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Creating Customer Touchpoints

Kids playing Red Rover

When was the last time you played Red Rover? The game is quite simple. You create a chain of people who hold hands (roughly at arm’s length from each other) and the other team tries to break the chain of people. Breaking through the chain is usually quite easy. The connections just aren’t that strong. They could be stronger if you were able to lock forearms with the people on either side of you. That would make breaking the chain harder. Now imagine for a moment that each person in the chain has four arms so they can make two connections on either side. Suddenly, the chain gets much stronger. The chain would be almost impossible to break if everyone simply hugged. It’s quite the challenge to run through two people and split them up when they’re hugging, let alone an entire chain of people. Go ahead, try it. I’ll wait…

Everyone OK? Great!

Companies need to create more touchpoints and connections with customers, then work on strengthening those connections on a regular basis. It’s not about providing customer support in disparate environments with no proper communication channels in place; that could very easily get out of hand. But it is about making sure that you’re accessible and available through different mediums – focusing on those mediums that your customers use. And not just for customer service. Being present and visible is important. Customers like to see that the founders and employees of companies they work with are out there, interacting and participating. It adds confidence and builds brand. Think about touchpoints when you work on developing customer service initiatives and policies around employee use of social networking-type tools. The more touchpoints, the better.

And just like the game of Red Rover, it’s not just about how strong a connection you have with the person on either side of you, but how strong the other connections in the chain are as well. If there are weak connections in that chain, your team loses. Companies need to create more touchpoints and connections between customers. That will strengthen the entire ecosystem that exists around the company, helping customers, and benefiting the company significantly.

image courtesy of shutterstock.

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January 13, 2010 Posted in Business by

  • http://bigtimedesign.ca/radar Dave

    When I think about the companies I interact with who have few touchpoints, I'm reminded of the huge amounts of frustration I experience in trying to get an answer for a question or a problem solved, and I take that frustration to where I have my touchpoints; my social media networks.

    I completely agree. The more interaction you can have with customers, partners and even your enemies and critics, the more effective you can be.

  • http://www.sixpackbible.com/vince-delmonte-fitness.php vince delmonte fitness

    Red Rover sounds great but Can you really apply it is question mark.I believe most customers become price sensitive,they will go anywhere where the price is better.

  • http://www.ictfiles.com/ artikel IT

    We can get the game happing fun

  • Nate

    We operate a bounce house company in a local market. We have basically one interaction per year with our customers for a few hours. We struggle with how to create touchpoints with our customers without spamming the or without making them feel bombarded by us. We are trying to build a trusty local brand in a market and scope that has no brand loyalty. Very difficult.

  • it_support_london

    [url=http://www.sysfix.co.uk]IT Support London[/url]

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    I disagree – price is a factor but not the only one, and often times not the primary one. It does depend on the market you're in, some are just completely ruled by commodities, but most aren't.

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    Nate – I took a look at your site, you have a blog and a Facebook page. Those are touchpoints and a good start to building a trustworthy brand.

    I'm surprised there's no brand loyalty for something like what you offer – do you get a lot of repeat customers or no?

    When you do a birthday, do you notify customers the next year about what you can offer them, customizing that offer to suit the child's interests now that s/he is a year older? I could see a “Custom Birthday Package Offer” being quite appealing to busy parents when they're planning parties.

    Do you take customer feedback in some way and publish it online? Share it with other customers?

    Do you track the prospects you lose and understand why?

  • http://essayacademia.com/ NeilPatrick

    Great post thanks for the information……

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Benjamin Yoskovitz

    Dave – that’s exactly it. If you don’t find a way of reaching a vendor quickly you go to the social web and complain. Sometimes we do that before even trying to reach vendors directly, because we WANT to see if they’re listening. Too few still are…

  • Pingback: How To Implement a Proactive Customer Support Strategy

  • http://www.instigatorblog.com Ben Yoskovitz

    Dave – that’s exactly it. If you don’t find a way of reaching a vendor quickly you go to the social web and complain. Sometimes we do that before even trying to reach vendors directly, because we WANT to see if they’re listening. Too few still are…

  • http://essayacademia.com/ james

    nice source of information thanks

    great game…..

  • Bob M

    I believe price is a very big factor. Not just one factor, but a VERY important one.

    -Bob
    humidifier

  • Bob M

    I believe price is a very big factor. Not just one factor, but a VERY important one.

    -Bob
    humidifier

About Ben Yoskovitz
I recently joined GoInstant as VP Product. GoInstant changes how we use the web, making it shareable like never before.

I'm also a Founding Partner at Year One Labs, an early stage accelerator in Montreal. Previously I founded Standout Jobs (and sold it). I'm a hands-on startup guy, helping companies grow successfully from the idea forward. You can reach me at byosko at gmail dot com.

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