How a typo can lead to lost business

We all make them – typos, those little gremlins that sneak in here and there, making us look incompetent as each one rears its ugly little head.   But let’s face it, typos between people who are familiar with each other aren’t the end of the world.  But what about when there’s no pre-existing relationship between the reader and the typo offender?   It won’t take long to spot the obvious mistake in this email promotion received recently:

That’s part of the email I opened, with a subject line of ‘Bargin Ballpens’.

It was such a simple mistake to make but it’s the type of mistake that can lead to lost business, especially when another part of the email contains:

As a recipient of that email I may be considering getting some branded pens done.  It’s kind of important to me that when I take delivery of the hundreds or thousands of pens, that the message on the ‘large branding area’ is correct.  So when an email promotion spells ‘bargain’ as ‘bargin’ in the subject line it sends out the message that the company doesn’t have good attention to detail and so it may not be wise for me to trust my wording/branding to them.

Of course, I could, and probably am, totally wrong – it was probably just a simple slip-up that may never happen again to that promotional products company.  But the damage is done when a typo puts doubt into the mind of the email recipient.    Do YOU send promotions by email but don’t get them double-checked by someone else, prior to final sendout?  For the sake of a few more minutes and a fresh pair of eyes, it’s probably worth it.

Price differences between email promotion and the website

How to stop people from reading your email promotions: send them something that then has different prices on the landing page of the website.

I received an email today and thought I’d have a look at what was on offer (not that I intended buying any of it).   It’s from a company called Dealtastic and this screenshot shows the main emphasis of what they’re promoting this time:

Note the price of the top left item (Air Powered Rocket – £10).  Clicking on that link takes you through to the page http://www.dealtastic.co.uk/guinness-world-records-air-powered-rocket.html?cm_mmc=Dealtastic-_-SysR1-_-UK-_-20110129, which clearly shows below a price of £15.61 …

So I clicked on the Harry Potter Battling Wand link (advertised for £11.95) through to the page http://www.dealtastic.co.uk/harry-potter-infrared-battling-wand-harry.html?cm_mmc=Dealtastic-_-SysR1-_-UK-_-20110129, which shows it at £14.99 …

So I clicked on the third product (Integral MultiCard Reader – advertised for £5), which took me through to the page http://www.dealtastic.co.uk/integral-multicard-reader.html?cm_mmc=Dealtastic-_-SysR1-_-UK-_-20110129, showing it for £8 …

Going for the ‘full house’, I clicked on the last product and was surprised that it was actually priced as shown in the email.

What’s demonstrated here is that there was either:

1. Poor quality control (no-one should send out an email promotion without double-checking that the details match up with the landing pages of the website).
2. Deliberate deception.

Whatever the answer is, the business owner has made a stupid mistake, that’s now out in the open.  Am I likely to click on future email promotions from the same people?  Possibly (just to see if the mistakes continue).   Would I unsubscribe?  It’s a possibility.  Would the negativity about the sloppiness (or deliberate deception, whichever it is) of the business impact on them?  Possibly (although I suppose it could also raise their brand awareness and some people may decide to sign up to them – so it could do them a favour!).

The message here though is: double check anything going out via email promotion, ensuring that the messages in the email are the same as those on the website.

Are your emails getting through to recipients?

Tristan Collings gives us some insights into the impacts of business emails not getting through to recipients and what to do about it …

Email is an amazing technology, enabling us to send messages at lightning speeds with or without attachments. We can expect to send and receive many emails each and every day.  While technology is excellent when it works, it can and does sometimes go wrong, which can have negative impacts on business.

Sometimes you may send an email or reply to an email sent to you and for some reason the email just doesn’t get through to the recipient.  It’s not until you haven’t received the reply you were hoping for, or the recipient contacts you asking why you haven’t replied to an email, that you realise something has gone wrong.  The end result can be a delay in you getting something you want from the recipient, or vice-versa.  There can be several points of failure, including:

1. Your mail server IP address might be on an email spam blacklist, which would possibly stop the email from reaching the recipients email client.
2. The recipients email account and associated email scanner might determine the email to be unsafe and so strip it out without the receiver being aware.

A mail server can be considered as a source of spam and be blacklisted if it has been used as a source of spam in the past.  An IP address is added to this blacklist if it is associated with an open relay email server or the computer has been hacked and is running a Trojan that allows spammers to send from that machine.  If you send emails through your ISP’s mail server then you are generally assured that emails won’t be blocked due to spam or if so, then the ISP should be quick to stop the problem. However, things do sometimes still go wrong.

At Custwin we’re not experts in the intricacies of email and blacklists but we have been on the receiving end of email communication problems and have the following advice, which is largely common sense …

If sending an email that’s particularly important then diarise a note to contact the recipient (by phone) if you’ve not heard back within a set period of time.   Don’t assume the email will reach them.  Even better, a little while after sending the important email, ring them anyway, just to confirm it’s been sent for their attention.  Sometimes, the recipient chooses not to act on the email (e.g. if they don’t have time or it’s something they really don’t want to act on) and it’s a perfect excuse for them to say they haven’t received it (when you eventually make contact, having not heard anything back).  However, by ringing at an early stage to confirm the email has gone to them then they may feel obliged to pay more attention to it.

Xmas Cards 2011 – from feedback to ideas

A bit of controversy can be healthy when it comes to business.

The recent blog about electronic cards at Xmas focused on making emailed Xmas cards stand out.  As part of the blog a few feathers were ruffled due to the comment related to there being potential doubt that all senders of such ecards would actually make the donation to the charity referred to.   Thank you to those people who provided feedback giving details of the charity payments made.  Thank you, because it sparked off another idea …

Human nature means that some people will be sceptical.  For every 100 emailed Xmas cards sent out, referring to a charity donated to, a few people may think “yeah, right, did they really make that donation?”.  This raises an opportunity and I’ll use Kiosk Creative (the subject of the original blog) as an example as they’ve kindly supplied me with something I can use …

Let’s imagine it’s Xmas 2010 again and it’s time to send emailed Xmas cards out again.  Kiosk could send their card out but in addition could include a note similar to the following:

For more details of our donation of 5 chickens, 4 goats, 3 pigs, 2 cows, and a cockerel to Rwandan families, click here.

When people click on that link they could get taken to a page that gives a bit of information about their chosen charity and includes evidence of the contribution they made, such as shown below:

The financial details wouldn’t necessarily have to be there, although they do add some credibility to the gift.

The value in doing this is in standing out from the crowd.  It’s partially about giving sceptical people nothing to feast on but it’s mainly about being transparent – being proud to show evidence of the contribution being made.  When you combine that with an emailed card that has a ‘different’ edge to it, you’ll be more memorable to those people you send to.

Before the flood of comments come in saying that it’s a very personal thing how much is contributed to charity, I’d say that I’m in agreement and of course, it would be up to individuals whether they disclose the amount.   Purely something from the benefiting charity that shows a contribution was made, would be enough.

Perhaps also there’s another idea to be exploited here.  Perhaps the benefiting charities could each have a page on their own websites that lists the names of companies/individuals who have donated to them, and in which months.  The donators could have a tick box that dictates whether or not the value of their donation is shown on the website for all to see.   Then, it’s purely a case of providing a link to that website page from within the emailed Xmas card.   It wouldn’t be hard for the charities to set up such functionality – it’s just an addition to the payment process and a page that gets automatically updated as contributions come in.   It’ll be interesting to see whether, at Xmas 2011, any charities have picked up on this idea and developed it further, as well as how many companies realise that there may be some benefit in being more transparent about the charitable donations being made via their use of an emailed card at Xmas.

Business Christmas Cards in December 2011

Zzzzzzzzzz

It’s not that I’m ungrateful but over the Christmas period 2010 I saw only one company emailed card that made me take any notice at all.  And here it is …

I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of Christmas cards, particularly from companies – it just seems quite pointless and a waste of money.  A bit more acceptable to me is an electronic card but only if it makes me take notice.   Over the years the formula has become fairly staid:

1. Come up with some sort of picture related to Christmas.

2. Draft some text about the charity that’s going to benefit from a donation.

3. Blast it out to all contacts via email.

A sceptical person may wonder whether, in some cases, money ever makes it to the named charity.  In such instances perhaps a hard copy card would be better because at least there’s proof that the money has been spent (ideally on a card that benefits a charity).

The card above came with a message that included the following explanation of the picture and ditty:

In lieu of Christmas Gifts for our clients and friends we have made a donation to SURF Survivors Fund, Rwanda and Goats for Peace to buy livestock for Rwandan families.

16 years on from the genocide in Rwanda, many families still face an uncertain future and live in extreme poverty.  With their own livestock, a family has a chance at subsistence farming and life takes an upward turn: Manure makes the vegetable patch fertile; milk and eggs provide much needed nutrition; and breeding pigs, goats or chickens gives the family an income for seeds, tools and medicines.

The card came from the guys at Kiosk Creative, who I do some work with.  They’re a creative agency and the card demonstrates their expertise perfectly because thought went into the charity they wanted to support and the card came out of that.  It wasn’t a generic Christmas picture with any old charity bolted on but instead was well-conceived and made me think.  On top of that I fully believe that the charitable donation was made.

Perhaps more important for Kiosk Creative though was that it helped remind me of their creativity.  I find it really hard to find good creative people that I can refer people onto and so this was a perfect reminder, especially if there are Custwin clients/contacts who need design skills in the Liverpool area, where they’re based.

Christmas 2011 is a long way off, which, for those of you who send company cards by email, is plenty of time to think about how you can hit the right message with those who open the email, rather than it ending up as a mad rush job a few days or weeks before everyone disappears for the festivities.

Photos within email signatures

Most people have an email signature set up, providing certain relevant information about how to contact them.  But what about going a step further?

Although I’m sure opinions are divided on this, I think that using photos within email signatures can bring something extra in certain circumstances.  Let’s look at one as an example:

That’s the email signature of a client, who works for Westhill Insurance.  He, and his colleagues, are in email contact with existing clients and prospective clients all the time.  Many of those clients will never actually meet him or his colleagues because what they’re buying is insurance and they can be located anywhere in the country.

What the photo in the signature does is put a face to a name/voice/email.  It adds the human element.  Is that important for products or services that are sold at a distance?  Perhaps it’s not essential but to some people, it will seem friendlier.   Personally, if I was a prospective buyer of something and the email communication I got back included a photo in the signature then I will see them as someone identifiable and it not being just a cold transaction.  

And what if my contact at Westhill Insurance is going to meet someone who he’s never met before, as is often the case?   If he’s sent an email to that person then they’ll know what he looks like, which can help when they first come face to face – especially if planning to meet in a crowded place.  No-one likes looking expectantly at each person who walks into a place that’s been chosen for a meeting, thinking it may just be the person they’re going to meet.

Over the years email signatures have come a long way and although there are cons as well as pros to packing them with all sorts of things, it’s probably worth thinking “could the use of a photo in my email signature be of benefit to me?”.

Those pesky Indians

Hands up who’s never been emailed by a company from India, offering web development or SEO services?   If you haven’t then you’re in one of the following categories:

1. Your web visibility is so poor that you haven’t fallen within their radar.
2. You’re dead.

According to the emails it’s much cheaper and more efficient to get web and SEO services from India.  Yeah, right!  I’ve spoken to a few people who tried it and had a nightmare (although I’m sure there are positives too).

This week things took an interesting turn – those pesky Indians are getting cleverer.  I was looking through the webstats of a client and there was an email from a Jaime Jack who was from North Carolina, and they wanted to help my client with their SEO.   They left a Gmail email address (that always raises suspicion of course) and no other contact details (website etc.). 

I compared the enquiry form gained to the website statistics data for that time of that day and found that contrary to being from North Carolina, the visitor was from India.   The typical visitor path of looking at a website for a few seconds, going to the contact page, and submitting an enquiry form.   Usually the sender will have said that they’ve looked at the website in detail, which of course, is a lie.

The point of highlighting this is not pick on the Indians because boy, do they go out to try and get business!   It’s to highlight that when you get enquiries and website visitors, not all is what it seems.  Some people, weary of receiving Indian sales pitches, may be more responsive to something that appears to be more English/American, which I guess is what the intention was of that email enquiry (and the thousands more that would have been emailed out).

At Custwin we are big fans of using webstats analysis in a range of beneficial ways.  In this case it’s helped to identify someone trying to masquerade as something they’re not.

How stupid are so many UK businesses?

We’re coming up for the Kent 2020 exhibition in April 2010 and it’s started …. the stream of emails and phone calls from companies trying to sell exhibitors their services.  This could be printing, exhibition stand stuff, gimmicks, whatever.

Like local political party reps at election time, they come out of the woodwork expecting to gain business.  To be frank, it’s insulting, opportunistic, and in today’s climate, just plain stupid.

The winners in business in the future will be those that create an ongoing, but non-invasive awareness of themselves.  Does Custwin want to buy new exhibition popups etc. for Kent 2020 this year?  No.  Would we need to next year?  Possibly.   Would we be adverse to getting a blog feed, Tweets, or an occasional email newsletter from companies who supply such products, over the months?  No, we wouldn’t be adverse.   In fact, it would help to build up trust, it may even lead to us meeting the suppliers at some point, and it’s got a much stronger potential to turn into business for the suppliers at some stage.

Taking another subject, a company was pitching chocolate fountain hire for the Kent 2020 exhibition.  As a cold introduction to 100 people it’s possible that very few may respond.  But as a warm drip feed over a longer period of time, the percentage of buyers will increase.  HOW that drip feed is implemented is a subject all of its own but it’s not rocket science.

The focus here happens to be on an upcoming business exhibition but the principle applies for any type of business that wants to gain new clients, particularly at times of the year when those potential buyers are more likely to need such services.

Those businesses that don’t embrace the concept of drip feeding their message into potential clients will soon find themselves losing out to their competitors who understand what makes potential clients tick.

Sending a bloke flowers

This week I saw evidence that either:

a) I’d turned gay;

or …

b) Companies shouldn’t rely too heavily on the basic data supplied to them but should look at the human side of things.

Thankfully (for my fiancee) it turned out to be the latter …

I’d planned a surprise engagement couple of days away (including hotel) and needed to book flowers to be delivered to our hotel room for our arrival.  Found a company called Arenaflowers.com and the process went like this:

1. Made the bespoke request online (I wanted something specific).
2. Got the price and paid.   Made it clear that the hotel booking was in my name but supplied details to go on a card with the flowers (for my soon-to-be fiancee).  The idea was that the flowers got delivered, the hotel knew they were for my room and they’d be there with the card on arrival.
3. On the day I got a text saying they’d been delivered – a nice touch.
4. Sure enough, the flowers were in the room on arrival but alas, the card greeting wasn’t with it.  Still, not a big deal.
5. One happy fiancee.

Got back home and found the email from Arena Flowers which said:

Dear Andy,

Your order was delivered to Andy Harris at Ettington Park Hotel at 8 April 09 @ 9.01.  We hope that Andy Harris enjoyed the flowers (and has said thank you!).

!!!!

So it was an email TO me, hoping that I had enjoyed the flowers (or some other man).  You can see how this happened because all the details entered into their system would have been related to me and because the hotel was booked in my name, that’s the name that was assumed to be the recipient of the flowers.  Various fields of data entered to their database but without considering the real story that was right under their nose because I’d also included in my email to them who the flowers were actually for, including the details that were supposed to go on a card with the flowers.

If they’d thought a little bit more about the depth of the order instead of making assumptions that everyone orders flowers that are directly for the recipient by name as per the order details, then I wouldn’t have a daft looking email in my inbox and wouldn’t have this tale to tell.

However, apart from that mistake and the absence of the message card I’d still probably use them again because the flowers were lovely and were on time, which, at the end of the day, was all that mattered!