As many times as this has been talked about, it simply can't be stressed enough, and I know full well that most organizations aren't doing the 'email marketing thing' to its full potential.

All customer-service representatives should be aware of the benefits available to customers who receive regular E-mail communications from a company. They should promote such contacts in each call. And, they should be feeding back to marketing that information which will help better communicate with customers via email.

Keep in mind that E-mail marketing, per se, isn't just about marketing. What about when your company is rolling out enterprise-wide changes, or a major supply-chain element has changed and will affect your customers, or when there are overarching price changes that everyone needs to know about? Typically, these types of initiatives would have been dumped on the sales force, as they're the direct link to the customer, but that's not necessarily the best use of their time. More to the point, customers are accustomed to receiving mission-critical information via email, and in my recent experience in travelling with our sales reps and visiting with customers, they are very appreciative of the 'state of the industry' type emails we send, or when we alert them of major initiatives via email.

According to Forrester, nearly 80 percent of us have signed up with at least one company to receive regular e-mail updates. Take a look at your regular 'customer communication channels', how expensive are they. Email is one of the least expensive ways to stay in touch with consumers. Sure, you have to follow CAN-SPAM and all, but don't let that fear bring down the potential of the medium. Corporations need to weave E-mail programs into contact-center promotions and articulate the benefits to customers who are considering opting into E-mail lists. Companies need to either 'do email' or not 'do email.' It truly can become as fundamental to your customer communication as your sales channels and press releases.

The best way to get customers to agree to E-mail contact is by promoting the newsletter through other channels. Read the '29 Ways' article for a cadre of effective ideas for gathering customer E-mail addresses, but only once you've stated the benefits of your email communications very clearly to your customers.

[via CRM Daily]