August 20

2004, Somewhere in New Jersey: I checked into a hotel I've been to before. After locating my reservation, asking me to sign the check-in form, and preparing the card-key, the manager on duty asked me if I'd been to the hotel before. I said yes. "Welcome back" was her reply, with full flourish.

Now I've stayed at this hotel perhaps twenty times in the last year. I've even had conversations with this same manager about a curious $3 deposit she wanted for loan of a network connection cable. (This is the high tech age - guests steal patch cords instead of towels, I suppose.) I shouldn't be a completely strange face. But even if I was, why didn't the manager look at the hotel's old reservations to find out if I'd been there before? For that matter, why isn't their reservations system smart enough to know from my frequent traveler's number?

1989, Somewhere in Alaska: My wife and I are on our honeymoon, taking the Inland Waterway Cruise to Alaska. We're invited to a "special" Captain's dinner. Our travel agent has been thorough enough to let the line know we're on our honeymoon, and this dinner turns out to be for honeymooners and those who have sailed with the cruise line before. As we enter the dining room, a hostess greets us, assures we are on the list and are honeymooners, walks us over to the Captain, and introduces us. He mechanically says "welcome back," and we all pose for a photo in which the Captain tilts his head just so, for a warmer look. Now why didn't the hostess have the sense to mention our recent marriage as part of the introduction?

Common thread?

These disingenuous greetings are unfortunately worse than one that's simply ignorant. In 1989, in the BCRM era (before customer relationship management), this was simply thoughtless. Now, we'll characterize it as bad customer relationship management - the mechanical response stands in for the substantive. I regard these little incidents as individuals who don't care posing in the skin of those who do. It doesn't work.

So what reminded me of these events? An editorial in the February 2005 Issue of CRM Magazine by Jason Compton, Executive Editor, in which he relates a personal story with a similar feeling. As he puts it, there's a difference between customer relationships and customer management. His bottom line: "Customers know when they are being managed, and the feeling is not a pleasant one."

The next time I check in to that hotel, I'll say it's my first visit, just to see what the canned response is.

Knowing Your Customer
Now whether or not there are systems in place to handle the mechanics, the real issue for a practitioner of good CRM is knowing your customer. (I'm talking about the process here, whether or not there are supporting systems.) Much has been written at the macro level about knowing your customers and customer segments, creating the right value propositions, and making just the right offer to each individual. But let's look at the micro level - that's where the customer feels it.

You cannot act appropriately if you do not know your customer. That means you have to know your history with the customer, and you have to act intelligently with that knowledge. If you're not a company of one, anyone who knows this customer has to pass what they know to "corporate memory." Whoever talks to the customer next has to learn about the customer from corporate memory (rather quickly). Corporate memory is one of the fundamental requirements of a good CRM process.
Incidentally, not knowing is not bad. The Captain on my honeymoon could have asked if we were returning travelers, and the response would have given him an opportunity to offer more personal greetings in a short chat. It would have cost him merely 10 seconds.

Suggestions for Relationship-Building

• If you're about to call a customer, check to see what service or support they've recently asked for. Ask them how things turned out. If they recently bought something, ask how they liked it. At the micro level, you'll find out whether the customer is satisfied. At the macro level, you'll get some clues about the general appeal of your product or service.
• If you're about to hand off a call, tell your colleague what has transpired thus far. It will save the customer time and will provide a more personal touch.
• Take the opportunity to ask a question or two, learn something about the customer, and (at the micro level) act accordingly. At the macro level, make what you learn part of your company's collective knowledge - maybe that one fact can help you find the right value proposition now, and maybe it'll help you develop one in the future. (Example: How about a honeymooner's 15-year reunion aboard ship?)
• If your customer places an order in response to a marketing campaign, ask their opinion of the campaign. (It doesn't have to be a detailed interview.) Perhaps the campaign wasn't so appealing, but the value proposition was. You may be able to attract more customers with a better campaign.

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Stephen E. Lipka, PhD
slipka@AvatarSP.com
(978) 440-8440