Acting like a ‘J. Crew member’ – Developing customer advocacy

This is a note of praise.  There are lots of successes – even in this new economic environment.  And, again, it is extremely worthy of note that both of these were moments where the company – in this case – J. Crew – could have failed.  Opportunity often wears an interesting cloak in this market, and you need to look out for it.

My multi-decade relationship with J. Crew has seen its stylistic ups and downs.  Right now we seem to be in agreement, which is good for them as they capture more of my cashmere and cotton dollar.   About a month ago, they had an onsite sale via coupon.  Through some misfortune, I could not log on to take advantage of the sale.  Bad…I was upset and I emailed them (but I could have called or used their nice little “call me back” feature).  A CSR immediately emailed me back to note that they would manually apply the offer, all I had to do is email them back my order.  I did my part, they did their part, and I walked away happy and with a nice sweater to boot.

This is good – at least for people who reach out to them.  My point is – as a consumer in this market, please feel free to ask.  It would have been good if they had known I had abandoned a cart and taken the action in process, but let’s not boil the ocean.

They also recently sent me another offer as is their privilege through my permissions – and I used it to get some things from my own personal Christmas List.  However, when I entered the offer code, it repriced certain other items on the order that should have been discounted.  So here we go again.  Another email to J. Crew.  Here is where they managed to demonstrate the true moment of truth CUSTOMER ADVOCACY.

They emailed me back, as they do, and within a reasonable time frame, as my experience has been, and told me, not only would they reprice the items to the committed website price, they would further extend the coupon offer to include them.  YAY!

So I told lots of people about this, all during the US Thanksgiving holiday.  Must have mentioned it to at least 40 people.  And in the telling, I came to realize that this free press I was giving them, in addition to the thousands of dollars in purchasing, was the result of a $14 incremental investment on their part.  Yup – $14…to reach 40 people precisely in their demographic.  (And now all of you, dear readers).

The IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) uses a three pronged approach for Customer Advocacy: Word of Mouth, Repeat Purchase and a willingness to keep dollars with the current company in light of the ability to trade off.  I have met all three criteria – and that qualifies me for advocacy.  Good for them, and good for me.

It will be harder and harder to keep advocates in the current market.  However, it is possible.  Each company needs to understand where to invest and with whom.  Your Customer Service Representatives need to understand how and why to apply these investments – whether through business rules that are automated or even passed down the line by supervisors.   It is better to err on keeping customers now, dear readers.  Keep going J. Crew – I wish you all success.  -c-

I owe you a posting on Stephen King and new tech applications…it’s coming…