The New Year is well underway and Zookbinders is on the move as well! Lately we’ve spent a great deal of time exploring how we can move past just serving photographers, and develop ways to truly partner with them. The first steps have already been taken with the formation of our Customer Advisory Board, or CAB.
We realized that to know and understand what photographers want and need, we have to ask them! So we assembled an even dozen of our customers from across the country, from Philly to Maui, from Seniors and weddings to boudoir, high volume studios to one-(wo)man shows, 40 year veterans to only-ever-known digital photographers. They have graciously agreed to participate in quarterly, formal meetings as well as being available as sounding boards and virtual crash test dummies for all things Zookbinders. They’ve told us what we’re doing right as well as what they’d like to see changed about our company. They are becoming like the best friend who’ll be honest and tell you, yes, you DO look fat in that dress.
Partly in response to what we’ve learned, Zookbinders is now offering extended customer service hours in the form of Live Chat. If you just have a quick question about products or need a simple answer that does not require a phone conversation, you can click on the Live Chat icon on our website and reach one of our customer service agents–the very ones you would talk to if you picked up the phone and dialed Deerfield, IL. It is available from 8:00am to 8:00pm Monday through Friday. 
Another big initiative for 2012 is our new customer loyalty program we’re calling Zook Rewards. The program is designed to reward repeat customers by offering real benefits based on actual sales. For every dollar spent, Zookbinders customers will earn points that can be redeemed for such things as free album designs, album upgrades, free shipping, or sample albums. The program launches some time in second quarter 2012, so stay tuned!
Listening is, as they say, why we come equipped with one mouth and two ears! From sales to billing to customer service reps, we are refocusing our attention to listening to what drives photographers’ businesses, and shifting our approach from being merely reactive to problems to being more proactive in identifying solutions and how we can help make photographers lives easier and their business more profitable. At the end of the day, good business is less about how many transactions you execute, and more about the relationships your build.
