A while back, I wondered why nobody CRMs me anymore. Nary a “thank you,” a “we want you back,” or a “we have a special offer for you, our best customer.” And I can be a great customer! Then I heard about RedBox.
Then Rachel in our office told me she hears all the time from a company called RedBox.
I’d never heard of it so Rachel had to tell me that RedBox rents out movies from fancy vending machines for $1.20 a night. They’re in 29,000 locations with a presence in every state.
It’s all computerized. You search for a movie you want and swipe your credit card. If this is your first time you use the onscreen keyboard to enter your email address. Then out pops your DVD in a plastic case. You bring it back the next day.
The CRM part starts before you get home with a receipt/confirmation sent to your Inbox.
When you return the movie, you get 1) a thank you with a receipt and confirmation; 2) a weekly email, mostly about new releases; 3) a contest to win free movies for a year. RedBox even has a blog with giveaways, lists of top movies and reviews.
Twitter? About 47,000 followers. Facebook? About 4 million likes.
Rachel says “The website and mobile app are great! I can see if the movies I want are at my nearest Redbox so I can save time. I can even reserve the movie online and go pick it up.”
The Los Angeles Times wrote: “…Redbox’s parent company, Coinstar Inc., reported that revenue for the $1.20-per-night DVD rental business surged 40% during the final three months of 2011 to $445.6 million and 35% for the year to $1.56 billion.” That’s a lot of $1.20 credit card swipes.
RedBox’s ongoing contact program, its CRM, offers peace of mind (the confirmations and receipts), useful information and a chance to win something … all the time and oh so effortlessly. Along with the quick service and low price, it’s a great combination. Why do so few companies do things like this?
When people are nice, you give them the business.
Customer service seems to be a lost art. Companies need to train employees to treat their customers right. When employees are nice, they get the business.
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