It was a cold and gloomy day as my new Kenneth Cole pumps sank into 4 inches of 3 day-old Michigan slush. My boss, the store manager for a local JCPenney, had just wordlessly shepherded me outside to the middle of the parking lot. Breaking the silence, he stopped, turned around to face the store façade, and in an ominously soft voice said, “Tell me what name is up there. Does it say Kimberly Arndts?” My stomach filled with warning as I replied, “No, Mr. D., it certainly does not.” As he headed back inside, he simply said, “Hmm, think about that for a moment.”

Like many other donor relations professionals, I didn’t start out here, and count myself extremely fortunate to get a second bite at the career apple. Fresh out of college with a degree in anthropology, my first real job was in retail management, where I rose to become a senior merchandiser. I don’t remember what I had done to necessitate the above lesson, but 25 years later, I still remember that chilly hand-slapping. It’s not about you.

Flash forward to 2013 and my first ADRP conference, where I had the epiphany that customers are donors, and that my past experience in retail management would serve me well if I lived those lessons.

“Remember the Golden Rule’

Treat your customers the way they deserve to be treated, and with the respect which you yourself would wish to be treated. Any time you can put yourself in their shoes and look at things from their perspective, not yours, you are on the right track.

“The Customer is always right, or choose your battles carefully”

I would often be called over by a sales associate to back them up and refuse a customer return that the sales associate felt was fishy. In most cases, I would simply smile, and tell the customer I was sorry they were not happy with their purchase. The sales associate would give me the stink eye, as I said, “That’s the cost of doing business.” We recently had a donor who wanted his title (medical doctor) included in the name of a new endowed scholarship he established. For purposes of standardization, we generally do not include titles in named endowments, but this was clearly deal-breakingly important to him, and I realized it really was no skin off our nose if we acquiesced. And it made him happy!

“For a healthy bottom line, focus on customer retention” 

Depending on which study you believe, and what industry you’re in, acquiring a new customer is anywhere from five to twenty-five times more expensive than retaining an existing one. It makes sense: you don’t have to spend time and resources going out and finding a new customer — you just have to keep the one you have happy. If you’re not convinced that retaining customers is so valuable, consider research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company, which tells us that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. Happy Customers are Return Customers.

“Lifelong Customers are made by going above and beyond what is expected”

In donor relations, for years now we have been searching for new ways to surprise and delight our donors, and provide them with personalized and meaningful experiences. Zingerman’s Deli, an Ann Arbor, MI business recognized nationwide for their superior customer service, has branched off into Zingtrain, a customer service training program. When their customer service professionals are on the phone with a customer and can hear a dog in the background, or the customer mentions that they have to get off the phone to go take their canine family member for a walk, the Zingerman’s professional will ask, “Oh, cool, what breed? What’s their name?”

A few days later, a package addressed to Fido shows up unexpectedly at the customer’s house. Inside is a beautifully packaged bag of dog biscuits from Zingerman’s bakery.

Our unofficial mascot at Albion College is a black squirrel; they are all over campus and are full of the audacious attitude that has come to symbolize our student spirit. We contracted with a local pet treat baker to design bags of squirrel-shaped peanut butter dog treats, and we finished the presentation with a customized dog tag in the shape of our school shield. Whenever we learn of a furry family member, we quickly get a package in the mail (with a nice note for the human as well).

These perfect examples of “surprise and delight” have been warmly received, and we have begun collecting photos and videos of grateful canines.

“Actively listen to your customers”

The dog treats were a first step, and now we are collecting other stories for our files of ways to provide personalized donor experiences. A gift officer recently met with '64 alumna in the day before the first anniversary of her husband's passing, and the alumna mentioned in the conversation that her favorite flower was the blue columbine, because it reminded her of hikes with her husband in Colorado. For follow-up correspondence, the gift officer sent her a postcard containing blue columbine seeds from Colorado, and received this in response, "The inscription you wrote on the card brought tears (the good kind) to my eyes.  The current powerful connection you have helped me reestablish with Albion itself, especially at this time in my life, comprise a gift beyond measure." We are now having a planned giving discussion with this alumna.

“Be good practitioners of Excellent Customer Experience, not just Customer Service”

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase.

Customer experience is the sum-totality of how customers engage with your company and brand, not just in a snapshot in time, but throughout the entire arc of being a customer. – Adam Richardson, Harvard Business Review

Engaging experiences make people happy. Random acts of kindness make people happy.

The more we speak from hearts of graciousness, respect, and service, the more likely our donors will keep talking to us, feel a sense of belonging, and respond to fundraising initiatives when the right fit comes along. Negativity exhausts people. Let’s give them some energizing, life-affirming happiness.  Show them some meaning. Tell them how they just changed someone’s life. 

And never forget that it’s not your name on the storefront.

Kimberly Frick Arndts
Director of Donor Relations and Stewardship
Albion College

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