- This letter, the letter
that I'm holding in my hand
right now is a glowing example of one
of the most ubiquitous problems
in modern marketing today.
What problem is that?
The problem is the left hand has no idea
what the right hand is doing.
Now internally it's
almost impossible to spot
examples of this in your own company.
It's really hard to see
the siloed departments
or the shape of the org
chart and the effect
it has on your customer or client.
So what we have to do is get
outside of our own universe
and look at it from the
customer's perspective.
This problem is costing you customers.
It's costing you clients.
It's costing you prospects,
and it's costing you money,
and we're gonna take a look at it today
with this letter, yes,
a real physical letter
that arrived yesterday, and this letter
is gonna help me help you
understand why everyone
in your organization needs
to think like a marketer,
(sighs) but before we dive
in and really understand
what's in this letter, I need some coffee
and my morning walk.
(chill music)
(sighs) All right, I've had some coffee.
Now let's dive into this
letter that I received.
Now the letter is from
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.
Now this letter actually
says: Thank you for choosing
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services
as your dedicated finance source.
Our records indicate that your lease
will expire on February 14, 2018.
We understand that you will
be returning your vehicle
and have enclosed information to guide you
through the return process.
We encourage you to carefully
review the enclosed material
to understand your lease
and responsibilities,
and it goes on, blabbity-blah,
to tell me about
an inspection and determination
obligations and repairs.
This letter is from Nancy Alvarez,
the lease maturity
management team, I guess,
with no other enclosures
than this one piece of paper.
Now in order to really
understand the impact
this kind of letter has on your business,
you need to get inside
the mindset of the person
who receives this letter.
So in order to do that,
I want you to think about
the moment I went to go get my mail.
(upbeat music)
Now let's stop right there.
The moment this letter
arrived I wasn't thinking,
hey, my lease is maturing in two months.
Maybe I should go and buy a new car.
I was not even thinking about my vehicle,
but the minute I opened this letter,
I started thinking about a vehicle,
and the first question
that popped into my mind
wasn't, boy, I should get on
this checklist of crap to do
before I return my Mercedes.
The first question on my mind is
what car am I going to buy next?
Here's the flaw with this letter.
Mercedes-Benz Financial
Services is your right hand.
They have sent me a
piece of correspondence
that's clerical in nature.
They're inviting me to do
exactly what's on the list
to return the vehicle
so that my lease ends
in a timely and hospitable fashion.
Now the left hand, the
sales team has no idea
this letter has gone
out because if they did,
they would have called me
or they would have sent
something along with this to try to get me
into another Mercedes.
I am now officially
the moment this arrives
in the market for a new Mercedes.
Let me take you on a drive.
Let's go to the beach in this car
that I need to return
in less than two months,
and let me show you
some caveman PowerPoint
to explain exactly what's going on here.
(upbeat music)
(air whooshes)
(air whooshes)
(heavy techno music)
Let's head to the beach.
Now this morning, I wasn't
planning on buying a vehicle,
but I was immediately
inspired to go on a journey
I never expected and buy a new car.
The first question I had is
what car am I going to buy,
and as I drive even to the beach,
I start looking for
cars to add to my list.
This is what's called active evaluation.
We start adding and subtracting
brands even mentally.
We're not online even.
I'm not Google searching.
I'm just driving to the beach,
and as I see a car I
might be interested in
like right now there's a
beautiful Jeep Grand Cherokee,
(bell dings)
I add that to my list.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a possible car
in my active evaluation,
and I mentally store that.
(air whooshes)
Now I haven't gotten very far,
but that is an Audi Q5
(bell dings)
and I actually like the Audi Q5.
In fact, three years ago before
I leased this very vehicle,
we test-drove the Audi Q5,
and I kind of liked that car.
I think we should add that
(bell dinging)
to the list in active evaluation.
(air whooshes)
When you're in the market
for a product or service,
you start noticing things
you never noticed before.
I start looking at every vehicle
thinking could this be my next vehicle.
There's a Volvo XC90.
(bell dings)
Not bad, I'll add it to the list.
(bell dings)
(air whooshes)
This process of adding
and subtracting brands
as you move farther and farther away from
that first question that you asked
and your initial brand like Mercedes
gets you closer and
closer to buying a product
by someone other than the person
who sparked the journey
in the first place.
(air whooshes)
Look at that.
What is that?
That was a Porsche Macan.
(bell dings)
I am definitely adding the
Porsche Macan to my list.
(bell dings)
(air whooshes)
So at this point, I
have quite a few brands
on my list in active evaluation.
I certainly have the Mercedes
because I'm driving it.
It was the first brand
that came to my mind
because they sent the letter,
but they didn't do anything
to capture me and keep
me into their circle,
to keep me in their loyalty loop.
Instead they've sent me
out even just to the beach
where now I'm exploring lots
and lots of other brands.
(upbeat music)
All right, we are at the beach.
Now it is time for me to
show you the framework
that I use to understand this cycle.
All right, I've got a stick.
We're at the beach,
and I'm ready for some caveman PowerPoint.
Let's start with the moment of commitment.
Three years ago, I committed
to the Mercedes brand,
and everything past that
moment in the loyalty loop,
they could have been
focused on maintaining
that relationship, ensuring
that when my lease was up
for renewal, they were ready
to sell me the next vehicle,
and I was the happiest customer on earth.
Instead what they did over the
course of this relationship
is nothing, they sent me a bill,
and the time in which
they are about to get me
into a new vehicle is called
the moment of inspiration.
The minute I picked up that
letter out of the mailbox,
they inspired me to go on
a journey I never expected
to go on that morning, and
instead of drawing me back
right into a new commitment with Mercedes,
they've sent me off on a wild goose chase
adding and subtracting brands
I never would have considered
if they had just sold
me the next Mercedes.
To me, it doesn't seem
that hard to understand
that they have my address,
they know what car I drive,
and they even know the exact date in
which I'll be giving up that vehicle,
and they did nothing to
retain me as a customer.
The left hand that doesn't know
what the right hand is doing.
That's enough caveman PowerPoint.
Let's go back to the office.
(bright music)
As marketers, we spend
a huge amount of time
working to acquire new customers,
but very few if any of us
have maximized our loyalty loop.
This really intrigues me.
So over the next 52 weeks,
I'll be exploring the loyalty loop.
That's right, I'm embarking
on a journey to find out
how brilliant brands turn micro
moments into big business.
So if you wanna go on the journey with me,
if you wanna leverage the
customers, clients, prospects,
leads and subscribers you've got
to generate a never-ending
cycle of new business,
and you wanna know how
other brands are doing it,
hit that subscribe button
and let's transform our way
of doing business from
the loyalty loop out.
Because the truth is most of
us are too much like Mercedes.
Consider this.
Every time you send an invoice, a receipt,
an appointment confirmation,
attend a meeting,
deliver a report or make a phone call,
you and your brand are creating
new moments of inspiration.
That's right, your invoice
may in fact send your client
on a journey to seek out a new provider.
Your voicemail may prompt a
customer to call a competitor.
Your email newsletter may
send a subscriber on a journey
to buy something you
never intended, and this,
well, this is what's fascinating.
So let's help Mercedes solve
their loyalty loop problem.
What could the fine folks
at Mercedes-Benz have done
to keep me in their loyalty loop,
and while you're thinking
about that, maybe it's time
we all look at our
transactional communications
with our customers, clients,
prospects, and leads.
Maybe our own business has a blind spot.
Maybe you're creating
moments of inspiration,
and you don't even realize it's happening,
a blind spot just like
the one we've uncovered
with this very letter in
the very first episode
of the "Loyalty Loop."
(bright music)
