E-mail

Delivering best-in-class service is an important competitive differentiator, so every customer interaction needs to be positive. Email is a powerful tool for strengthening customer service and increasing user confidence in your site and company.

Having come a long way from its modest beginning as a chain of floral shops in metropolitan New York, 1-800-Flowers.com usually has set trends, not followed them.

This year's economic retreat actually stands to help Gaiam, a product and information services company with a heavy emphasis on sustainability, position itself for greater growth in the near future.

I had breakfast a little more than a year ago with the vice president of marketing for a major online retailer and cataloger. She told me she was worried she'd fallen into the trap of e-mailing too frequently. Her company was sending three or four e-mails per week. She noted that every e-mail generated sales — and that obviously pleased senior management.

The 71-year-old story of Kent, Wash.-based Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), which sells camping and hiking equipment through catalogs, stores and the Web to customers who have the option to join its co-op, has taken a deliberate turn into the modern age.

Like most, I’ve seen my family wealth shrink. I’ve seen friends and colleagues get laid off. I’ve seen the stock market continue to be eaten up by the bears. I’m seeing the catalog/multichannel business, as we know it, dwindle, while the overall retail business is in tatters. I’ve seen the size of our magazine diminish as the vendor community is hurting big-time. And I’ve seen some of our competitors all but disappear.

The Catalog Success 200 presents a keen way of showing which catalog/multichannel marketers have been on the fast track. It tracks those that have rented out their housefiles in the past two years. There may be others out there, but without the numbers for the market to view, they can’t be charted. Companies highlighted in red are either B-to-B or hybrids.

Problem: Eastwood, a catalog/multichannel retailer of tools and supplies for customizing and restoring motor vehicles, sought to drive greater revenue and profits via e-mail marketing while reducing costs.

A client recently called me in a panic. The company often personalizes its e-mails, but this time the send button got pushed too fast. Instead of the recipients’ first names being nicely displayed, the e-mail showed “[FIRST_NAME].” This company prides itself on its e-mail program and customer relationships, and felt this would tarnish its image. That client decided to immediately send a second e-mail with an apology, which went out about three hours after the error occurred.

As we wrap up our coverage of last month's All About eMail Virtual Conference & Expo, presented by eM+C magazine (sister publication of Catalog Success), this week we continue with Reggie Brady's “10 secrets to e-mail success,” revealing secrets six through 10.