Brands can spend millions on marketing and then undo everything with customer service communications. Antiquated language, gobbledygook, irrelevant messages and phone numbers that don't go anywhere are just some of the fails all too often found. Customers get the wrong message all too clearly.
Telstra and MediBank are two brands trying to applying marketing principles to services comms to make sure the brand is consistent everywhere - and retain customers that can cost much more to acquire than keep.
Telstra has put a significant investment behind overhauling its service communications systems after CEO David Thodey got sick of having customers write to him to complain about “rubbish” letters they were being sent by the telco. But it says something for the strength of the brand that they at least bothered to write, rather than switch provider.
The telco is three quarters of the way through a project that meant more than 7,300 pieces of customer communications had to be reviewed, evaluated and changed. Some 3,000 separate communications were culled and the rest have been rewritten. It also required a chunky IT investment to ensure systems automatically sent the right, relevant letter, email or SMS message.
Nick Adams, Telstra director of CRM, digital and loyalty marketing oversaw the Excellence in Customer Communications (ECC) project and says the department is now used by the rest of the company to make sure all comms are on brand. It has run 40 training sessions for 600 Telstra staff to help them craft communications that are in line with the Telstra brand.
It turned out to be a "behemoth project on the scale we never predicted", he told AdNews. "From a brand point of view and driving NPS scores and advocacy, we're delivering a much more satisfying customer experience. It goes beyond customer communications and we're starting to embed that as a cultural thing.”
Ultimately, he says it's not just about brand but "advocacy and making sure every contact with the brand is adding to, not detracting from, our brand and NPS score.”
MediBank general manager Nicole Twyford has a similar story of customers irked by poor communications. She has also undertaken a root and branch review.
MediBank had to up its game because its communications reach customers at sensitive times when they are making health insurance claims, says Amy Childs, MediBank head of member communications. The company’s customer service communications were at odds with the rest of the brand, she said, and while it's not the sexy, glossy side of marketing it is as important as advertising.
“The customer doesn't differentiate between what is service letter and what is marketing," she told AdNews. "The rest of the brand was all done, so people would buy insurance and feel one way [about the brand] but the service side of things would be totally disconnected.
”We don’t communicate [a lot] but when we do we don't want it to leave a bad taste. It's not just about rewriting letters but making sure our family of communications together. It's not the kind of thing people will call and praise you for but no feedback is a good thing - as it means fewer negative comments.”
Both projects were carried out by direct marketing agency Friend’s Reader Friendly division, previously known as Darkside.
“Everyone expects a brand to be on their best behaviour when they're in marketing mode but this is about how brands behave in those intimate, innocuous moments. It's an insight into how a brand really behaves," said Peter Vierod, creative partner at Friend.
“It's not the most glamorous but it is one of the most important as [bad service communications] undermine and erode your brand.”
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