This is a page from the packet I FedEx’ed to Magellan’s on July 6, 2010:
Suggestions for the business
#3 – STEALING AN IDEA FROM ZAPPOS
The goal:
Collect more intel from customers.
The inspiration:
The Zappos Daily Shoe Digest
But it allows the most fanatical Zappos customers to talk back and forth to each other, asking and answering each other’s questions.
And by watching the discussions, the Zappos buyers get an incredible inside scoop on what the market needs, often before the market even realizes it.
My suggestion:
Run a weekly Travel Geek Digest, moderated by someone from the call center and someone from the retail stores.
Seed it with 20 geek customers, let the moderators spark debates, and grow the base from there.
Let everyone in the company, especially the merchandisers and the customer service people, watch the conversation flow.
Measuring ROI:
I don’t know how to measure the ROI on this one. Maybe don’t subject it to objective ROI analysis for the first year or so, just make sure you are keeping the costs of administering it low, and the subjective value to the merchandisers high.
For more see mattkrause.com/zapposnewsletter
The contents of the FedEx packet:
Section 1:
Letter to Mark Gallo
Section 2:
My qualifications
I will do much more for you, too
Cover letter to Alyssa Baris
My resume
References
What others say
Section 3:
Earplugs as a gateway drug
Improving the newsletter
Stealing an idea from Zappos
Section 4:
Three reasons why I want to work at Magellan’s
I love travel
I love multi-channel retailing
I love Santa Barbara
The clincher
Section 5:
Activity log