I received a letter from a clothing chain store the other day, reminding me of the fact that it was the anniversary of the day I had opened my account. The letter went on to welcome me back to the store soon to purchase more clothing and other products in celebration of this fact.
It strikes me that most retailers are currently experiencing a marketing and CRM dilemma bordering on the schizophrenic. They want to make sure they reach everyone, so they send communication on all channels.
Basheera Khan, journalist, ITWeb
I felt the utter pointlessness of this exercise more keenly when I remembered that the very same chain store has my customer profile stored in a database somewhere in Johannesburg, and has actually communicated with me by e-mail a number of times.
Mass marketing by post is growing obsolete. Why on earth would this company persist in sending letters when it`s cheaper to send e-mails that are, in turn, easier to customise?
In my case, that three paragraph letter was a cost to the chain store that hasn`t been recovered in any way. I pick up my snail mail irregularly, but check for new e-mail roughly every five minutes, meaning I received this letter two weeks too late in any case. Instead of motivating me to go out and spend money on "this season`s hottest and most happening looks", it made me wonder why it is I went to the effort of profiling myself on the chain`s Web site.
It strikes me that most retailers are currently experiencing a marketing and CRM dilemma bordering on the schizophrenic. They want to make sure they reach everyone, so they send communication on all channels.
What stops a company from merely sending out a single communiqu'e, requesting that customers specify the channel of communication they`d prefer being touched on? This makes even greater sense when it comes to strategizing on marketing campaigns for the future; once you have an idea of which type of communication your customers prefer, it provides you with an insight into the style of marketing and message content to which they would be most receptive.
This particular chain store has sent me letters, e-mails and SMSs. I hate receiving commercial SMS - I really do - and yet this store hasn`t yet asked my opinion in the matter, nor my permission I might add.
They send me beautifully designed catalogues, which I generally afford a cursory glance before 'filing` them. They send me paper bills which I ignore, because I prefer to do my account management and payment online. They send me general information letters, specific account information letters, and feel-good form letters just because - all of which can be done by e-mail. And as an aside, if my joining the chain store pleases them so much, why don`t they send me a loyalty appreciation voucher too, to encourage me to spend in their store?
People have been talking about the massive paradigm shift that is to be expected when customer communication becomes electronic. They`ve spoken about touching customers more intimately than before, at a greatly reduced cost than before, and the buy-in from industry seems to be significant.
Why then this duplication of cost and effort? Where is the missing link in this value chain? And how many times will I sing this song before retailers manage to find efficient and elegant solutions to the simplest of problems?
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