When Customers Want to Hear from You

The Harvard Business School Working Knowledge newsletter points out that it’s not enough just to speak to your customers – you have to know when to speak to them, with the right message, to increase your ability to get what you want. This is both an opportunity and a threat, depending on the customer context.

Let’s say you’re able to identify the activity or set of activities that make a customer likely to be interested in joining a loyalty program. There’s a specific message you’d send them at that time. Conversely, if a set of activities dictate that a customer may be considering defecting, a different message is in order.

This level of messaging sophistication isn’t always easy – and requires a database marketing infrastructure that most companies don’t currently have or utilize. But companies such as Harrah’s Casino and Expedia know first-hand that the investment pays for itself many times over in increased customer loyalty and lifetime revenue.