Brigantine Media

Williams-Sonoma Is Watching You

By Janis Raye

I just had my first experience with an automated reminder that I was shopping for a certain product, and it was a little bit creepy. I received an email from Williams-Sonoma with the subject line, “Thank you for your interest in: Fleur-de-Lys rubber doormats.” The email was complete with a photo of the doormat, a link to the product on the Williams-Sonoma website, with a button to “Buy Now.”

I hadn’t bought a Fleur-de-Lys doormat. All I did was browse the Williams-Sonoma website a couple of days earlier and view those mats. I was kind of interested in those doormats, though, and made a mental note to measure my entryway to see if they had a size that would fit. That’s it. But somehow the gods at Williams-Sonoma knew I was interested and sent me this follow-up message to encourage me to make my purchase. Weird.

But helpful. Despite the initial ick-factor, now I’m thinking I will measure my space and order a mat. At first I was put off to think that Williams-Sonoma was tracking my Internet clicks using “cookies” so carefully they could read my mind about the doormats. But I realized that it was a very clever way to remind me that I wanted to buy a new doormat.

PS: Once bitten on the Internet, twice shy. I bought a new doormat at my local hardware store over the weekend. Thanks, Williams-Sonoma, for reminding me that I needed one!

Here’s the takeaway for businesspeople and marketers: customer service is everywhere you sell, whether it’s online or around the corner. Just because you don’t meet your customers face-to-face is no excuse for treating them poorly, or not thinking carefully about what will satisfy them. Economy of scale is no excuse, either: the mighty Netflix handles much of its customer service via telephone, not the Internet. It may be more expensive, but they recognize that their customers appreciate the service.

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Janis Raye is the co-author of “Business Success In Tough Times.” The book “Business Success in Tough Times” examines business leaders and entrepreneurs who have shown the courage, will, and brainpower to succeed when other companies fail. Their stories illustrate nine characteristics of business success. For more information, visit www.brigantinemedia.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Business Lessons, Customer Service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.