Create Superior Customer Experiences
So what takeaways did I learn from Cloud 9’s braintrust as marketers? Here are a few to consider:
1. Do something you love! It’s clear from the amount of work Cloud 9 employees put into ensuring that each customer’s experience is phenomenal: they love their jobs. Their passion for the music and their customers comes through in every detail — both onboard and on land. For example, they constantly monitor their message board (which is incredibly active throughout the year) and are in constant communication with their customers, whether it’s making announcements or responding to specific posts.
2. It’s not enough to find a niche. Find a niche with fiercely loyal consumers. Out of fear of missing out, I already booked my cruise for 2009, even before the 2008 cruise took place. How’s that for earning my loyalty and urgency!
3. Always exceed customers’ expectations. Customer experience is king for Cloud 9. While some companies might rest on their laurels, satisfied with putting on cool concerts at sea, Jam Cruise keeps its customers having fun way beyond the music. Guests are treated to autograph signings, workshops, Q&As with artists, a karaoke event where the musicians play the music while the cruisers sing, costume parties, theme nights, corporate sponsors giving away their products (free beer anyone?), and the mother of all things cool — a place called the jam room, where you find impromptu jam sessions going on until 6 a.m. Performers rotate in and out, while passengers dance and watch in shock and awe.
The net result of all of this? On the two Jam Cruises I’ve been on, many of the passengers are repeat customers — and from my observation, that’s more than 60 percent. To understand the concepts of customer loyalty and advocacy, look no further than Jam Cruise multibuyers. They pride themselves on sharing the experience, discussing how many Jam Cruises they’ve been on, bringing “newbies” onboard and spreading the word throughout the large scale Jam community.
Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.
