Emotion – let it be part of your business

By DITA DE BONI marketing writer

"Will you marry me - by the way, what's your name?" best summarises the present misguided approach by many marketers to their customers, says a visiting specialist.

The bombastic Marcus Evans, who headlined at the Direct Marketing Association's Marketing Today conference this week, agrees the tenets of customer relationship management (CRM) are "plain common sense" but insists companies are often not following them - to their detriment.

Judging by the number of speakers addressing this aspect of CRM at this week's conference, one might be tempted to think that improving and intensifying customer relationships is the "buzz-issue" of today, taking over where the internet left off.

Marketers can see the reasoning behind good CRM but have yet to make the leap to restructuring organisations to achieve them, says Mr Evans.

And he should know.

Mr Evans heads the British arm of the Carlson Marketing Group, the world's largest "relationship marketing" company.

It generates revenue of $US31 billion ($74 billion) in almost 30 countries. Mr Evans has spent 10 years specialising in the mechanics of the customer-corporate relationship and how to keep fanning the flames of loyalty.

The basic advice, he says, is the same as it has always been: companies should be able to apologise, give their customers considered treatment and be "interested in helping and making extra efforts."

And, sounding remarkably like Saatchi & Saatchi's Kevin Roberts, Mr Evans also believes that "love" is at the base of the most loyal customer relationships.

"All decisions in life are made emotionally," he says. "Don't expect your customers to make decisions based on rational arguments. A business' key aim is to build an emotional bridge between the brand and the consumers across which motivational messages can be sent."

(Mr Roberts on the same: "When I say love I'm not talking a timid peck on the cheek. I'm talking all-consuming, passionate, overwhelming emotion. An addiction. An addiction to love." And: "By inviting Love into business we can create a revolution. This is where Lovemarks (brands with emotion, sensuality, respect) belong ... my own people in Saatchi & Saatchi, clients and prospective clients. Opinion leaders and influencers - [t]hey gulp when I put Love and business together ... and then they nod.")

The Carlson Group disciples brandish figures to back their claims. Fostering love is more important, they believe, in times when customers are generally becoming less committed to brands and companies. Only 30 per cent of any number of groups surveyed show clear-cut brand loyalty.

Under 35s - a market which sends company beancounters into a slobbering frenzy - are even more brand promiscuous, with the richer of any age group less likely to stick with particular brands.

Marketers have concrete ways to try to stop this promiscuity, and it involves, admits Mr Evans, a little promiscuity on the company's side. Do anything to keep your most valuable companies happy, as long as you can afford it, he says.

"Bribe your customers!" he bellows. "Constantly thank them for their business. Ask for data constantly from them to make your services more personalised, but remember to give customers a reason to tell you about themselves! Show them how giving the data improved the service you provide! Thank them on their anniversary of doing business with your company!"

Training staff to be ever-helpful is an absolute must for companies who want to provide their customers with a seamless experience.

While customer expectations have risen, Mr Evans says, he has found that most customers defect because they have no reason to stay, not because they have a reason to go.

Fostering a customer's love of your brand is essential. "Multi-media is a must - research shows emotional attachment is greatly increased when three or more channels are used [between client and company]," he says.

But isn't all this talk of love in marketing highly fluffy, insidious at the least and just plain icky at best?

Mr Evans good-humouredly disagrees. "People aren't stupid - they are bright and cynical. They won't allow themselves to be manipulated if it's not what they want."

The age-old argument around the ethics of marketing and advertising is revived with vigour in the "love" debate.

Building relationships is important but love is in shorter supply down the road at the offices of direct marketing firm Aim Proximity, even with another Brit marketer in town. Simon Hall, chief executive of Proximity Worldwide, has dropped in on New Zealand managing director Robert Limb to consolidate the network's plan to move into CRM consultancy, auditing customer contacts and measuring the customer experience.

"This is the battleground," says Mr Hall. "How [companies] can manage their customers at every touchpoint and thereby drive profitability."

The aim is to devise systems that don't put customers into boxes or try to break down operations by product or service exclusively. Aim Proximity says it has such tools. Other companies use "psychographic profiling" to get further inside heads and understand and anticipate the needs of customers. Some commentators attribute this shift in marketing-think to a growing need to capture the female consumer.

(Kevin Roberts again: "This is a new era for women and every business has got to be up for it. Women don't want to be niched; hate being labelled a segment; don't want cut-down versions or simplified instructions ... In the cold world of rationality, women's subtle understanding of life was never valued. It is today's killer app[lication]. What women go for will spearhead what everyone goes for.")

But isn't there a danger that people will switch off to all these companies who, when they finally catch up, will be tripping over themselves to build relationships with a heavily bombarded "good customer" pool?

"I feel there will be a smaller number of super brands and [they will be] obsessed with the customer experience," says Mr Hall.

Even more fundamental, says Robert Limb, is how many New Zealand companies have to get the basics right before they go tripping off into love-land.

He has noticed that in some New Zealand businesses "simple things such as tracking contacts with customers is often lacking."

"How can you be fully appraised of the customer's needs if you have not tracked their communications with your company?

"Technology is one thing but many companies need to work also on the culture within the organisation to make sure everything is working in sync for the best customer experience."