This post is a follow-up to my Anthropologie Sign-Up Mix-Up post at the beginning of August. I posted that particular blog on August 8th and a little over a week later I received a package from Anthropologie in the mail. I didn't remember ordering anything offline so I was a little perplexed. I opened up the package and much to my surprise, inside there was a very nice note and a gift card apologizing for the sign-up mix-up with their email newsletter. Now that is customer service people! :)

For those that are curious, here's what I bought: Satu Eau De Parfum. Smells delicious! Thanks Allison!

From: Netflix
Subject Line: We're Sorry DVD Shipments Are Delayed
Date: August 14, 2008

From: Netflix
Subject Line: We're sorry your DVD shipment was delayed
Date: August 15, 2008

No, you're not seeing double. I received these back-to-back customer service emails from Netflix last week. Seems their shipping system was on the fritz, so they took action by stepping up to the inbox not once, but twice to simply say sorry.

At a time when prices are rising and savvy consumers are fine-tuning their buyers' intuition, it's in every retailer's and service provider's best interest to upgrade their personal, one-to-one interactions with their customers. Taking a few extra minutes and a few extra dollars to keep 'em feeling attended to is well worth the investment. IMHO.

My only copy critique is that they should have switched up the subject lines a tad more. I almost didn't open the second email because I thought it was simply a repeat. Lo and behold, it spelled out specifically what Netflix was doing to make up for the mishap; they were giving me a 15% credit on my bill! Pretty major, right? Something like "We're giving you a 15% credit for DVD delay" as the subject line would have done the trick and let me know that it was a follow-up to the first email.

One more little edit is about the casing in the subject lines; one used headline casing and the other used sentence casing. I've never seen any stats on one being better than the other, so it's more of a style consistency thing. Basically, pick a side and plant your feet.

From: Tully's Email Club
Subject Line: Happy Birthday from Tully's
Date: Sunday, July 13, 2008

From: Sephora Beauty Insider
Subject Line: A Birthday Surprise from Sephora
Date: Monday, July 14, 2008

Birthday emails are low-hanging fruit: they are one of the first triggered mails we pick from the lifecycle touchpoint opportunity tree. Here are two from Tully's and Sephora. Sephora's fruit tastes sweeter. Tully's requires me to purchase something in order to enjoy my gift. Tully's also forgot to update their template; it still reads 2007. (A common pitfall we all have to watch for with triggered mails! Review them at least quarterly to identify branches that are no longer evergreen.)

Vanilla Cupcake Bath & Shower Bubbles sound delicious. I love cupcakes. I'm interested in the idea of a birthday registry, although I would never actually create one. I'd have to agree with Miss Manners on the idea of birthday registries; they are vulgar.