The Art of the Follow Up

When it comes to customer service, following up with consumers is too often an afterthought in the marketing effort.

Business 2 Community‘s Ken Mueller recently was reminded that this effort can have an impact if done right.

After attended a Baltimore Orioles game, he received a follow up email from the team “offering me a recap of the game and thanking me for attending.

The email included the basic box score, a link to video highlights, a survey to offer feedback, and the chance to purchase tickets for future games.”

He says that even though he realized the email was part of a marketing effort that went out to all fans, the follow up, because it was well done, made him feel special.

Even though “the game was over and I’d moved on,” he writes, “they weren’t done with me. They wanted to remind me of my time at the park and nurture me along to become a repeat customer.”

Mueller points out an important fact: Customers need to be cared for, even if the sale is complete.

Companies can use information from questionnaires to improve their products and how they deal with customers.They can also see the follow up as an opportunity to sell customers additional products that may be similar to their purchase, writes blogger Miles Baker.

Image courtesy of Keith Allison/flickr