Gaining customer insight from research and activity observations is one of the finesses that I enjoy in direct marketing.  As a marketer I often complete questionnaires sent by other companies.  I do this partly to see if there's stuff I can learn but also to get insight into what level of sophistication their marketing is running.

I bought a couple of bags from online manufacturer, Timbuk2 over the past year.  Then they sent me a survey.

Much of it is bog-obvious (no less useful because of that) with questions about what you've bought from them, what you'll use it for, other retailers you buy from, and demographic information.  [aside - note that they should / might know about me from direct selling and should have known what I'd bought from them before but they also sell via a distribution network and so some recipients may not have bought direct.  If this had been me, I'd have done two different surveys one for direct customers demonstrating that we know what you bought from us and one more plain-vanilla.]

But my eye was caught by two questions that seem out of the ordinary.

18) If Timbuk2 was a person, how would you describe him/her? What's their personality? What do they look like? What do they do in their free time? 

24) Please choose the statement that best describes you:
I live in a city because I love being around diversity in people and culture.     
I measure success by personal fulfillment as opposed to cash.     
When I am passionate about something, I spend a lot of time and money to be an expert.     
I am curious about the world and motivated to make a difference.     
I am part of a large friendship network.      
I am an idealist when it comes to government and believe progressiveness can delivers results.      
I am environmentally responsible and take active steps to reduce my carbon footprint (ex. Recycle, etc.)     
None    

Now the first one is a pretty standard ask in research (sometimes you compare to a car marque).  And it gives nice insights – but the second question is REALLY USABLE.

Imagine how you'd treat different customeers differently if you knew they valued cultural diversity in a city versus someone who spends money on their passions.

I think the company must have created a range of sub-groupings of theie customers and then will use this information to communicate about the brand relating to the desires and attitudes of customers in each group.  The friendship network question is very astutue as it may reveal 'connectors' who can promote the brand through their network.  I am not certain that all the statements are mutually exclusive but I was really impressed by this company's customer insight gathering.

If you want to see more on differentiation by customer need read the Intuit / Quickbooks rant -cum-debate part 1 and part 2 where my readers share their expertise on how to look for needs-based differences between customer groupings.

PS if you want a copy of the whole survey, get in touch.

Image via Wikipedia

Having been spitting mad last week.  I am now calmer, but nonetheless mildly frustrated.

The post got some big profile and a direct comment from Melanie Vala, an Intuit employee. I still feel bad that when trolling you get the fiery responses!

She wrote

 We really appreciate all the comments, feedback and help which our customers have offered each other on the online community and their own blogs.  This is a great example of why this facility is so important.

So why isn't the forum more clearly flagged off the home page or mentioned in customer communications?  I couldn't find it.

We also appreciate that the sudden change announced by the government this week is causing undue stress and frustrations for business owners.  I can promise we are working to get the right information to our customers via the right channels and are confident we can start communicating this by the end of today.  As a previous post commented, we have posted the VAT guidance received from the HMRC in the mean time (http://community.quickbooks.co.uk/discussion/index.php?showtopic=35377).

Timeliness is close to godliness in online communication.  Good effort, a little too late in the day for my needs.  But at least it's there now.

We very much appreciate your support as a user of QuickBooks 2005. While we make every effort to deliver the best products and to continue to make QuickBooks better and easier for small business owners to use, we need to consider the investment needed to enable this. One way we’re able to continue delivering leading-edge business solutions to our customers at the lowest price is by managing the costs associated with supporting older versions.

This wouldn't have been my choice of action / response if I were the brand and marketing manager.  I think exceptional circumstances like the VAT change warrant exceptional responses by leading brands.

Finally, I love your ideas for communicating this change. Thank you for your feedback and stay tuned – you might even see some of your own suggestions implemented in the next few days.

Cheekily I have written asking her for a free copy of the new software.  What's the cost to Intuit (a stamp!) and brand values online via you and my community / networds.  £High.

I hope my response is helpful and that you are reassured that we are doing all we can to do right by our customers and make sure we give you the right guidance from the very beginning.

What does this mean?  "Do right by our customers".  An americanism with little back up in some of the actions I've seen.  It appears to be "Do right by our profit motive".

Guidance from the very beginning.  Beginning of what?

Anyway, I am glad they responded and I do hope Melanie uses some of the marketing ideas from me.  I'd like to meet her in person.

They refuse to support my 2005 version of the software because it comes under their "Sunset" Policy. [i.e. phasing out each year's version and forcing upgrades onto customer]

But advised that 'within a couple of days' information would be on the website.  Nothing there now.  Nada,  Not even a link to HM Revenue and Customs (who has a useful pdf downloadable document about what to do).

Big customer service opportunity missed. This is a one-time situation when the opportunity to develop a trusted relationship with all your customers exists.

Here's what I'd do if I was Marketing Director of Quickbooks

1 – write to all my customers advising them of the change

2 – send them to the website where free update information for each version of the software is available on how to transition to the new VAT rate

3 – offer free phone support for 15 days in exchange for

• verified customer data
• permission to contact
• customer satisfaction survey response

4 – offer a one-time special price for upgrades for customers like me who can 'see the benefit' in this period of improved accounts support (phone / website) and up to date software

5 – ask for referrals

6 – blast the PR airways with the positive scores from the customer satisfaction survey showing how fabulous we are 

But will they?