Customer Strategy Gone Bad

Yesterday I received a phone call from a CRM software company whose site I had visited. They were following up to see if I had any questions about the product and (theoretically) to determine if I was likely to buy.

The person knew which white paper I had downloaded as well as the pages I had visited, and we could have had a very meaningful conversation except for one thing: I had visited their site in December 2008.

I didn't even remember visiting their site and asked the caller when I had. She then told me that it was in December 2008. Once reminded, I vaguely remembered visiting the site, but couldn't, for the life of me, remember why I was visiting or what the business need was.

Gathering customer data is necessary to build customer relationships and gain a competitive edge in terms of customer insight. But, those organizations that do so without a plan on how they're going to use it run the risk of missing out on prime opportunities to sell or increase loyalty.

As an organization, it's important to continually ask: why do we want to capture this piece of data? How are we going to use it? How will this piece of data help us better understand our customers, meet their needs, or increase their loyalty and satisfaction with us?

And, just as important: How are we going to integrate this piece of data into our overarching marketing, sales, service and communication strategy and experience for this customer?

The software company that called me obviously didn't have a plan. This was the first time they had reached out to me since I had gone to their site almost a year ago. I had not received any emails from them, no newsletters, nothing...until this call. If I had been a "hot lead" a year ago, that time had passed. It was definitely a lost opportunity for the company.

A Missed Opportunity

I recently went to one of my favorite National Parks, the Muir Woods National Monument, home to California coastal redwoods. I go there frequently, so for the past several years I have bought an annual pass.


It was time for me to renew my annual pass so I took time mid-week to go. At the entrance gate, I told the park employee what I wanted. He took my money and gave me the pass.


What's wrong with this picture?


At no point did the employee ask me for my personal information. My name, address and reason for wanting the annual pass...none of this was asked. What a missed opportunity for the Muir Woods National Monument!


I realize that many visitors to National Parks are tourists in town catching the sights. However, people who purchase annual passes for a National Park are usually either 1) locals who want to be able to visit the park many times during the year, or 2) locals or non-locals who are passionate about what the park stands for and want to support it. In either instance, these are people who are willing to make an above-average donation to the park.


I wonder what other types of donations annual pass holders might be willing to make? For example:

• Perhaps an annual pass holder would be willing to volunteer a couple times during the year to help clean up the park
• Maybe some would welcome the opportunity to use their personal or professional skills to help the park - helping with marketing or accounting functions, as an example
• An annual pass holder might want to "sponsor" a redwood by committing to a monthly donation amount for a year
• Some could team up and put together a large fundraising event to benefit the park
• There might even be a couple annual pass holders that would be willing to leave a large bequest to the park

Of course, in order to identify which pass holders are likely to do any of the above requires that the National Park ask people for their name and contact information, so that they can begin to develop relationships that lead to an increased level of engagement with the park.

This isn't just a problem that the National Parks have. What missed opportunities exist in your business interactions with your customers? It happens more frequently than you think!