Brian Feener

My comment to customer support was something to the effect of “Nice site…   bu you need to get it for the VZW Storm!”

Hey- it’s obvious when you cutandpaste.  If they want a user, Slacker is all set.  I’m not going to not use their service because of a bad email.  If they want a loyal customer, they might want to tone down the ad-copy in their emails.

(Yes, this post is specific but it applies to everyone.)

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Support <support@slacker.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 14, 2009 at 11:30 AM
Subject: RE: Feedback
To: Brian <brian@brianfeener.com>

Thank you for contacting Slacker Customer Support.

We are thrilled about the positive response we’ve received for Slacker.
Keep listening as we constantly add new music and new features.  Any
time you have an idea for a new feature, or just want to let us know
we’re doing a good job, be sure to give us feedback again.  It is your
ideas that make us better every day.

If you haven’t already tried it, be sure to check out the “create
station” feature to make your perfect station, featuring your favorite
artists.  You can even share your custom creation with your friends or
that special someone, and again, it’s completely free!

You can also learn about Slacker Radio Plus, which give you all the best
of Slacker plus even more, including unlimited skipping of songs, no
audio or visual ads, and unlimited song requesting through the station
creator!

http://www.slacker.com/products/radio/premium/

Check out our new online store where you can find Slacker Apparel, as
well as the brand-new Slacker G2 Portable Player, the player Maximum
PCawarded its  ”Kick Ass!” award, and PC Magazine saying “In my
experience, a handful of well-crafted channels on the G2 are much more
satisfying than an iPod filled with thousands of tracks” with its
ability to take your favorite Slacker stations with you where ever you
go!

http://www.slacker.com/products/portables/

Finally, if you would like to meet and interact with more of your fellow
Slacker listeners, share your stations and find brand new stations, meet
the DJs who play the music you listen to, or to check out new tips and
tricks of what you can do with both Slacker Radio and the Slacker
Portable Player, check out our brand new forums!

http://forums.slacker.com/

Again, we thank you for your interest and support of Slacker, and we
hope you continue to enjoy your musical experience with Slacker.

Best regards,

Frank S.
Slacker Support
http://www.slacker.com

Boss: “Oh no! Traffic is down 20% on the website! Quick - send out a e-newsletter.”
Marketer: “But, sir. We just sent out one a 2 days ago.”
Boss: “You’re right! And there was a 40% click-through rate. So get to it!”

Sound familiar?Well, there are some simple rules for writing e-newsletters. Here they are, free-of-charge, in no particular order, except for the first one:

1. Your e-newsletter costs resources.
2. Never send a newsletter without a call-to-action.
3. “The 9-second rule”
4. Keep the number of links low.
5. Match your website.
6. Make your newsletter un-archivable.
7. Text versus picture balance.

And it’s not a rule, but there is a #8…. the Frequency Quotient.

1. Your e-newsletter costs resources.

You may be saying to yourself, “Yes. It costs money to use a service like Constant Contact or JangoMail.” You are right, but I am talking about a more theoretical resource- it’s called Consumer Tolerance. The best example of someone not understanding Consumer Tolerance is GMC. Remember the baseball playoffs? Do the words “This is ourrrr countryyy….” send you into a blinding rage? If so, GMC has exhausted all of your Consumer Tolerance.

Your customer, if they are loyal and high-value, probably has signed up for your newsletter. This is a person who wants to hear from you every once in a while about what you’re going to offer them to keep them as a customer.

In order to keep this customer, you have to make your conversations with them high-value. (Make no bones about it, your newsletter is part of a larger conversation - ever talk to someone who never gets to the point? Do you want to keep talking to them?)

When you do a good job and keep the conversation progressing, you have earned additional Consumer Tolerance points. Your customer may be more apt to tolerate a screw-up. If you do a bad job with no real advances in the conversation, you’ve lost Consumer Tolerance points. Your customer may be more apt to not tolerate a screw up.

If you remember no other rule besides this one, you’ll be ok.

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