Michael Katz

Early one morning in November of 1998, I was sitting in my office putting together my department's budget for the coming year.

At the time I was working for a national cable company, as director of marketing for its high speed Internet service. I was responsible for growing our customer base, and for increasing profitability along the way.

As I looked at the plan for the coming year however, it suddenly dawned on me that I was making a big mistake.

Despite the fact that we already had over one million customers for our cable TV service, and despite the fact that my product was being sold as an add-on to those very same customers, almost all of the tactics that I was using treated our customers as if they were strangers.

95% of my department's resources — both financial and human — were dedicated to direct mail; TV, radio and newspaper advertising; telemarketing; online banner ads and sponsorships; and even door-to-door sales. Not one of these tactics did anything to either strengthen or leverage the relationships and history that we already had with our own customers.

So we made some changes. We took active steps to create and benefit from strong relationships with our customers and potential customers. In the process, we saw some incredible results:

• Our customer base quadrupled in 18 months, going from 40,000 to 160,000.
• Our average acquisition costs were cut in half, dropping from $30.00 per new customer to less than $15.00.
• Our existing customers were passionately engaged in promoting our service to their friends and family, eventually accounting for almost 10% of all new sales.
• We were able to make faster, more informed decisions about how to run our business, thanks to the constant input that our customers gave us.
• Selling and servicing our customers became easier and a lot more enjoyable.

In short, what we learned was that stronger relationships lead to more profits, faster.

Today, Blue Penguin Development, Inc. is focused on helping clients apply these same principles, and on achieving their own equally impressive results. We do this primarily through the development of customized, interactive, high quality electronic newsletters.

Blue Penguin Development, Inc.

One Ash Street

Hopkington, MA 01748

Phone: (508) 497-0900

Email: ContactUs@BluePengui Development.com

As an E-Newsletter consultant, I do one thing and one thing only: I work with professional service firms to develop effective electronic newsletters.

My approach is based on the concept of nurturing relationships to achieve greater visibility, higher trust and increased sales.

If you're looking for help in launching (or improving) your company's newsletter, take a look at my website, http://www.bluependguindevelopment.com.