Look before hitting reply

Seth Godin blogged today about emails that explicitly say, “Do not reply to this email.  Here’s his take.

Email is a unique medium in that it can be personalized and allows for instant feedback.  Seeing that note at the bottom is a pet peeve of mine.  I shared my address with them and indicated that I was open to their messages, I think the least they could do would be reciprocate and have an open line of communication!

For transactional emails, I can understand this. And, as Seth points out, larger companies may not be expected to sift through the one-off responses that emails could generate. 

But, for smaller companies, having a dedicated reply-to address for emails is imperative.  It’s a step email newbies are likely to forget. But in doing so, they’re missing an opportunity to have human-to-human interaction with their customers.  Ones that want to hear from them, no less!

Bad Advertising: It's Not Me, It's You

Heather at Microsoft posted the funny video below, which I wanted to pass along.  It does a good job if showing how ignorant companies can be when trying communicate with their consumers.  The dating analogy is perfect.  

This also seems like a good time to mention that I was FINALLY able to get Windows Live Writer to play nice with my Blogger template last night. So I am now able to post much quicker and easier than I have been able to in the past.  (But probably without pictures since I can’t FTP them to Blogger, I don’t think.) Now, if I could just get Outlook to work like it’s supposed to on my home computer all will be right in my world.

Redefining Comcastic

Given that it’s been three weeks since my last posting, it’d be very easy to assume this blog was just another passing fancy and had been left to die a slow death in cyberspace. But that would be incorrect. The lack of internet access is partly to blame. (The other part can be explained by a lack of inspiring ideas. I don’t post for the sake of reading my own writing.)

Lack of internet access?! It’s 2007! How could that be possible?! Well, let’s just say that I was not having a Comcastic week last week.

My modem died on January 12, but it took three service technicians over a week to make the diagnosis. I’ll spare you the details. I was able to sneak peeks at my personal e-mail here and there, but not having the internet in my home office felt like my right arm had been removed. Needless to say, I was not pleased.

Just as I ended my last posting by saying how a positive customer experience can be a wonderful marketing tool, a negative experience can have the same effect – but not the kind a marketer would hope for.

So in the week that my internet was MIA, I at least had cable television as a link to the outside world. But in between watching my favorite shows, I saw more than one commercial advertising Comcast’s services. Which got me thinking, what’s the point in talking the talk if you’re not going to (or can’t) walk the walk? Shouldn’t companies make sure they’re able to deliver on current promises before they start making new ones?

The best kind of marketing is positive word of mouth from brand evangelists. But what kind of buzz can a company expect when those who are experiencing their brand (and are empowered to speak to it with authority) have nothing good to say? It’s time to reevaluate the link between marketing and customer service within the company.