This column strives to achieve some insight into “best practices” through some of Mike’s own worst practices. Every Tuesday he offers up the biggest mistakes, oversights, blunders and bonehead moves he commits in the fast-paced world of software-as-a-service, where he’s a Marketing Manager moonlighting as a Sales Account Executive (at the same company.) Perhaps, in the process, we may learn a thing or two.
It all began, as most things do, with good intentions. I had just read fellow contributor Rebecca Novack’s article Smarter Marketing in 2009 for some fresh ideas about fighting the doom and gloom of this economy. I was particularly inspired by the need to focus on current customer satisfaction, retention, and upselling. This is just what I needed in the beginning of the year, as so much of my time is consumed with direct selling; I needed a simple, low-cost campaign to our current client list to boost awareness and motivate the sales team to drive upsells to our most satisfied customers.
At first, I was at a loss for content. I needed something with a clear call to action, that would help us better qualify our customers for add-on revenue potential. Perhaps a survey, or a simple call down the list to check in. In retrospect, this would have been a safe bet.
Brilliant!
I was browsing one of our channel partners’ websites where our applications are listed, and stumbled upon a page announcing “The Best Apps of 2008.” The winners would be determined by the number of 4 and 5-star reviews posted to their listings. This was perfect! Not only would this engage our base, it would increase our viability and outreach to prospects as well.
So I drafted my mass email, polite and humble, thanking our customers for their support and saying that we’d love to hear their success stories because we’re up for an award! I inserted the link for them to post reviews, and my email was sent to several hundred key contacts at our current accounts.
After the email was sent, I also emailed our sales team to inform them of the campaign, as well as the award, so they could advocate for more customer reviews on their individual communications.
Oh Crap…
My seemingly perfect campaign execution hit the skids when I received a call just minutes later from our Director of Client Services, who saw that the email went out. Apparently, there had just been an incident with a client who was fairly disgruntled (there’s always one, right?) and my distribution list included the contacts there. I received an earful about to who, and when, I should send out emails like this.
And I totally deserved it. What could possibly amplify someone’s discontent with a vendor than receiving an email soliciting a 5-star review? I even provided the link to access to the 3rd party site where any comments could be added, and not be moderated by us. This was incredibly stupid of me!
Luckily, the client was not vindictive enough to take the opportunity to bash us, and the email drew an additional four reviews before the award judging. We even won our category!
Lesson Learned
I should never have left it up to chance; if I had put in a couple hours of additional planning, the execution could have been clean, low-risk, and probably have had a higher success rate. Also, my idea of communication was totally backward. I should have alerted the team to the details of my campaign first, and gotten feedback before executing it.
It was undoubtedly a selfish act – I suppose I was thinking if no one else was involved, then I alone deserve credit, right? But upon reflection, credit for the campaign’s success is undeserved and only a product of luck, since it walked such a fine, and unnecessary, line between success and disaster. Failure would’ve been one thing – but marketing campaigns should never carry the risk of hurting the company’s image.
