Restaurants and Retailers Frequently Alienate, Frustrate and
Scare Their Customers With Badly-Timed Communications
(July 6, 2004:
Providence, RI) – David Williams, founder and President of
LoyalTec, LLC, thinks that collecting customer data and tailoring
communication based on that data is a very smart idea. Unless,
that is, the establishment sends the message at the wrong time.
“I
first thought about this when I was sitting in one of my
favorite restaurants and the server brought the check,” Williams
said. “I have a Customer Rewards card for this restaurant, and
apparently they had been collecting data on how many dollars I
had spent there over the past year. At the bottom of the check,
they had printed a little note. It congratulated me on the sum
total of my purchase history, which entitled me to a free
dessert on my next visit.”
Williams
explained the two big problems with this communication. First, he
didn’t want to be reminded of how much money he’d spent in that
restaurant – the sum was a wake-up call that he was dining out too
much. Second, he was full to bursting when the check arrived. What
worse time to relish the news of a free dessert?
Williams started noticing more and more examples of restaurants
and retail shops ruining their relationships with their customers
by communicating in a clumsy or badly-timed fashion. The common
motivation was to communicate at a point made easy or inexpensive
by technology, rather than considering the impact of the
communication on customer attitudes and behaviors.
“It’s
very smart to collect data on your customers, with their
permission. You can serve them better, make them targeted
offers, and reward the people who make you successful. But like
anything else, there’s a right and a wrong way to do it,”
Williams asserted.
To help
restaurants and retailers use the data they collect to increase
customer satisfaction and loyalty, Williams has written a White
Paper on the proper and improper timing of communication with
customers.
Titled
“How to Alienate, Frustrate, and Scare Your
Customers with Ill-Timed Communications: Don’t Offer Me a Burger
When I’m Full,” the White Paper explains:
-
the three
“litmus test” questions to ask to determine if a message is
well-timed
-
the four most
serious negative consequences of badly-timed messages
-
how to avoid
being a “Coupon Tease”'
-
the four
strategic steps to assuring good timing
The White Paper
is available for free from the LoyalTec website. To get a copy,
visit
www.LoyalTec.net/goodtiming or send a blank email to
timing@aweber.com.
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