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In This Section
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P.C. (Pat) McGrew, EDP is the Data Center & Transaction Segment Evangelist in the Graphic Communications Group at Eastman Kodak working worldwide to support the needs of customers involved in high-speed, data-driven customer communication. As the evangelist for TransPromo and other effective customer communication techniques she also works with the Kodak product groups and regions supporting solutions to enhance customer success. She is the co-author of 7 books covering information and multi-channel document delivery, and the author of research studies and articles covering business continuity, disaster recovery, print-and-mail innovations, compliance issues, document strategy auditing, and the worldwide statement printing markets.
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What Did We Learn This Year About Communication with Color?
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Pat McGrewMcGrew's Communicating with Color
It's become like the elephant in the room or the gorilla in the elevator that no one wants to talk about. We know color is critical to good customer communication, but if we open up the discussion about how to use it effectively we quickly get into discussions about people, processes, and price tags. This column puts it all in perspective, with topics each month designed to help you guide the color discussion in your organization. We'll look at the right questions to ask and provide guidance on how to research the answers that are right for your organization.
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From paper suppression to reasons you need a strategy, we’ve covered it all!
By Pat McGrew, M-EDP, Kodak
During 2010, this space has covered everything from paper suppression to interactive print, all with an eye focusing on ideas to communicate effectively. While color is in between the lines of most of the conversations, the truth is that color will not matter if the messaging, design, and delivery are not well thought out. So, what else did we learn this year? Here are my hopes for what you have taken away:
· You need a customer communication strategy. It needs to encompass all facets of how your customers see you—from the offers you send via direct mail campaigns to welcome kits to bills and statements. Not only on paper, but also in pixel. It needs to be documented, circulated, and maintained. Oh, and all marketing groups need to be held accountable for keeping to it.
· Multichannel communication should be part of your marketing plan of record. Multichannel will mean different things to different companies. For some it will mean web and print, while for others it will be more complex. It might include mobile messaging, the addition of interactive components, broadcast media, print advertising, or Free Standing Inserts. Regardless of which avenue you choose, you need more than one communication channel and you need to ensure that they are sharing the same messages.
· Every point of customer communication should be using the same look, feel and messaging. From the logo and how it is integrated into the communication to the voice of the text, customers notice the little things. The recommendation was to lay all of your communication, including online messaging, on a table and see how it looks… I’ll stand by that recommendation!
· Disaster recovery is more than backing up data files, it requires ensuring that you can continue your dialogue with your customers through almost any circumstance. For billers that means ensuring you can get your bills to your customers. For companies that issue claims and refund checks, it means ensuring you can print those checks from remote locations. It also means knowing where your source files are and ensuring they are backed up and useable. It wouldn’t hurt to test opening them in your current levels of software each year!
· TransPromo is both good and bad. In fact, TransPromo is just a toolkit. How you use that toolkit can enhance your business, or drive customers away. Instead of focusing on “to TransPromo or not to TransPromo” you should focus on how you can use what you know about your customers to keep them interested, informed and educated. Opportunities to promote your products and services will naturally emerge.
I hope you have had a profitable 2010 and look forward to sharing ideas in 2011! As always, let me know if you have ideas to explore!
Pat McGrew, M-EDP, is the Data-driven Communication Evangelist at Kodak. Her email address is Pat.McGrew@kodak.com.Twitter is @PatMcGrew, and blog is http://patmcgrew.growyourbiz.kodak.com.
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