Click Here?

“Click here to update your email.” I never would have guessed that this simple little phrase would one day have me dancing with joy.

Last week I changed internet service providers. This also meant that some of my email addresses had to be updated. I expected it to be an annoyance but some companies managed to make it down right impossible.

There were those blessed few companies that made it simple with a nice little hyperlink in the communication allowing you to simply update your email address. Ah, how I have come to value the one click, one-step link. Others, provided an unsubscribe option but no update option forcing you to go to the website, recall your login and then change your information. This was an extra step that proved costly in time. It’s fine when you’re updating one company, but try doing it for 15 or 20.

Ah, but even that extra step was not as bad as the companies that simply provided no way for you to update your email address. One even taunted me with allowing me to edit everything else except my email address.

I learned a lesson that I had not intended to learn. If you are going to take the time to communicate with your customers, make it easy for them to stay in touch with you. When doing business online, we spend a great deal of time crafting messages and strategies to drive traffic, why not spend an equal amount of time keeping those same customers?

You got me to sign up for a newsletter, why not make sure I can continue to receive it? Must I unsubscribe and then go back to your site, hunt down the link and subscribe all over again?