2:50 — Bergen Anderson introduces PrintingForLess.com‘s Jessica Cooper.
2:51 — Jessica: My name is Jessica Cooper and I represent PrintingForLess.com. We print for 80,000 small to medium business customers.
2:52 — Let’s start with our story. We ship using FedEx exclusively as our vendor. They have totally blown us away in helping to meet customer deadlines. The time we labeled 200 packages wrong, we contacted FedEx, and they relabeled for us and even held an airplane. We’re now a FedEx customer for life.
2:54 — What does PrintingForLess.com do for customers? We invest in the customer experience, which is more than customer service. It involves every interaction a customer has with our business. From first interaction to getting the product, you create a “wow” customer experience. You will save ad money and grow your business in an authentic way.
2:55 — What do we do about commitment to customer satisfaction? It’s in our mission statement — raising performance of American business by setting the standard for developing a truly great customer experience and by providing great place to work.
We became role models for other businesses.
2:57 — Make online personal. We want our customers to call us, so we put our phone number front and center on our website. A 3-4 person customer service team deals with leads to remarkable interactions.
Other things we do: when you call, you’re automatically routed to our team. No long waits or having to dial through.
2:58 — Offer free marketing consultations for small business customers.
Provide a true 100% satisfaction guarantee.
Give customers perks: new customers get cups, longtime customers get chocolates or other gifts.
All kinds of little things create the ultimate experience for customers and make customers talk about us.
3:00 — We try not to be boring, so we add personality to the company. We are a high-tech company in a small town. We are a dog-friendly workplace. We have the state’s first on-site daycare center for creating great work-life balance. We are committed to the environment — we use soy inks and wind power.
3:02 — Customers are proud of this. And it drives business for us. Commitment to customer service makes people spread the word to other customers.
We knew we had loyal raving fans. They receive 50+ email per month and we wanted to leverage them without looking like we are sending 50+ self-promotions.
3:05 — The “Flip project” started with our raving fans. We called them and asked if they’d be willing to participate in our program by recording how much you like company on video. We gave them Flip cameras ($70) and provided detailed instructions. We gave fun tips for filming and encouraged people to be creative. We kept instructions short and included a deadline. We persistently followed-up to get videos in on time, and thanked people for being involved by letting them keep the cameras.
3:07 — We got a wonderful response right away. In the first 4 months, more than 100 cameras were sent and 65 videos were completed. This generated more than 10,000 views on YouTube and increased overall frequency from video customers.
An internal morale booster: we separated ourselves from sea of other online competitors. All the videos of satisfied customers builts trust. The campaign also build buzz and garnered magazine coverage.
3:10 — Our campaign was successful because of authenticity — no scripts or guidelines. It was a simple campaign with a small budget. It took one person to manage it. Online videos create emotional connections. All it takes is happy, willing customers, which we already had.They were already raising their hands, we just gave them the means to tell their stories. Our most creative video was from Jason White at Mattress Safe. (shows video—it’s on YouTube and can be embedded.) Employees now know how they have impacted other lives. This is very important to them.
Q&A
Q: Jill from Paint Bar: What was the reason for not telling customers about the video cameras?
A: We didn’t want them to feel that we were paying them for a testimonial. We chose only those who said they loved PrintForLess.com, so we knew we’d get good feedback
Q: Brian from WindsorONE: Have you ever considered inviting people who love your product to the facility?
A: Yes, and we do invite people. It’s a challenge to get them to Montana, but we encourage on-site tours.
Q: When people sent in videos, was there a way to measure responses?
A: There was a way to measure how many saw them, and we measured how much customers were ordering.
Q: Jonathan Haley from Blackrock: Did you go out and promote videos?
A: That’s been a challenge. We used newsletters, our website, and YouTube. The challenge is once you have collateral, how do you get word out about it?
Q: Lee from H&R Block: You mentioned you could do a lot with few resources. How many people are doing social media?
A: Just one. It was one person’s idea, and then we added some help to follow up with the videos. We don’t preview them — once customers are done, they send us link and we’re done.
