So, You Want the
Customer to Be King
I'd like to thank Amazon.com, which never has recommended to me a book on belly dancing. Come to think of it, the company never has recommended to me any book on dancing, including break dancing, ice dancing and dancing that breaks the ice (the Macarena, the Chicken Dance, the Electric Slide).
Evidently, Amazon.com realizes I have the dancing ability of an injured hamster on Benadryl. Using the same kind of adept customer knowledge, the company never has recommended to me books entitled Cooking With Asparagus, The Very Best in Early Bolivian Art and So, You Want to Build Your Wife a Cabinet.
If I tried building my wife a cabinet, there would be a 75 percent chance of injured appendages and a 100 percent chance the cabinet would appear decidedly upside-down. I love my wife, but even she would tell you that the world would be safer if I read about the Pittsburgh Pirates or the Civil War. Thankfully, Amazon.com recently sent me an email with book recommendations on those two topics.
The point--besides that I'm OK with never uttering the phrase, "Care to tango?"--is that more companies are replacing their mass-marketing approaches with one-to-one solutions. Those firms realize the customer is king. They understand the best way to make each client feel regal is to understand its needs, goals, fears and pet peeves better than competitors.
Kara S. Carpenter, Print Solutions' assistant managing editor, delves into customer relationship management (CRM) in our cover story, "The Royal Treatment" (page 42). Her article explains what CRM is, why distributors and manufacturers should use it, how they can get started, what mistakes they should avoid and more. As one expert in the story puts it: "Companies that continue to treat customers the way they have historically are going to be history."
One important truth about CRM is that small to mid-sized companies can implement it; customer knowledge isn't the exclusive realm of multibillion-dollar firms such as Amazon.com. DMIA President Mark Trumper tells a story that illustrates this truth: When his car tire became flat, he took the car to an auto-repair store that fixed the problem for free. A few months later, when Trumper needed new tires, he went back to the store. An unfamiliar face said, "Mr. Trumper how can we be of service to you?" Perplexed, Trumper said, "Do I know you?" The person explained how the camera in the store's parking lot monitored license plate numbers so employees could greet customers by name.
It's amazing how impressive companies seem when they know specific information about each customer. Cincinnati-based SpringDot, the company featured in our Spotlight profile entitled "Springing Beyond Printing" (page 16), is impressive because it delivers specific information. The company, which began as a traditional printing company in 1904, now operates as a tech-savvy (and multiple award-winning) message-delivery provider.
What steps are you taking to give clients the royal treatment? Take the lead in understanding their businesses. Success will follow.
Darin Painter
Managing Editor
Editor in
Chief
Peter L. Colaianni, CAE
Vice President, Publications & New
Media
Brad Holt
Managing Editor
Darin Painter
Assistant Editors
Kara S. Carpenter
Rita Tiefert
Circulation Manager
Diane Saunders
Art Director/Production
Manager
Roxanne Rash
Contributing Editors
Mark J. Trumper
J. Buster Weinzierl, CDC
Publications Committee
Gary W. Nelson,
Chairperson
Allen
Conway
Ric Fisher
Ginger Garrett
Dennis King
Kevin Lombardo
Marvin A.
Makofsky, CFC
Markus
Marfurt
Dominic
Mencarini
Donald D.
Patteson, Jr.
Nick Nesci,
CFC
Jeffrey P.
Townsend, CFC
Mark
Trumper
Advertising Sales
Jack
Burris
The Townsend
Group Inc.
4920 Elm St.,
Ste. 325
Bethesda, MD
20814
Phone: (301)
215-6710
Fax: (301)
215-7704
Print Solutions
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Volume 40, Number 5, April 2002.
Print Solutions
(USPS 205-400, ISSN
1535-9727) is published monthly by DMIA, 433 E. Monroe Ave., Alexandria, VA
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