Marketing with a human face
Noteworthy: Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is all about the bottom line—that is, satisfied, loyal customers. Two examples and a conclusion.
Column Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is all about the sausage, i.e. satisfied, loyal customers. Two examples and a conclusion: let's talk about customer loyalty. Don't worry, I don't want to talk about data mining and other "achievements" of IT-supported marketing. I just want to tell you two stories, the first of which begins at Bellevue. This is where Zurich's most famous sausage stand is located: the Vordere Sternen. Its sausages have achieved national fame. Anyone who doesn't stop off at Vorderer Sternen at least once a quarter for lunch or before going to the opera house is not considered chic in Zurich's high society.
That's why I recently visited this most unfriendly of unfriendly sausage stands again. And I was not disappointed: after I had paid for the six-franc bratwurst with a twenty note, the rude person behind the counter gave me the change in coins. When I asked if he could give me back a ten note, he explained without even glancing at his till: "I haven't got any more."
I asked him to ask his colleague. He actually came over, held out his wallet filled with tenners and said: "No, the two five-franc notes are too heavy for me." Whereupon I had no choice but to return my sausage and leave hungry.
But that didn't matter at all. Because firstly, I want to lose six kilos anyway, ever since my partner told me in her own diplomatic way that "you've never had chubby cheeks like that". Secondly, there are Globus, Sprüngli and Migros Gourmessa just a few steps away from the Vorderer Sternen. These are also great places to eat and are served in a very friendly manner. And thirdly, I was a customer at the Vorderer Sternen for forty years. So it was high time to try something new.
But I'm actually a very loyal customer - if I'm treated not only as such, but also as a person. Just like in the second episode, which is set in Sils-Maria.
What does the Waldhaus luxury hostel have in common with the above bratwurst stand? Clearly, the outstanding location. The view from the rock on which the hotel stands over the plain and Lake Sils makes the heart of every visitor to the Engadin beat faster.
The fact that people are happy to pay for this has a lot to do with director Urs Kienberger and his team. Over the past few years, I have been Kienberger's guest two or three times, who always welcomes you personally and regularly enquires about your well-being later on.
You may object that this is normal for a five-star hotel. Unfortunately, it is not. What's more, Kienberger doesn't leave it at that.
We were recently sitting in the dining room with a relative from the United States. It was around ten o'clock in the evening when my mother called to say that my father was having an unexpected operation the next morning. Of course, we packed up immediately and drove back to Horgen.
Three days later, I received a small envelope from Sils. It was handwritten and the lines inside were also handwritten. They were from Urs Kienberger, who had enquired about my father and wished him a speedy recovery. I was deeply touched. Don't worry, I can tell the difference between something that is done out of marketing considerations and something that is done out of sincere sympathy. The letter in question clearly belongs in the latter category.
Agreed: At first glance, the two episodes don't seem earth-shattering. Just everyday Swiss service life. Nevertheless, they are instructive: they show that even today, customer loyalty is not a question of data mining and CRM software, but of decency and empathy.
> Sacha Wigdorovits is head of the Zurich-based communications agency Contract Media.
That's why I recently visited this most unfriendly of unfriendly sausage stands again. And I was not disappointed: after I had paid for the six-franc bratwurst with a twenty note, the rude person behind the counter gave me the change in coins. When I asked if he could give me back a ten note, he explained without even glancing at his till: "I haven't got any more."
I asked him to ask his colleague. He actually came over, held out his wallet filled with tenners and said: "No, the two five-franc notes are too heavy for me." Whereupon I had no choice but to return my sausage and leave hungry.
But that didn't matter at all. Because firstly, I want to lose six kilos anyway, ever since my partner told me in her own diplomatic way that "you've never had chubby cheeks like that". Secondly, there are Globus, Sprüngli and Migros Gourmessa just a few steps away from the Vorderer Sternen. These are also great places to eat and are served in a very friendly manner. And thirdly, I was a customer at the Vorderer Sternen for forty years. So it was high time to try something new.
But I'm actually a very loyal customer - if I'm treated not only as such, but also as a person. Just like in the second episode, which is set in Sils-Maria.
What does the Waldhaus luxury hostel have in common with the above bratwurst stand? Clearly, the outstanding location. The view from the rock on which the hotel stands over the plain and Lake Sils makes the heart of every visitor to the Engadin beat faster.
The fact that people are happy to pay for this has a lot to do with director Urs Kienberger and his team. Over the past few years, I have been Kienberger's guest two or three times, who always welcomes you personally and regularly enquires about your well-being later on.
You may object that this is normal for a five-star hotel. Unfortunately, it is not. What's more, Kienberger doesn't leave it at that.
We were recently sitting in the dining room with a relative from the United States. It was around ten o'clock in the evening when my mother called to say that my father was having an unexpected operation the next morning. Of course, we packed up immediately and drove back to Horgen.
Three days later, I received a small envelope from Sils. It was handwritten and the lines inside were also handwritten. They were from Urs Kienberger, who had enquired about my father and wished him a speedy recovery. I was deeply touched. Don't worry, I can tell the difference between something that is done out of marketing considerations and something that is done out of sincere sympathy. The letter in question clearly belongs in the latter category.
Agreed: At first glance, the two episodes don't seem earth-shattering. Just everyday Swiss service life. Nevertheless, they are instructive: they show that even today, customer loyalty is not a question of data mining and CRM software, but of decency and empathy.
> Sacha Wigdorovits is head of the Zurich-based communications agency Contract Media.
