Customer Service King

An article in thewisemarketer.com (free registration required), Green Marketing Seriously Under-rated, notes the following:

While being seen as being 'Green' is a marketing essential in today's environmentally-aware society, many companies are still failing to get even the basics right, and three out of four companies have no green marketing plans at all, according to research commissioned in the UK by environmental PR firm GreenPortfolio.

The study found that 50% of marketing and public relations (PR) managers believe that an organisation's Green credentials are important to customers, and 84% feel that this importance is likely to grow further over the next two years as the impact of environmental issues continues to increase. Being Green was also identified as a key issue for employees, with 60% of respondents citing the importance of environmental credentials to their staff.

Not going green -
But despite these views, nearly three out of four companies (72%) said that they have no Green marketing plans in place, and only one in three (33%) said they have senior management buy-in when it comes to going Green. This, the company says, highlights a pressing need for a lot more Green marketing planning.

The study, entitled 'Green Relations: the Communication Viewpoint', was based on 125 interviews with UK companies, and found that 58% of marketing and PR professionals believe that being Green provides competitive advantage. Nearly half (48%) also believe that customers are prepared to pay more for environmentally friendly products and services.

Conflicting beliefs -
Even so, legislation is currently seen as the biggest driver when it comes to improving environmental status, with 80% of respondents believing organisations only take it seriously when they are legally required to do so, despite 97% feeling there is a moral duty to be environmentally friendly.

PR was seen as the "most credible" channel of communication when it comes to Green marketing, with 23% of management surveyed saying they were putting "strong" or "very strong" effort into their PR activities, compared to only 10% for advertising.

Green hygiene factor -
Rebecca Dunstan, environmental PR consultant for GreenPortfolio, said: "Being green is no longer nice to have, it's a marketing must - otherwise companies run the risk of losing customers, employees and shareholders. It's clear there's a need to do more planning in this area - a phenomenal number of companies have no green marketing plans in place at all, and even those that do tend to approach environmental issues on an ad-hoc basis."

Here is a synopsis of an article by Janis Pettit, What You Need to Do Before Spending a Penny on Marketing:

Most of us build our small businesses around a basic talent, skill or passion that we assume will easily make us profitable. Yet a recent informal survey I did showed that attracting new customers is the main area where small business owners (SBO’s) say they need help. Whether you’re just starting out or are well established, your challenge is the same as any other business, including the IBM’s of the world—identifying, attracting and keeping customers by getting a strong ROI from your marketing program. It’s imperative that you develop a strategy and plan to make your marketing powerful, affordable and successful. Yet many small businesses I’ve worked with were overwhelmed by the possibilities and were going about marketing in a very haphazard way, making very costly mistakes. Here are some guidelines to get you started.

Picture a dart board with a bull’s eye in the center. The bull’s eye represents your ideal customer – the one who loves what you offer, buys often, pays your asking price and refers others to your business.

The more you research and learn about your ideal customer and target market, the more you’ll know how to create, package and sell your offering successfully. This approach to identifying and understanding your target market is routine for big corporations, so research needs to be part of your routine as well.

The biggest mistake you can make is to assume that just because you are excited about your business or product, everyone will want what you have to offer. Actually it works the other way around. First find a need that’s not being filled, and then use your skills, talent or passion to fill it. If you’ve been in business for a while and your business is not growing as quickly as you would like, remember the marketplace changes at lightning speed and you may need to periodically realign yourself with your customer’s changing wants.

Once you understand what your customer will pay for, you need to know what similar products or services your competitors are selling successfully and how they’re doing it.

Next you need to clearly define what truly differentiates your business from the competition. What makes you unique and valuable?

This question needs to be answered from Day One. Better price and service don’t count since every business says that, so it carries little meaning. Dig deeper, refer back to your research and find out what will make customers think of you instead of your competition. Armed with the answers to these questions, develop a compelling 30 second "sound byte" that verbalizes what kind of clients need your services and what the result is after they work with you and use it whenever possible. Make this message client-focused not you-focused.

You may think that in order to market yourself successfully you need a Big Company marketing budget. But actually, many companies allocate their marketing budgets as a percentage of gross sales. So first it’s imperative that you estimate your projected yearly gross sales for the coming year. Then allocate around 5% of projected gross sales (recommended figures vary) for your marketing budget.

Make a list of the ideas that seem interesting. Think carefully about the time and money involved in implementing each. Then choose those the top three that meet the highest criteria for achieving your marketing goals, fitting within your budget and aligning with your personal skill set.

Try listing each specific marketing activity you’re committed to implementing in the next six months. Note how you’ll do each, what marketing materials you’ll need, how often you’ll repeat it, how you’ll schedule it and how much it will cost. Check each to make sure it will attract your target market, fulfill your marketing strategy, fit into your marketing budget and your schedule. Then stick to it.

Every month, measure and track results so you can determine what’s working and measure your ROI. Measurement is not difficult and is essential in determining what is bringing in paying customers

The following was noted in Increased Online Shopping Activity During the Holidays May Put Consumers at Risk for Internet Threats:

A newly published survey conducted by Harris Interactive and commissioned by Check Point Software Technologies, makers of the popular ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, reveals that most online adults (84 percent) do not feel safer when computing online this year compared to last year. Yet holiday shopping continues to proliferate, with the number of shopping transactions nearly tripling during the holidays.

The survey shows that most online adults (91 percent) shop online, and many (39 percent) do so at least once a month. Online shoppers, on average, complete about 2 shopping transactions in a typical month. However, this figure nearly triples to about 6 shopping transactions during the holidays.

During a year when cases of identity theft and security breaches topped the headlines, the survey also revealed that online adults may not be taking the necessary steps to secure their personal computer (PC) against Internet threats. About three in four online adults (74 percent) have not installed a hardware firewall, and about half (53 percent) have neglected to install a software firewall. Less than one in four (22%) have installed a security software suite to protect against spyware and viruses.

When making purchases online, 97 percent of online shoppers use their credit card to complete transactions, however, 44 percent do not always check for security symbols when making purchases.

“As we begin the holiday shopping season this year, we want consumers to understand that Internet security is no longer only about protecting your PC, it’s about protecting you. Even with all the hype surrounding ID theft and hacking attacks, the online population is still largely unaware of steps to take in order to protect themselves,” said Laura Yecies, general manager of Check Point’s ZoneAlarm consumer division. “Defending oneself online takes a multi-pronged approach, with Internet security software being the first line of defense. It’s also critical that consumers arm themselves with the knowledge to combat the social engineering tactics such as fraud and e-mail phishing.”

We’ve heard of India being a superpower in outsourcing.  The Philippines is known for being the preferred destination for customer care centers.  China is on its way and has been working on getting more outsourced work into their country.  As we all know, these are countries that U.S. companies have established their presence and each country has its own strength and expertise.  So, where to next?

We are seeing growth in other parts of the world, particularly in EMEA countries.

Egypt is a place where we expect French speaking customer service agents.  South Africa can be the next destination for UK customers.  Latin America is being favored for Spanish based accounts.

This is interesting because with the endless battle and issue of teaching local folks another language, companies are getting smarter.  They are open to giving work to people who can talk in their native language.  This alleviates the extra cost of accent or language training and focus on call resolution, ergo good customer experience.

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