Not your everyday coconuts!

Coconect –aside from having its logo design to resemble a Coconut, Coconect has won the MSC Technopreneur (MDEC) Award this year (2009). It is highly in demand right now to want to have everything and anything customized or personalized for you, especially in a Business to Business (B to B) situation and having to identify that these little personal touch on mere greeting cards have been specifically been personalized for you is a priceless feeling. It is also cherished even more and who doesn’t want to feel special? VOIZE gets first dibs to pick the brains of these 2 amazing founders, Jenny Kok, Chief IT Strategist and Melinda Yeoh, CEO of Coconect.

Charlene: What is the idea behind Coconect?

Mel: The idea of Coconect was hugely driven from the dilemma of many sales professionals & companies.

According to a survey, one of the common complaints of customers is that companies or the salesperson doesn’t keep in touch with them after closing a sale – communication is infrequent, birthdays are forgotten, and a simple “Hello!” letter is rare. Customers are only contacted when they have something new to sell!

Jen: On top of that, customer acquisition is 6 times more expensive than customer retention. So why not keep your current customers happy and enjoy recurring sales? This is when customer relationship marketing comes into play.
We are all consumers but beneath it all, each & every one of us are individuals and to be honest, we like to feel special, don’t we?
However, it’s a reality that everyone is getting busier and we understand how tedious it can be to remember multiple birthdays, different festive seasons, buying the cards, printing address labels, stamps and posting them all on time.

Mel: I know, because I went through 6 years of that when I was in the financial industry. Trust me, sending out hundreds of Chinese New Year cards let alone personalizing them is no easy task!
Hence, the idea of Coconect is born. We make it simple for our customers to connect with their customers.

Jen: What sets us apart is that our cards are individually personalized and printed. So they have the “specially made for you” feel to it, compared to generic mass printed cards with an inkjet printer insert (no offence to those doing that). The name of the recipient is part of the card design – visualize going to a store with a rack of greeting cards with your recipients’ name already printed on it. This is what we are providing except that you don’t even have to drive to a store!

The founders, Jenny Kok, Chief IT Strategist and Melinda Yeoh, CEO of Coconect.

Charlene: Interesting! Tell me more about your services.

Jen: Currently we have these for sale on our website:
Set & Forget Mailing System- Automatically sends out birthday, special occasions & festive cards. Select your required cards & packages up to ONE year in advance, email us the dates & data, our system will remembers it, and send it out for you a week before! Never forget any important dates anymore.
Postcard Marketing- Got prospects you would like to keep hot in your follow up? Customers you would like to keep in touch on a regular basis? Want a way to say thank you? Then, use our seasonal postcards to send a different message every month to them. One sure way to ensure drive repeat & referral sales because they remember you!

Mel: These are ready designs and good to go. We also do have custom design service if you need to have a special identity for yourself or your company.
Our products are not only limited to personalized cards. But even calendars, diaries, notebooks can be personalized. Imagine if you give a personalized calendar with your client’s name, his birthday etc on it, out from the 5 calendars he received from various companies/sales persons, which one would he proudly display on his table?

Jen (with a knowing smile): Pop quiz, so which company or sales person you think the client will remember?
It’s been proven. …and by keeping the connection going with your clients, taking the effort to make them feel appreciated does help to increase your referrals and repeat sales. Though it’s not an immediate thing like say a sales promotion, marketing takes longer time to show the effect.

Mel: Yeah…but with marketing, you will find that it makes your sales process a whole lot smoother & shorter because building relationships is very important in selling.
And that’s what we do- Relationship Marketing Made Simple with Technology.

Jen: Oh yeah, this goes smack on target with MSC Malaysia “Senang Dengan ICT” initiative!
By the way, our idea was awarded the MSC Malaysia Technopreneur Pre Seed Fund.

Charlene: Cool, any last words to wrap up our interview?
Jen & Mel (in unison): Yes!

Mel: Our “Coconuts!” opening promo – 50% off every card from now till 30 Nov 2009. Festive seasons are coming up *winks*

Jen: Yeah, we are not sure when we’ll be so (coco) nuts again, so check it out now.

Click HERE for more information