Guess What? Your Customer Does Matter

So this weeks blog post comes with a recent experience.  I booked a trip on Booking.com and made sure to make every reservation refundable as I knew my trip was subject to change.  Sure enough, I ended up having to change one of my five reservations.

Upon visiting the site I was unable to cancel the reservation.  When I contacted them, the reply was that it was non-refundable, but they would see what they could do.

To make a long story short, after having to follow up several times over a month, and getting no real answer, I finally got the response that is summed up by "It is not our problem."

I have had to run my own customer service, managed customer service teams and know the damage that can be done by a customer that is not taken care of.  I had thousands of dollars in bookings on the site and that was treated with a "sorry for your frustration, good luck."

Here is where companies always seem to make a huge mistake.  Now if they were to get my trip refunded, let's say it costs them the entire $800 for the reservation.

Now, I don't know their fees, but what will it cost them when I never book on their site again, and I make sure everyone I know stays away from their site.

You NEED to take care of your customer.  There are times when you want to strangle the person on the other end of your emails.  Complaints can seem unreasonable, refunds hurt, but nothing can hurt your company more than bad public relations.  The moment you have people walking around talking about what a scam you are, and not to trust your brand, you are losing WAY more money than a few customer issues here and there.

Regardless of being motivated by profit, you need to look at the long term affects on your company.  Are you in this to see a big number this week, or this year?

This may be redundant to a lot of you.  I once heard the number used in the restaurant industry is for every one bad experience, 205 people hear about it.

Imagine that! and this was before social media and the power a voice has now.  All it takes is one person with enough frustration to want to spread the word and it can crush even a large brand.



Above is a tweet promoted by an individual that was not compensated for lost luggage.  He spent $1000 to promote this tweet and it got the attention of the world.  News stations, websites, bloggers, influencers all spoke about him around the world.

Do you think British Airways should have just handled his situation and been done with it?

The power of your customer is larger than it has ever been.  Everyone has a huge voice now and it is your job to make sure they do not use it against your brand, even if you may not feel they are always in the right.

Men vs Women, 6 Key Differences in eCommerce Marketing

Are you trying to decide whether you should target men, women or both with your new product?  I have something shocking to point out.  The buying habits of men and women are DRASTICALLY different.  Your entire strategy has to change to attract one or the other.  Here are six key differences to look out for depending on who your audience is.  Please remember this is based on my personal experience, and you are entitled to your own opinion in the matter.

1. Cost per Acquisition
When it comes to women, they love what's new and exciting.  With the right marketing position and branding, it isn't that difficult to get them to try your product.

On the other hand, men are very set in their ways.  It is hard to convince a man to try something new.

The result of this is a higher CPA.  It takes less marketing to get women to try a product than it does men (this is obviously a broad generalization, but assuming everything else is equal).

This means it takes more upfront cash to get a male customer base growing.

2. Lifetime Value
This is where men make up some ground.  As easy as it is to market to a woman and get her to try your product, one wrong move and they will never forgive you.

I have had very different experiences marketing to men.  At Swag of the Month, we could send someone the wrong size, a color they stated they hated, and make countless mistakes.  The response would usually be something a long the lines of "can you just make sure this doesn't happen again."  They wouldn't even ask for a return or exchange most of the time!

At Ellie, we saw average lifetimes of about 4 months.  At Swag of the Month, we were seeing around 14 months!  Once men like something, they are a lot harder to lose.

This allows you to invest more up front, but eventually you will make higher returns (see my last blog post on key metrics).

3. Emotion vs. Logic
This all comes down to the way you position your product.  To get the best response, women want to see the emotional appeal.  They want to know the lifestyle behind the brand.  How is this product going to make them feel.

Guys shopping habits are much more logic based.  You need to appeal to why they need what you are selling.  Why does it make sense to purchase this.

Lifestyle can come into play for both, but men are going to think about it as a "why do I need this?" and women will usually think more as to "how is this going to make me feel?"

4. Social Media Strategy
This has been surprisingly tricky.  Women love to look at products.  You can push your actual brand all day and engage them on the lifestyle and product images (especially in fashion).

With men, you have to almost sneak the product in.  Guys are not on social media to look at pictures of fashion, just as much as they don't go to the mall to browse.  So with this in mind, you need to actually engage them on their interests.  Post about things guys will want to read and see, and then connect it to your product (but not too much).  Social media is a much more delicate thing when it comes to men.

5. Product Navigation
Basic rule here, girls love to shop and guys want to get in and out.  A men's site needs to have a tight funnel and focus them on getting exactly what they want and getting out.  Girls want to browse and look through products.  Girls are looking to spend much more time on the site.  A small product line and focused navigation is better for guys and a wide selection and user friendly interface for browsing (like fab.com) is much better for girls.

6. Customer Service
This is a big one.  When Swag of the Month had 1000 subscribers, we would get around 30 emails per month in customer service.  When Ellie hit 1000, we were getting about 1000 emails per month.  This goes back to the "men never stop and ask for directions" thing.  If women have a problem, they let you know it.  They want acknowledgement, validation and help.  Men are a lot more forgiving, want to handle it themselves, but they also don't give you the opportunity to make a problem right as often.

So think very hard about who you want your customer to be and how you model your business based on that.

6 Truths About Using Facebook

Paying for likes on your facebook page is NOT going to skyrocket your business growth!  It is a common misconception that facebook is the most important marketing channel in this marketing age.  While it is important to HAVE a facebook page, it’s not going to drive you a significant amount of new users to your site.

Here are the correct ways to use facebook:

1. The best users are the organic ones

Stop spending money to grow your facebook page.  The days of it increasing your credibility ended when you could buy 10,000 Filipino likes for $50, everyone can see how many are actually engaging anyways.  You do not want your page saying “54,000 likes, 126 people talking about you.”  Those likes have no benefit anymore.  You want to encourage your customers and fans to like you so that you have a forum for them to communicate directly with you publicly and spread your message.

You only gain credibility from activity.

2. It is not a Billboard, it is a relationship

Most brands seem to love to just blast their fans with sales and images of their products.  The people on your page should already know who you are (unless you ignore the advice in step 1).  That means this is an opportunity to create a relationship and brand.  Make your posts engaging and more in line with your brands lifestyle.  No one wants to see “This is our product” posts.  An example: If you have an active wear line, don’t just make constant posts about the fact that you are an active wear line.  Talk about things that surround the lifestyle of someone that wears active wear.  Healthy Eating Habits, Great Workouts, and then highlight specific products in there, but explain why they are great.

Talk about things as if you are a part of an interest group with your friends around the lifestyle of your brand.

3. Communicate Directly with Customers

Facebook is an opportunity for your customer to feel like they will reach you directly as a brand and be heard (because it is public).  Take advantage of this opportunity and show all of the observers how you are great at handling customers questions and requests.

WARNING: Be wary that every mistake you make can end up being splattered on your facebook, so make sure this is being monitored closely and managed quickly.

4. Bring a Personality to your Brand

Create your voice and your personality.  People hate corporate language and bland statements from the brands they love.  Whoever is posting on your facebook, make sure they have a voice and personality that matches your brand.  Are you a men’s tshirt company? Be a man when you post, crack jokes, talk like a human being and people will gravitate more.

BE HUMAN

5. Encourage Active Social Media Users to be your Ambassadors

There are many great ways to encourage sharing among your fans.  You really can just bluntly ask your followers to share certain posts (just don’t overdo it).  A great strategy is to find influencers that fall in line with your brand and work out collaborations to expand your visibility on Social Media.

It is very important to know who the players are in your space and who the influencers are.

6. Create Long Term Relationships

By following these different directions, this allows you to create long term personal connections with customers that will fight for you, continue purchasing from you and spread your message.

Harness that opportunity and treat them well, you will reap the rewards.