A few decades ago, in the early days of automatic
banking terminals, the management at Citibank made a
somewhat reluctant decision to introduce automatic tellers.
They were anxious to cut costs, but they assumed that
customers would rather deal with human tellers, had they the
choice. Therefore, they compromised and reserved human
tellers for people with more than $5,000 in their accounts.
Depositors who weren't in such a fortunate position were
relegated to the machines.
It soon became clear, though ,that the machines were wildly
unpopular. Citibank stopped using them a year or two later.
"Well," thought the bankers, "we were right all along. People
just won't get used to dealing with machines." It seemed as if
one of the most promising inventions of the time would be laid
to rest for good.
Fortunately for everybody (except perhaps for Citibank), an
executive from a rival bank tried to put himself into the
collective shoes of bank clients.
His gut feeling was that small depositors felt comfortable
enough with the machines. They had just resented being
treated as second-class customers. He introduced automatic
tellers in his own bank - but without "class distinctions."
The rest is history. Even at Citibank, machine transactions are
long taken for granted.
"Never assume!" I was chided by my teachers during my school
days. "It makes an ass out of you and an ass out of me!"
But I often wonder when I think of this story - would the big
brass at Citibank have made the same mistake had the clock
moved forward a number of years and had they been publishing
an email newsletter?
Today, it seems inconceivable that a large and prestigious
company like Citibank could be so out of touch with the
thinking of its clientele. In the best business circles, the
importance of solid, open lines of communication between
producers of goods and services and their consumers has
long been established.
Learning relationships
This is the age of the "Learning Relationship."
This, say personalization experts, the Pepper and Rodgers
Group, is "a relationship between an enterprise and an
individual customer that, through regular feedback from the
customer, enables the enterprise to become smarter and
smarter with respect to the customer's individual needs."
In the brick-and-mortar world, it's no particular big deal for
the owner of your favorite corner hardware store to establish
productive learning relationship with you, as one of his
regular customers. Obviously, the more face-to-face contact
he has with you, the easier this will be.
On the Internet, however, we somehow tend to associate this
concept with giant e-commerce enterprises sporting
sophisticated store fronts and advanced technological
capabilities - which enable them to anticipate our specialized
needs with greater accuracy every time we log on to their sites.
But what about the small business owners with very limited
resources? Are they forced out of the picture?
Let's say you're a small virtual company carrying a very limited
range of durable products in a niche market.
You know that existing customers are like gold, but what you
don't know is what kind of new products would appeal to them.
Alternatively, you may be a professional, even a brick-and-
mortar one - say, an accountant - and you're swept off your
feet during the tax season, but you hear far too little from your
clients throughout the rest of the year!
The ideal tool
In all such cases, there's no better tool than email for
implementing the principle of the Learning Relationship, for
putting yourself, so to speak, into the shoes of your target
community, for gauging their needs,assessing what will work
and what won't - and finally, for promoting the fruits of your
efforts to the very people who inspired them.
How many companies, even those who publish newsletters on
a regular basis, are really making use of this opportunity?
We hear so much about the value of email publishing for
driving people to websites, for public relations, for
advertising your existing products. If you're a business
coach,for example, you may be making good use of your
newsletter to let your clients know about your upcoming
seminars and teleclasses.
But if the level of interest in your seminars isn't yet what
you'd like it to be, do you really know why?
If it's just a matter of inconvenient times and locations,
it may be easy enough to find out. But perhaps your community
is craving for a change of topics or emphasis, or it prefers
audiotapes, or private counseling? Whatever your business
may be, do you know what your market really wants?
So let's get to the bottom line: in practice, how can your
newsletter help to find answers to your questions?
Granted, it's not always easy. Human nature being what it is,
a straight appeal to your readers to tell you what you want to
know - even if you explain that it's in their own interest -
may meet with little response. They may feel that they've
subscribed to receive information from YOU, not the other way
round!
Offering tangible incentives is one way of getting round this
problem. But even if it doesn't affect the accuracy of the
information gathered, it may not be necessary. Moreover, you
can achieve your objective without compromising your readers'
perception of your publication as a carrier of valuable content.
Go to the drawing board and design the product or service
you'd like to offer. Write up an article describing its features
and benefits, analyzing its strengths and shortcomings,
comparing it to other products that meet similar needs and
explaining as objectively as possible how it differs from them.
Perhaps you can even weave all this into a larger article
dealing with a more general topic.
Ask your readers what they think about the idea, whether they
see it as making a differences to their lives. Provoke as much
discussion as possible. Offer to publish the best responses.
More than likely, they WILL respond.
With creativity and practice, you'll come up with
many variations on this theme.
Remember: in-depth insight into your customers' (or
subscribers'!) needs is the first and most basic prerequisite to
maintaining their loyalty in the long term.
Azriel Winnett is creator of Hodu.com - Your Communication Skills Portal. This popular free website helps you improve your communication and relationship skills in your business or professional life, in the family unit and on the social scene. New articles added almost daily.
Keyword : email marketing, newsletters, e-zines, market research, product development, email publishing
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