Last week in the STELLAService offices there was discussion around the differences between brick-and-mortar retail stores and their online counterparts. The conversation mostly focused on how retailers can ensure that their online service experience is commensurate with the experience they provide in-store (and vice versa). The conversation began because someone had mentioned Coach’s fantastic in-store customer service. One of Coach’s nicer in-store touches is that after your purchase has been made, the associate that helped you walks around from behind the register to hand you your purchase. Previous to this, we doubt that anyone didn’t buy something at a Coach store because nobody came from behind the counter to hand them their purchase. That said, we can guarantee that the simple gesture of handing a customer whatever they bought goes a long way towards ensuring that they feel appreciated and that they’ll remember that experience in the future. These types of gestures require ingenuity, ingenuity driven by insight. The insight comes from retailers taking the initiative to look at their service from the ground level (whether it be online or in-store). Without the valuable insight to see what their service looks like first-hand — and how it can be improved, the executives responsible for making changes couldn’t have possibly incorporated such a simple, yet meaningful detail.
At STELLAService, we often use our insight to find many examples of companies willing to ‘come from behind the counter’ to provide excellent service. As online retailers continue to place more emphasis onto their service, we expect there to be many more small, yet highly meaningful moments of great service. While we’re always impressed by them, we also love to hear stories from shoppers who have had their own ‘handbag hand-off’ moment with a retailer. Of course we’ll continue to post our own thoughts, but we’d love to get yours as well. With that in mind, feel free to use the comments section to share any small gestures from retailers that you’ve been on the receiving end of that have made you feel not only warm and fuzzy, but also deeply appreciated.
Companies want to sell more, and they’re always looking for ways to do it more efficiently.
Leveraging new data in new ways is the Web’s answer to optimization, and it has informed a new marketing math: data = dollars.
The most common way companies are leveraging data to optimize marketing and increase sales is though uncovering consumer preferences, traffic patterns, social media conversations, check-ins and other behaviors to specifically target – and hopefully convert – users with a high likelihood of buying.
Finding the right audience at the right time, and tailoring the right message and the right budget, is now made possible and (relatively) simple by a slew of “ad tech” solutions. They’re smart, they make sense, and they’re good for businesses and consumers. It’s no surprise, then, that there are more ad tech and social media analytics companies in New York than hole-in-the-wall sushi joints.
When it comes to leveraging data for improving a company’s marketing efforts, STELLAService is different. I mean really different. So different that I don’t think anyone really knows what category to put us in.
Instead of tracking consumer behavior patterns to help companies optimize marketing efforts and increase sales, STELLAService tracks business behavior patterns (specifically around customer service) to create credible marketing messages for top-performing companies, which helps those companies increase conversion, sales and long-term brand loyalty.
STELLAService independently and objectively collects customer service performance data to identify companies (starting with online retailers) that obsess over the customer experience. We want online shoppers to know which companies to expect great service from. We truly believe in the need for transparency around service quality throughout the Web, and companies that deliver great customer service believe in that mission too.
Through our comprehensive benchmark data, we are able to highlight the top-performing companies through the display of our STELLAService seal (examples of sites displaying the seal include Zappos.com, Diapers.com and 1800Contacts.com, to name a few). STELLAService helps these and other great businesses – large and small – close the loop on their customer service stories, validating each company’s claim and commitment to providing a world-class customer experience.
Simply put, the new “marketing math” is about leveraging all types of data – both consumer and business data – in new ways to bolster marketing and conversion rates. STELLAService is showing that customer service performance data can be a critical element in the new marketing equation, as it finally allows a company to back-up its message around the most important thing to consumers on the Web – the customer experience.
Editor’s Note: STELLAService Co-Founder and CEO Jordy Leiser will be a featured presenter at “MESA Presents: The New Marketing Math [Data = Dollars]” on Thursday, May 19 in NYC.
This post originally appeared at MESA Global.
