Customer service

Good customer service is something close to my heart. I think that most companies could probably do a better job if they thought a little more about what they say and do. A recent posting by Jackie Huba on “Church of the Customer” is a good illustration of how to connect with your customers by using key words.

Jackie makes a good point about creating an emotional connection by using less formal language. I would agree with her there. While it is important to speak the language of your customers, it is also important to communicate your passion and enthusiasm about your company and its products. If you don’t believe in them, who will?

Sometimes, the formal prose of business is too stilted to evoke any emotion from your customers. Translating your company’s passion in your products into the language you use to communicate with your customers can increase the emotional bond you make with your customer, which in turn could translate into increased sales.

How this applies to your company will depend on the business you are in, but almost any company will benefit from a sense of fun and enthusiasm mixed with a professional approach.

Customer communications

Only 8 more sleeps until I leave for a 3-week holiday to Egypt. I LOVE to travel so — as you can imagine — I am very excited about my trip. With travel on my mind, I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about customer communications, with a focus on some of the newsletters I receive from various adventure travel companies.

I must say that I am a big fan of “Intrepid Express” from Intrepid Travel (HQ in Sydney, Australia). I have been a subscriber since 2004 and I enjoy their weekly newsletters so much that I have kept almost everyone of them!

So what make Intrepid Express so good? They follow some “best practices” that help me get the most out of their email. For example:

• Subject line — each subject line starts with “Intrepid Express” which tells me that it is the newsletter and not some other correspondence from Intrepid.
• Topic — each week, there is a short intro from the editor (Sue Elliot) which is always interesting and well written. It gives me an idea about the content and helps me make the decision as to whether to read further.
• Quick links — at the top of the email, there is a section labeled “In this issue” with links to each section of the newsletter; a fast way to get to the sections that interest me the most.
• Sections — each issue has many articles, with several them on recurring themes such as: “Top Trip”, “Local Know How” and the latest contest.
• Side bar — Intrepid uses the sidebar promotes upcoming trips or deals with links to their website.
• Timely and relevant — the newsletter arrives every Monday, like clockwork and, even if I’m not planning a trip, the content is fresh and interesting.

The tone of the writing is interesting and informative, but never heavy with a sales pitch. That may be why I like the newsletter so much — it feeds my passion for travel, giving me ideas about where to go next, but doesn’t pressure me into buying.

Intrepid Express is not the only travel company e-newsletter that I receive, but it is my favourite. Long before I became an Intrepid customer, I developed a high affinity for the company, due in part to the “relationship” created through this single form of communication.

I’d also like to give a big shout out to Sue Elliot, who has been the editor of Intrepid Express for many years: thanks for keeping me hooked all these years.

Want to learn more about Intrepid and see what trips they have to offer? Start with their home page: www.intrepidtravel.com.
Ready to sign up to their weekly newsletter? Go to:
http://www.intrepidtravel.com/inspirations/expresssubs/

Goal setting for your career

Every month, I write a blog entry for the Outdoor Industries Women’s Coalition blog, based on the monthly professional development topic. The focus for April is “Planning Your Career Path”, a relevant continuation of my own blog entries from January on Goal Setting.

Since access to the OIWC blog is considered a member benefit (so it is located on members-only pages of the website), I have included an edited version of the entry here.

I encourage you to learn more about this amazing professional development and networking organization for women at: www.oiwc.org. [Full disclosure: In addition to developing content for the site, I am on the Board of Directors and sit on the Professional Development and Marketing/Branding committees.]

Get started on planning your career path
You’ve thought long and hard. You know what you want to do. But now what? How do you make your dream a reality? As Stephen R. Covey says in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, "Begin with the end in mind."

With the end in mind, you can start planning how to get there. You would do this if you were driving somewhere, so why not do it for your career. Since a career goal is not on any map, you will need to do a couple of things. First, determine your destination and, second, set some milestone goals. To increase your chances for success, your goals should be SMART — Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely.

SMART goals will help you develop a plan that is realistic and achievable. And, as you create these goals, be as detailed as you can. This will enable you to clearly understand how you are doing as you work towards your end goal.

Not only are SMART goals important, but so is timing. Make sure you check on your progress at regular intervals and consider: How close are you to achieving your goal? What is helping you be successful? What is getting in your way?

In addition, there is nothing that says you have to stay true to your original plan. As you evaluate your progress, consider making adjustments based on what you accomplish — or did not accomplish — so far. Did you set your goal too high? Will it be difficult or impossible to achieve? Did you learn something that changed your mind about what you thought you wanted? Is there now something else that you would rather do?

Don’t be afraid to change direction. Use your knowledge and experiences — as well as the knowledge and experience of others — to shape your goals and your career path.