By H. Robert Wientzen
Before becoming the President and CEO of the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA), I enjoyed a 27-year career at Procter & Gamble (P&G), where I learned first-hand the direct marketer’s approach to customer service.
I came away from P&G with the conviction that excellent customer service is the key to successful business operations, and at the core of all winning direct marketing campaigns. Most direct marketers across the nation would agree on this.
As a result, direct marketing is growing in leaps and bounds — well on its way to becoming the marketing method of choice for many American businesses. Some recent statistics from The DMA’s study, Economic Impact: U.S. Direct Marketing Today, which was conducted by the prestigious firm The WEFA Group, will give you an idea of the scope of the industry:
• Direct marketing sales for the consumer market reached more than $630 billion in 1996 and more than $540 billion for the business-to-business market. Thus, one dollar out of every $14 in sales throughout the U.S. economy last year was generated by direct marketing techniques.
• One job in every 13 jobs in the U.S. in 1996 was somehow involved in direct marketing sales activity. These businesses benefited because they mastered the art of giving customers what they want.
Now, the direct marketer’s definition of customer service may be a little different than that of retailers or other business professionals. For example, we see this as a proactive service, not a reactive one. Let me explain.
While retailers and other corporate entities train good people to respond to inquiries and complaints and place them in customer service and public relations departments, direct marketers design their enterprises around the concept of profiling customers and serving their needs up front. For example:
• Targeting the right prospective consumer -the one who will be happy to receive your information -and leaving others alone is the first step in the direct marketing process. No direct marketer wants to present a solicitation to a person who doesn’t want to receive it. It wastes the marketer’s time and the consumer’s.
• Sending a clear marketing message that takes into account that customer’s preferences is the second step in good direct marketing. In this era of too many options and too little time, customers want clear, directed messages that catch their attention’ appeal to their lifestyles, and offer them something of real value.
• Offering easy ordering options is the third step, and quick and easy fulfillment is the fourth. The key here is diligent attention to the individual account.
Over time, a solid marketing relationship can be developed by tracking the consumer’s preferences, and offering products and services that enhance that person’s lifestyle without infringing upon it.
As you can see, this technique operates from start-to-finish on the basis of identifying and serving the customer’s needs. When utilized correctly, it generates a win-win situation. It is my firm belief that any business professional can benefit from learning and applying the direct marketing approach to customer service.
H. Robert Wientzen, president and CEO of The Direct Marketing Association since 1996, retired in 2004.
