You probably don’t think about termites all that often. I know I don’t. However, on the drive home last week I heard a Terminix radio ad stating that I have a 3 times greater chance of my home getting infested with termites in Austin (where I live) than in other cities.

Terminix’s advertisement triggered my imagination and sent me thinking about the worse case scenarios: Imagine your house destroyed from the inside by nasty little termites. You could face thousands of dollars in repair costs. Ouch!

When to Use Fear Marketing

Some products and services lend themselves to fear marketing better than others. You probably wouldn’t get termite pest control if you weren’t afraid of not preventing trouble. You’d skip the life insurance premiums or the flood insurance if you weren’t at least a little afraid of the unimaginable.

Consider your audience and product before firing off your initial salvo of fear marketing. You could use fear marketing to drive people to action in multiple areas of disaster prevention or mitigation:

• untimely death
• health and illness
• accidents (work or automobile)
• relationships
• safety
• home ownership
• extended warranties

There is an opportunity to leverage fear marketing to your advantage anytime a customer risks losing money, time, property, or life.

When Not to Use Fear Marketing

If your products will make people happy, please don’t dwell on the negative! Focus on all the positive things that will result from purchasing your product. Don’t overshadow your uplifting company and product with negative overtones of doom and gloom.

Not all people will respond to marketing by fear. You may want to balance any fear campaign with an opposite approach highlighting the positive outcomes. A balanced strategy will capture a broader, more diverse group of potential customers.

Fear Marketing Guidelines

Nedra Weinreich gives us several points to make our fear marketing effective:

1. Make sure the portrayed consequence of not taking action is severe, but not exaggerated.
2. Make the audience feel that the problem is relevant to them.
3. Provide a specific action that the audience can take to prevent the portrayed consequence from happening.
4. Ensure that the audience believes that the proposed solution is effective in preventing the consequence.
5. Portray the solution as something that the audience can easily do.

Provide the Happy Ending

You need to paint a picture for your potential customers that compels them to action. You want them to visualize themselves with a happy ending because they purchased your product. Your product becomes a security blanket that helps the customer sleep at night without the fear of a looming disaster.

• Jack Hightower of CarMax —
  Service Untitled has a great two part interview with CarMax’s VP of Sales. I’ve had two wonderful experiences in buying cars at CarMax and will probably buy my future vehicles from them as well. This interview gives some great insights into CarMax’s secrets to success.
• On Service: The Power of Empathy —
  When you really understand a customer’s complaint you can more easily diffuse difficult situations. Seek first to understand, and then take the complaint or suggestion without an immediate rejection. Your empathetic ear will communicate your sincere desire to help the customer.

Return Customer is 2 years old! The past year has seen my readership double due to your support, comments, and links. Thank you!

Looking back at this past year I found some interesting data on how people arrive at this site and which posts were the most popular.

Top 5 Most Read Posts

Based on traffic data, these were the top most visited posts this past year:

1. The Lost Art of Accepting Thanks
2. Three Constants in Business
3. How Not to Respond to Customer Emails
4. Secrets of a Successful Innovator
5. Think Outside Your Constraints

Top 5 Referrers

These sites sent me the most visitors over the past year:

1. Google – search results
2. 9rules – I’m a member of 9rules’ business and marketing communities
3. Particle Tree – They included me in a great “Guide to Email Roundup“
4. Yahoo! – search results
5. Smiley Cat – Featured in the Typography for Headlines gallery

Top 5 Searches

The following searches brought the most people to this site last year. You’ll see the search terms and then the resulting Return Customer post below.

1. southwestairlines@mail.southwest.com – Clever Auto-Reply Email Address
2. customer expectations – Four Customer Expectations
3. huggies customer service – Customer Service Done Right: Huggies
4. return customer – Return Customer home page
5. please do not reply to this email – Do Not Respond to This Email

If you have any comments on things you like or that could be improved with Return Customer, please leave a comment or send me an email.

Keep up with the latest from Return Customer: subscribe to the RSS feed or sign up for email updates.

I look forward to the coming year!

I got our AT&T Yahoo! internet bill this week and noticed my rates had jumped. I was surprised … and that is not a good thing.

You never want your customers to be surprised by a rate or price increase. Pleasantly surprise them all you want with price decreases, but when you’re taking more money, up-front communication is key.

Since your business costs are rising, you’ll eventually have to pass that on to the consumer. You can, and should, make this transition as pain free as possible.

Explain Why

When you deliver bad news (a price increase) with the reasoning behind it (higher gas prices, labor costs, etc.) your customers are more likely to accept the increase as inevitable and reasonable. The absence of reasoning will annoy the customer and she will assume you’re just trying to squeeze more money out of your relationship.

Advance Notice

Don’t pull a price increase out of thin air. Give your customers an advanced warning that changes are coming. Include the timeline of when changes will happen.

Lock In Previous Pricing

A price increase is a great opportunity to give your current customers a sweet deal. Give your current, and loyal, customer base the opportunity to maintain their current pricing by extending their contract or paying for some service in advance.

Open Communication Equals Retention

Once you notify customers of a price change, some may start shopping around for your competition. That is fine. If you really are providing a good service at a fair price, most of your customers will stick with you.

When you surprise customers with a price hike, even your loyal consumers will start to shop around. Why? Because they’re mad. It is a lot harder to retain angry customers.

So keep customers happy: communicate, explain, prepare, and smooth the price change transition.

• Do you want customers? —
  Why do businesses ignore prospective customers? You may be too busy today but what about next month when you really need the business? Responding positively to prospects builds both long term loyalty and a potential referral source.
• CEO as Customer Evangelist —
  Imagine the difference to your customers if your CEO and other decision makers are advocates for the customer.
• How not to pitch a blogger —
  The most effective pitches I’ve received as a blogger are not cut-and-paste emails but rather those that have personal messages attached where the sender obviously read and is commenting on something I’ve written.

Are your managers undermining the work of their subordinates? Does your company really put the customer first? Sears provides us a great example of what not to do:

This past weekend we went to Sears to buy a dishwasher. The sales associate, Brandi, was very pleasant and knowledgeable. She carefully explained all our options and helped us make a decision.

I didn’t want to pay the price they had listed. I asked Brandi what she could do for me. She reverted back to pitching Sears’ promotion-of-the-week: “buy with a Sears credit card and get a discount.” I don’t have a Sears card, nor do I want one.

Try as I may, I couldn’t get any discount out of Brandi. Unfortunately, Brandi was not empowered to do anything.

On the verge of paying for the dishwasher, I again asked what kind of discount she could give me as a loyal customer. You see, we’ve bought all our other major home appliances from Sears: washer, dryer, refrigerator, stove, and microwave. Plus our yard tools: mower and weedwacker. Not to mention clothes, tools, etc. Surely for such a loyal customer as myself, I’d get some kind of “special” treatment.

Poor Brandi said she couldn’t because her manager (she pointed to him across the way) wouldn’t go for it. I said, “Great, let’s go talk to him.”

Managers Can Completely Undo the Work of Subordinates

I introduced myself to Rod, the manager, and said, “Brandi tells me she isn’t able to offer me, a loyal customer, a discount.” I explained again about all the appliances I’ve purchased from Sears. Rod responded: “We don’t negotiate.” His response was delivered like the US Government telling a terrorist “We don’t negotiate.” Cold, stern, and with a glare in his eye.

I responded: “Well, maybe not at this location.”

Rod: “Which location are you talking about?”

I told him about the other Sears store and that they treated us very well on our last purchase.

Rod: “Hmph. That’s surprising because I was the manager at that store.”

That response set me back a bit. I thought, “What? You’re denying I had a good experience and was treated well in your store on your watch?”

His response completely defied logic and I simply had to walk away muttering, “I guess I’m going to have to reconsider my purchase.”

Customers vs. Company Policy

What went wrong in this exchange? How did I go from being happy and well-treated by Brandi to angry (with steam coming out of my ears) after talking with her manager?

Why? Because Rod, and his employer, Sears, value following company policy more than retaining a customer and closing the sale.

This sounds completely backward to me as both a customer and a small business owner. What do you think?

The Ideal Scenario

Here’s how things could have played out:

Me: “What discount can you give me, a loyal customer?”

Rod: “I really appreciate you returning to Sears for your appliance needs. It means a lot to me personally, and to our company, to have such a loyal customer as yourself. In order to be fair to all our customers, the price we have listed is the best possible price we can offer today. We do have a 30 day price guarantee. In fact, come with me, let’s go call Best Buy, Lowe’s, and Home Depot and see if they can beat our offer right now.”

Rod would then take me to an office and make the phone calls, detailing my Sears dishwasher’s specifications, and getting prices from the competition.

If anybody was lower priced, Rod would beat the price right there. If not, he would say, “Even though our competitors couldn’t beat our price today doesn’t mean they can’t have a sale next week. Our 30 day price guarantee still holds.

“Here is my card. Take it and call me if you see a lower price and I’ll personally take care of getting you a refund for the difference. In fact, by making your purchase with us today, we’ll add you to our “price watch database” where we’ll automatically send you a check if Sears sells your dishwasher for a lower price anytime during the next 30 days.”

Doesn’t that make for a more happy ending? I wish it had played out that way. Sears, are you listening?

Change Your Company Policy

What about all the other companies out there? You can beat Sears today by simply turning your attention to the customer. My “ideal scenario” was inspired by Jeffrey Gitomer’s book, Customer Satisfaction is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless. Read that book and you’ll get inspired to “wow” your customers.

A simple grammatical trick can make you stand out among your competition. Well, at least until they do the same thing!

Take a look at these slogans you’ve probably seen in the mass media.

SBC: “Fastest internet in Austin for the price”

Sprint: “The most powerful network”

Verizon: “America’s most reliable network”

Cingular: “The fewest dropped calls”

What do all these have in common? They all use superlatives. Do you remember that term from grammar lessons long ago?

This subtle phrasing helps the companies mentioned above appear as though they are the only valid choice. Superlatives are great at making a good first impression. However, when superlatives are flying all around, it may cause your customer to start to ask questions. Will your superlative claim stand up to scrutiny? Let’s take a look at these examples.

Fastest

I saw SBC’s claim “Fastest Internet in Austin for the price” on a roadside billboard. The “fastest” part caught my attention and I, driving by in my car, often didn’t get past that first piece and never read the “for the price.”

The second half of their claim is a big caveat, exemption, and doubt creator. What do they mean by “for the price?”

Don’t leave your customers guessing or even thinking there is a catch to your statement.

Powerful

Sprint claims “the most powerful network.” What do they mean by “powerful?” Are we talking about volts, amps, or mystical waves floating through the air? Something else? It is hard to say because they make the claim as if it is self-evident.

Your marketing statements should be self-explanatory.

Reliable

Verizon Wireless boasts “America’s most reliable network.” Surely this resonates with consumers whose current cell provider drops their calls or never seems to have an available signal on hand.

Use words that ring true with customers. A customer should hear your statement and then immediately picture how their current problem can be fixed by your solution.

Fewest

Not to be outdone by the competition, Cingular makes the longest statement: “The largest digital voice and data network and the fewest dropped calls.” What does the “largest network” do for me? Doesn’t that make it more crowded, harder to get customer service, and turn me into just another account number?

They may be wiser to stick with the final claim: “fewest dropped calls.” While not as broad as Verizon’s reliable claim, the dropped call statement would resonate with customers that are plagued by such.

Avoid marketing claims that also make you look impersonal.

Be the Best

Using superlatives in marketing claims can easily make you look superior to others. However, your claims need to relate to customer’s needs, make you look nearly perfect, and be truthful. Boasting your own strength or greatness will do little to persuade the customer to make a change and do business with you. Take it from the other side: what does your customer want–or need–to hear?

I recently went to AutoZone, an auto parts store, to buy some new wiper blades for my car. My interaction with the sales person shows how effective recommendations can be delivered to your customers.

Establish Trust

I asked the employee to help me find which blades I needed. He looked my car up in the computer and led me to the right aisle.

His friendly and helpful manner prepared the way for the next step.

Make the Recommendation

Then the magic began. He expertly upsold me to a higher priced set of wiper blades. I’m usually a penny pincher and too often buy based on price. So how did this happen?

He pointed to some blades and told me that I could buy those because they had “a moderate price but high quality.” My mind connected the dots and concluded that with the cheaper set I’d probably also get an inferior product.

Tell Me Why

The simple act of telling my why he recommended the product helped me draw the conclusion that he wanted all along: I should buy the more expensive item.

I thanked him for his help and stood staring at the shelf. I picked up the brand he recommended and proceeded to the checkout.

If the employee had simply pointed me at the aisle and walked away, I most likely would have bought the cheaper product. Even if he had said: “I recommend these,” without an explanation, I probably would have gone with the cheaper blades. It was only with the “why” attached to the recommendation that it becomes truly effective.

What are the results?

Was he right? So far, so good. We’ve had an inordinate amount of rain lately and the wipers have worked great.

The reality of a good product in action reaffirms the AutoZone guy knew what he was talking about. I’m therefore that much more likely to take his recommendation next time I’m in the store. Consistency is the key to repeat business.

When your customers view you as the expert, they will trust your recommendations. Build that trust by making solid recommendations supported by your reasoning. Be sure your customer knows why you are making a recommendation.

I saw a new online task management application this week called HiTask. The first time I visited their site I noticed they had Google Ads across the top of their pages:

Google was so adept at matching the keywords of the site with ad links that I was seeing ads like “Tasks” and “Task Management.” To the untrained eye, these could very well be parts of the HiTask site and pull users into clicking on the ads.

This was very clever placement for generating ad revenue but it completely distracted potential customers from signing up for the service.

The good folks at HiTask must have noticed this because, last I checked, the ads have been moved to the bottom of the pages.

I’m all for having ads on a site. (They help pay the bills on this site.) However, your advertising strategy for content sites must be different from online web applications.

For web-based applications, your goal is to get people to sign up for your service. Get people to convert on that call to action first, then show them ads.

Distracting prospects with ads may give you a few extra dollars today but undermines your long term objectives of gaining customers. Keep your eye on the long term prize!

Today’s article is from guest author Margaret McCaffrey

A friend of mine recently changed jobs. When I rang to congratulate her on her new position I wondered if I’d swapped planets.

The receptionist at her new job couldn’t have been nicer, indicating in a pleasant tone that they were pleased with their new appointee and that my call was welcome. “Can I check the spelling of your name?” she asked. “Things are looking up,” I thought.

In my friend’s old job there was a labyrinth of departments and hierarchies that I had to wade through in order to make contact. When they finally did track her down, I usually had to settle for leaving her a message on voicemail.

What a difference the first point of call makes.

I realize that management experts make a business of reminding companies of this fact, but I sometimes wonder if the managing director just rang their own office – from an outside line – or visited their shop in search of their own product, they could save themselves a lot in consultancy fees, and improve sales at the same time.

Whether it is service at the make-up counter of a department store, a call to your stockbroker, or an inquiry about train scheduling, it is all the same thing – the first impression creates a lasting impact. People care about how they are treated. Good service – along with fine product – turns an enquirer into a buyer; a browser into a customer.

Customers may not always be right, but my guess is that success in the marketplace goes to the company that makes them think they are – or at least makes them feel good about being wrong.

And besides, if all other forms of persuasion fail, just remember that you never know when the customer on the other end of the phone or on the other side of the counter is going to be your boss.

About the Author:

Margaret McCaffrey is a freelance writer from Melbourne, Australia and a keen observer of human interaction and communication. She is currently researching and writing a book on the relationship between the children of World War II veterans and their fathers, and the impact war has on families.