In a blog entry a few months ago, I wrote about how a company called Crap, I Missed It! had created a service that contacted you whenever your favorite band or author was coming out with a new album, concert, or book (among other things). It’s a great service, very cool, works like a charm. (Kudos to John A. for recommending the site to me.)
The only downside was that you had to manually type in every band and every author before you’d start getting the reminder e-mails. It’s not a major hassle, but with any new business, you want to try to remove every possible barrier to entry.
Well, the company has just removed a major barrier.
Today I got an e-mail from the company informing me that a new service was becoming available in a few days. All you have to do is upload the file on your computer that lists all your iTunes songs, and Crap, I Missed It! will automatically enter those artists into your personal database.
I did it. Took about 20 seconds. Brilliant, smooth, easy. Barrier gone.
Did I mention this entire service is free?
The other cool thing about this is that the e-mail indicated that I was a part of a select group of customers who were informed before the general public about this new service. Regardless of how “selective” that group selection process was, the e-mail made me feel special and valued. Without question, more companies should do this. If you’re a valued customer, a company should send you sneak previews and special surveys and product samples from time to time.
In any business, after long enough, another business will copy your idea and potentially do it better than you. But what that company won’t have is the loyalty that you built (or had the opportunity to build) through your original product. So far, Crap, I Missed It! has done an incredible job at establishing my loyalty to them, and I will applaud and support them for it.