Customer Service or Bust in Marketing

Ok, so a lot of people think that customer service is just answering phones and dealing with people and their problems; well, yes, it is partly that but there is so much more to customer service. Good customer service has the power to be your most potent form of marketing; if you do not agree, let me explain.

Marketing is all about the ability to gain exposure for your brand and company among all the other companies out there who are also trying to gain the attention of the consumer. There are clever forms of marketing and there are poor forms of marketing; even the good techniques used in marketing sometimes fail to execute as well as planned. When a marketing plan goes as well as the marketing team thinks it will, it's amazing but does it really transfer to sales? To gaining more market share? Perhaps, but think of it this way: you're out walking somewhere and you see some great guerrilla marketing and it gets your attention (say it's a clothing store). So you go to the store and try to buy some clothing from them. When you walk into the store, the clerks are punks but you buy the shirt anyway; you find at home that it doesn't fit so you go return it but now they have a terrible return policy. Would you stay as a consumer of that brand? No.

Companies with poor customer service are 5x more likely to lose a customer than companies with good customer service. Why do you think companies like Apple have such a cult following? Yes, they do a fantastic job of marketing their products (which are good) but other companies have equally great marketing and other electronic companies have as good of products. They are the giant they have become because people want to stick with Apple because they have phenomenal customer service. They orient their stores, their products, and their return policy towards the consumer. For example, a buddy of mine had his volume button on his phone break so he went in to Apple with his broken phone and planned to just have it fixed (warranty expired, mind you); the store decided that fixing that one tiny button was not worth the extraordinary price it would take to fix it so they gave him a new one, no

questions asked and for no cost.

Another example of fantastic customer service is seen at Chick-Fil-A. The staff asks if you need a refill. It's a fast food restaurant and they ask YOU if you need a refill. Then, get this, when you're done eating, they bring your garbage to the trash can for you AND then they say, "My pleasure" when you say "thank you." You do say thank you, right? Isn't that fantastic? Now, they do make one heck of a chicken meal (especially with those waffle fries) but they wouldn't sell a single menu item if they hurled insults at you while you ate (there's a restaurant in Chicago that does this but they're joking, I mean if places did it seriously & wasn't part of the theme).

At an internship I did last year during my senior year of college, the company did not have bad customer service but they were not known for having good customer service. This caused the company to have quite a poor impression with their consumers. Well, it was a food service company and with the budget from the client, they couldn't improve the quality of food without forcing the client to increase the budget, so what we did was improve customer service; what happened was the staff became friendly and personable. You know what happened? Well, the food was still poor but people liked the company after a month or two because they realized how friendly and appreciative the staff was for the customers to eat their food!

As a Chicago Marketing company, we know the different aspects of marketing and how they impact each other. All the aspects are important but customer service might reign supreme. As a creative agency, we can help your company with any marketing need and we will even do it with a free consultation.

Chicago Graphic Design: Corporate Branding and Identity Design

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Being in a Marketing role, I realize the importance Corporate Branding plays in the success of a business. What I have noticed, however, is the large amount of businesses today which think otherwise. Many business’ perceptions of Corporate Branding remain stuck in this idea that branding a company and its products is some sort of “icing on the cake”—so to speak. Branding has become somewhat mundane in the minds of some business individuals and takes a back seat to other business-generating practices. As far as I’m concerned, what those businesses are missing out on is a chance to move their products and services to the forefront of consumers’ minds; this would, in turn, create more business for these companies. What better way to generate business than to use brand recognition and recall to your advantage? I know in my mind, the choice is simple: give branding the proper attention it deserves and increase overall business through customer brand loyalty.

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To shed some light on this topic, and to provide simple solutions for business who are interested in shaping their brand, I have provided a few branding tips:

1. Establish Your Market
It will be very difficult for your company to achieve its business objectives if there is no clear direction in which it is heading. The first step to finding your company’s “direction” is to establish your target market. Identify the type of individual you are targeting down to as much detail as you feel fit; overanalyzing your market, however, can cause difficulties with relaying your brand to your audience, as it will be hard to “zero in” on the message your company would like to portray if there’s too wide a range of details to sift through. Establishing a direction to pursue will be easier if your company has a clear vision of its ideal customer. Once your direction is clear, you will be on the right track to start targeting customers through your company’s branding efforts.

2. Identify Your Core Competencies

Whether there are a few competitors in your field, or even hundreds, there is a way to make your brand break away from the clutter. It all comes down to identifying what your company can do better than its competition—it’s core competencies. These core competencies are the building blocks of what makes your company’s products or services attractive and valuable to your target market. Recognizing the importance of communicating your business’ core competencies to its target market will give your company an edge over those few or many competitors in the field.

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3. Create Your Image

When branding, one of the most important things to keep in mind is the image that your company is portraying to its potential customers. Brand image is a powerful thing; it can make or break a company, regardless of how great the products and services seem to be. Ideally, companies want to get to a point when potential customers have positive brand recall and recognition; this can be achieved by having a focus on embodying the company’s core values and expertise in its field. If your company’s brand image is firmly established, you will need to put extra effort towards making it where you would ideally like it to be in the minds of consumers. If you are just starting out, it is much easier to shape your brand image, however, the challenge your company may initially face is brand recognition and recall. Whichever the case, brand image should not be something to put on the back burner!

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4. Engage Your Audience

Above all, a company which recognizes the importance of developing and maintaining relationships with its customers and target market knows one of the key practices in business: engaging with your audience. Perhaps one of the most overlooked practices, staying connected with potential and current customers, allows you, as a company, to have a substantial amount of control over the public’s view. It’s great that your company has Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, WordPress—and so on—but how can you get real value if you are not staying active within conversations? The options with social media are abundant and by not engaging with your potential and current customers, you are missing out on building a presence in your field. The opportunity to have virtually direct dialogue with your audience is one which can showcase your core competencies and if necessary, do damage control to correct any negative attention you may be getting. With social media, companies can not only discover their target market’s opinions towards their products and services, they can also shape those perceptions to ultimately drive business.

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What I’d like to get across to everyone reading this blog is the notion that branding should be present and apparent throughout a company’s processes, employees and customer relations. It neither deserves, nor is beneficial, for a company to have branding as merely the “icing on the cake.” By putting branding at the forefront of each and every aspect of business, companies can shape people’s perceptions and behaviors toward their products and services to strengthen customer relationships.

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Chicago Marketing: 5 Phases of Logo Design

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The best logos in existence did not simply pop into existence when the graphic designer put his pen to the paper. They went through a process. This process is sometimes rigorous and takes years to perfect. The Apple logo went through many different phases and took 30 years to get to the stage they're in now! Take a peek at the following process and see if you're going about it the right way.

Research! Research! Research!

Research is the most important phase of a logo design process. Research includes asking the client questions about their likes and dislikes when it comes to graphic design. It should also include research of top competitors logos and creative styles. In addition, researching your client's target market comes in handy and helps you tailor your design to their specific needs. The most important reason you've been hired as a Graphic Designer is to help your client and their business become easily recognizable.

Development

Everybody handles this stage in their own way. Creative Graphic Designers like us prefer to take the information we've gathered, start with word association, brainstorming, a play on graphically describing words on paper and then move into Illustrator. This process is the most time consuming or SHOULD be. It will be greatly affected by how much time and effort put into the research phase of the Logo Design process. 

Proofing

This is the first presentation to the client, where you will show them what you've been working on all this time! The presentation is half the battle, as you need to sell your design even after doing so much work on it. Graphic Designers all around the world have spent ages on a design that is not only beautiful but inspiring and could have been the next great Apple Logo, but the client hasn't liked it. Don't get too attached to your designs because they may end up in your rubbish bin.

As a Creative Marketing & Design Firm, we have a lot of competition. But we know that when we sit down with a client, our sales techniques are going to win the day. If you feel as if you're not on the up and up on Sales Techniques, look into getting a class or forcing yourself to give more presentations. It will only help!

Completion

It's finished finally! After all the time and effort put into the design, time spent with the client, and finally finalizing after your hard won presentation, you've arrived at the point in time where you deliver your product. And preferably get PAID too. Be sure to give your client multiple file types to work with as most printers take .jpgs, .ai, or .eps files.  They may also ask for .pdf, .png, or even .gif and .tiff files. Be sure to have a copy of each. This makes both yours and your client's life much easier.

Follow Up

The best way to lose clients is to not follow up with them. Make sure you follow up with your client, as this might be the connection between you and your next gig! 

Tips

1. Dont be lazy - do your research!

2. Don't rush!

3. Don't shortchange your client on proofs and designs

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