How many people are there in your marketing department?

Many more than you think!

You would probably agree that marketing has the primary responsibility for your company’s relationship with its customers; developing and delivering official customer communications.

But there are a whole bunch of other people in your company that also interact with your customers. Of course (I hear you saying) our sales people interact with our customers all the time. But no, although that’s true, they are not who I was thinking of.

There are three customer interfaces that most people overlook. You won’t find them assigned to the marketing department, but they can strongly reinforce (or damage) your company’s relationship with its customers.

Your receptionist (or whoever customers reach first when they are calling your company). Do customers get a knowledgeable, friendly human when they call, or an impersonal, hard-to-navigate voicemail system? Which would you prefer? Which is more likely to set the stage for a successful customer interaction?

Your service department. How good is your service? It recently took me seven calls to reach someone in customer service at Sears. Think I’ll be buying anything from them again soon? On the other hand, the service people who delivered and set up my new Sleep Number bed last month really reinforced my purchase decision—they were on time, efficient, and did an excellent job of explaining how to use this expensive new piece of furniture. Treating your customer service as an extension of your marketing rather than as a necessary evil can make a huge difference to your repeat sales and retention.

Your billing department. How understandable are your invoices? [I hope they’re not like my telephone bill] Do they reinforce the wisdom of the customer’s purchase? [Insurance companies always miss this opportunity—how much would it reinforce the policy’s value if every bill included a story about how their insurance had helped a policyholder?] If customers have a question about their billing, is it easily and cheerfully answered? Or is it like unraveling a puzzle [hospital bills are a good example of this].

Expanding how you define your “marketing department” can unlock the route to improved customer relations. Want to talk about how to redefine your “marketing staff?” Give me a call!