is cheap, doesn't mean the customer's experience should be treated as less valuable.