My kids are finally old enough so that I could take them to one of my favorite lunch places (Panera) instead of having to be stuck somewhere with a play area. When I got to the register, the cashier asked me if I wanted to join their just-launched loyalty club – MyPanera – where I could earn points for each purchase and get rewards automatically.
Two hungry kids were not going to like standing there while I filled out forms. But before I could even say that, the cashier said “I see you are anxious to eat with your kids – you can fill this out at home on your computer. Here are the member cards including one that you can put right on your keychain. I’ve already swiped this so you will get your first reward when you login.”
What a great customer service moment! She correctly read my situation and anticipated what would be the best thing for me. When I got home, I logged onto the site and signed up and found out I would get a free bakery item the next time I visited. It was that easy.
So, that got me thinking – wouldn’t it be nice if we, as email marketers, interpreted our subscribers’ actions the right way and anticipated what they wanted? Sometimes we do. But most of the time we don’t. Here are three segments where we can do better:
We will get more from our subscribers if we do a better job anticipating and catering to their needs. It sounds obvious … but how many of us actively think this way? We need to provide communications and offers that make sense for each segment – from the inactive to the new to the highly engaged. Each company needs its own tailored approach, but the general guidelines are:
We need to listen to our subscribers for what they are saying – and for what they aren’t. We won’t always like it, but the better we can anticipate their situation and act appropriately, the stronger our relationship will be with our subscribers.
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