🎯 Personalization is a trend retailers can't afford to get wrong.
Head of Marketing & Communications | CMO Collaborative | RETHINK Retail "Top Retail Expert" | Board Advisor | Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advocate
My Name is Not Michelle (Please call me Fredrik) In a world hyper-focused on personalization, one would expect a simple thing like getting a name right. Yet here I am, sharing a tale of personalization that would be comical if it weren't such a glaring miss. True story! 👋It all started with a casual inquiry to a favorite car dealership; a conversation with a chatbot named “Michelle” that passed on my interest to a Salesperson. Except in doing so, it was the chatbot’s name — and not mine — that stuck with the record. A simple error, but one that cascaded into a series of communications including emails and phone calls where the sales team continued to look for Michelle. 🛑This isn't just about a name mix-up; it's a reflection of how personalization can go awry. It's a wake-up call to the marketing world that we must do better. We must ensure that our systems are not just smart but also accurate. We must remember that at the heart of every interaction is a person, not a data point. 🏆I understand the challenges and complexities of personalization at scale. But let this story be a reminder that our first duty is to see our customers as individuals, to respect them, and to get the basics right. Because when personalization fails, it doesn't just miss the mark—it can alienate and lose a customer altogether. 🚘Oh, I almost forgot to add, I’m a current customer of theirs. But they’ll never know. What’s your personalization story? Image generated with AI, powered by DALL-E 3.
