Newsletters as CRM Tool
Kishore
(October 2002)
I have realized that 'Newsletters' play a key role in
CRM (Customer Relationship Management). CRM is all about keeping existing
customers happy. This activity is much more profitable than running after new
customers. It is a known fact that 'Happy Customers' are likely to bring in more
new customers by word of mouth.
I have been receiving quite a
few 'paper' newsletters and e-mail newsletters from various organizations where
I am a customer.
-
My Insurance Company keeps
sending 'Member News' announcing new facilities and other useful
information.
-
We receive bi-monthly
newsletter from our Apartment community which contains some news, some tips
and other useful information.
-
I receive (e-mail)
newsletter from my bank which contains new features and other tips.
-
I also signed up for
newsletters from Microsoft and in one of the newsletters I came to know
about one of their products 'Money' and tried it and purchased it.
-
We receive weekly
newsletter from my daughter's school.
-
After I registered my
camcorder with company I purchased with I keep getting new accessories and
tips in using the product.
and so on the list goes.
Advantages of Newsletters
I feel every business
organization however small must have a newsletter. Newsletters can also be
internal to an organization. The following is list of advantages and uses I can
think of.
-
Newsletters are communication
tools that help organizations keep customers informed and show that they
recognize the customer's business.
-
Newsletters must contain what new
services/products have been added by organization to take care of customers,
some reminders to customers and tips to the customers.
-
Newsletters can also be
used as promotional tools and existing customers don't really get annoyed about
such promotions. A new customer is more likely to ignore a promotion
campaign than existing customer. This way companies can get repeat business.
-
Newsletters must seek to
add value to existing customers by giving tips on how they can make best out
of their existing relationship with company.
-
Newsletters can also be
used to carry out customer surveys.
Recommendations
-
Every
Organization/department must have its newsletter sent out to 'customers'
both internal and external
-
Each Website should have a
newsletter to communicate to visitors on a regular basis regarding new
features and content.
-
Time and Money invested in
these newsletters will have a long term payoff.
-
These newsletters can be a
monthly frequency for most of the organizations. A very short duration may
'alienate'/'irritate' customers. If you keep sending promotional e-mails
almost every other day, customer is likely to get annoyed.
-
Tailor the content based on
customer type. If possible capture customer preferences/area/location and
tailor newsletter content to suit customer needs. This would mean
specializing the content.
Some Examples:
-
A non-profit organization
can keep the donors posted about the activities they are taking up. This is
likely to increase credibility of the organization
-
An e-commerce website can
run promotions to existing customers and send announcements of new products
of likely interest to existing customers. Since these customers have already
registered, they are more likely to make use of the promotions than new
customers.
-
HR department in a company
can have a newsletter which contains profiles of employees and new employees
and other 'motivational' information in their newsletter which can be
internal to the organization.
And so on.... the list can
contain many more examples.
I recently read that
newsletters are favorite things visitors do on websites. You can read this
article on Useit.com a site dedicated to usability guidelines [1]
Summary
If you are a customer and
receiving newsletters, watch for good aspects of those newsletters and make best
out of them. They are getting better and better and adding value to us.
If you are in charge of an
organization, take more care in keep customer relationships. Do you have a
newsletter? Is the newsletter of good quality? Is it seeking to add value to
existing customers? Newsletters can also turn an unhappy customer to happy
customer if used properly.
[1] Related Article:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20020930.html
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