Knowing and maintaining each customer contact preference is an important part of our jobs as marketers. Contact preference is simply the way a contact wants to receive communication whether it is through email, mail, phone or any combination. It is important for many reasons including legal compliance as well as customer experience & satisfaction.
For example, last week I spoke with a client customer about their contact preferences and the services we provide on behalf of the client. The contact started off not seeing the value in our services and expecting me not to listen to his thoughts or preferences. He was surprised that I took the time to understand his point of view and to explain mine. Ultimately, he went away from the experience viewing our company in a much better way and even said he would pass my information on to his marketing department in case they are in need of our services.
As marketers, that is the whole point of our jobs – to put the customer preferences first, and to listen to them when they tell us their point of view. That allows us to provide a valuable service to them. Of course we are trying to promote our products and services in order to close a deal, but none of that can be done if we do not listen.
Beyond listening, there have to be processes in place to track and comply with preference. These processes have to, at minimum, comply with regulations; however, some companies chose to have stricter rules to further improve the customer experience. Whatever is decided upon, make sure the rules and processes are widely known within your organization and by your partners in order for them to properly be executed.