Back in January, when I (and half of America) decided it was time to get serious about my health, I thought it would be nice to have a fitness tracker. I bought one for my daughter as a Christmas gift so I knew a little about them from shopping for her, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted for myself.
Then I saw an article in the Wall Street Journal about alternatives to the FitBit craze. The Misfit Shine caught my eye, not for its basic functionality as much as for its unique style. (Plus, as a branding nut the ironic name “Misfit” made me laugh. That didn’t hurt either.)
I ordered my Shine 2 and when it came, I bought some accessories and started wearing it regularly. For most people, the story would end there. Initial user adoption of fitness trackers is high, but when the novelty or the New’s Year’s resolution fades, people stop wearing them and customer engagement dies.
For me, it didn’t.
Even Engaged Users Forget Stuff
I became an habitual user, in a good way. In addition to monitoring my physical activity, I discovered a feature I didn’t expect to love: the sleep tracker. I’m a light sleeper on an endless quest for a good night’s sleep, so it’s pretty cool for me to see how well I slept on a given night. Not only do I wear my Shine 2 during the day, it’s still on my wrist at night.
As familiar as it’s become to me, I hadn’t thought much about the fact that sooner or later I’d need to replace the battery. Although I deliberately chose a tracker that required a fresh battery every few months over of the constant hassle of recharging, a new battery never crossed my mind until I got a friendly reminder from Misfit.
If I had stopped wearing my tracker a nice gentle, “don’t forget to replace your battery” email would have been a good nudge to put it on again. Misfit did something even better. The email subject “Let us send you a new battery” caught my attention and made me think, “Oh yeah, I do need to replace that battery.”
After a brief moment wondering “What’s the catch,” I read the details…
“We send all users free battery replacement kits so you can continue using your Shine. Our batteries are specifically designed to support Misfit devices and can last up to 4x as long as store bought batteries.”
Sweet! I submitted my info and got confirmation that my new battery was on its way at no cost to me.
Seamless Customer Engagement
For the price of an inexpensive battery, Misfit managed to keep me engaged and made me feel appreciated as a customer. Instead of having to search out the right battery when mine died – or worse, dropping my unused device into the kitchen drawer that serves as a gadget graveyard – Misfit reconnected and affirmed my decision to purchase their product over others.
When you sell a product, you may assume the relationship is over after the sale. It’s not. If you want to earn referrals and praise from satisfied customers, you’ve got to do more. Your ongoing customer engagement efforts should include steps like these:
- Capture customer’s information so you can stay in touch.
- Provide useful information in a timely manner.
- Be helpful, but not intrusive.
- Nudge customers occasionally to keep them engaged.
- Proactively check to be sure they’re satisfied with their choice.
- Quickly address any issues you uncover.
