DigiTales & Other Stories

Went for a check up at Specsavers Richmond at the weekend. I do find it amazing how service can differ between franchises, but this lot have always been great at looking after their customers, more so than other branches!

Paying for my eye test, I spotted this contraption. A very simple to use, five question, push-button feedback machine.

It asked how satisfied you were with the waiting time, eye exam and overall experience. It was quick and, dare I say it, quite fun, but I wonder where the data goes to be analysed, and whether they actually act on it.

Having run many a search campaign for high street stores, I’d slip in at least one last question:

Did you view on our website, any of the products you have just puchased with the intention of buying them in store?

 Check out this article I contributed to on Search Engine Land - Shari Thurow asked me and Dixon Jones, among others, to fly the British flag and let US marketers know how they should market to us across the pond.

Got a lot of traction on Sphinn too

Phil Collins once told a story about how a bloke who lived in his village in Sussex knocked on his door asking for a loan. They poor guy had fallen on hard times and needed a few grand to see him though some debts. He promised to pay Phil back so, not knowing the guy at all really, Phil wrote a cheque never expecting to see the money again.

A few years later there was a knock on the door and the chap handed back the money and thanked Phil for helping him out. Collins’ faith and trust in human decency and honesty was enhanced, and it was as much a revelation for him as it was for the guy who asked for the money.

This morning I was walking through Victoria Station and ordered a black americano (marathon training!) from a very nice girl behind the counter at Cafe Nero. As her colleague was busy making it, I searched in my pockets for what I thought was a couple of quid, but slowly realised all I had was 75p. I apologised and said I didn’t have enough money. She shrugged and said it was OK.

As I walked off red & embarrassed she called me back and handed me the coffee! I explained I had no money and showed her the 75p. She smiled pointed at the tip cup (lined with coffee beans - nice touch!) and started serving the next customer.

I explained I’d be back tomorrow with the money and she said OK!

How often does that happen? What great customer service? Such a small gesture, but it set me up for the day, prompted me to write a post about trust and honesty and how it can be inextricably linked to business.

And now if anyone searches for something to do with Cafe Nero online they may well see this post and get a very positive impression too. 

Small, human gestures and nice touches can make all the difference - I don’t think we make enough of the these days! ;-)

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The last time Seth was “Brought to You by Search Engine Strategies” it was in Toronto and I nabbed a free book - The Dip - a short but incisive bible about when to quit when you’re ahead and even if you’re not!

Anyone who style’s themselves as “an author of change” has to be worth a squiz - so get registering! :-)

My post last week about Royal Mail Direct Mail, was picked by Postman Pat himself !

He commented:

“Opting out of addressed Junk Mail:

http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/

Opting out of unaddressed Junk Mail:

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/print?catId=400126&mediaId=500081

Feel free to visit the Royal Mail Chat website but please be aware that the site itself has no connection with Royal Mail or the CWU it just happens that most who go on there are members of the CWU and are employed by Royal Mail. Happy Christmas!”

Thanks Pat……Father Christmas does exist after all!

I have a love/hate relationship with The Royal Mail

I love the way the post people send me is delivered through my letterbox, but I hate all the other rubbish they stick in with it, and I can’t figure out how to opt out.

When poking around on their website I found a page called Why Use Mail Shots?

They claim:

“Mail is a boom advertising medium. And it generally boils down to one key point. It works. Mail works because it’s personal, it’s responsive, it’s measurable and it’s cost effective.”

Erm……no it isn’t….it’s a pain, it’s a waste of paper, and it soaks up large wads of my council tax recycling it.

They go on:

“Mail has the power to change the way people think and feel about you because you can make it so personally relevant.

Mail is engaging. Consumers spend on average 10 minutes reading mailshots. Compare the cost of that length of exposure against other media such as TV. (eh???)

Mail is a tangible form of advertising. It gives you a physical presence in your customers’ home or office, and can literally put your product in their hands.

Mail can be targeted to reach very specific audiences - almost every individual, household and business in the UK can be reached by mail.

Mail can support and deepen relationships with your customers, building awareness as part of integrated campaigns, or involving customers with your business as part of ongoing, two-way communications. It can provide one of the few opportunities for people who actually use your product or service to tell you how they use it, why, and what else they would like from you.

Doordrops (unaddressed mail) offer you the chance to talk to people you don’t know. You can profile and target lists of likely customers - either in broad geographic or lifestyle bands, or through the use of highly specific street-by-street or even door-by-door data.”

Swop the word “mail” with “digital” and you have a much more compelling marketing channel

BTW - It’s 11.26am and the postie still hasn’t been

Sue Unerman’s column last week in Media Week: Is direct mail facing redundancy in a digital world? is most timely….

A couple of months back I posted on my Media Week Blog I was having trouble with The Royal Mail posting rubbish through my letter box.

Well now an estate agent in the area has found a cunning way around the “no flyers” policy in my apartment block. Last week I received not one, but two hand written envelopes bulging with offers to sell my flat.

I used to put all direct mail in the post box at the end of the road, but now I’m saving it up to give the manager of this estate agent a less than green Christmas present.

If I’ve asked for it, then fine. If I haven’t, then expect a “dialogue”.

Like the new Dyson ad? – Instead of banging on about how great the suction is, or how much dog hair it can deal with, it draws attention to how much factory testing goes into producing the things. 

Perhaps to justify the price…..?

I followed the link online because I thought they were joking but apparently not!!!!!

And they’re tracking clicks through from the microsite to their store which thousands wouldn’t think to do…