Direct mail DVD rental firm LOVEFiLM International has experienced massive growth in a short space of time, aided by a close partnership with Royal Mail, and use of its reliable First Class and Second Class services. As a result, LOVEFiLM has become the poster child of the post-dotcom generation, winning numerous industry awards.

The business started off as the dream of an ex-mobile phone programmer and DVD enthusiast, who started the business from his mum’s kitchen.  In doing so, he took on the high street rental giants by renting DVDs out by post.

The firm became LOVEFiLM in 2004, following several acquisitions and a merger.  But in the past 18 months, through PR and TV advertising, special offers and a lot of Direct Mail, LOVEFiLM has seen ‘incredible breakneck growth’, says chief marketing officer Simon Morris. It now has more than 900,000 members, with over 40% of new customers coming through referrals.

Award winner
A speedy and efficient postal service and excellent customer service have always been at the heart of LOVEFiLM’s business, and has helped the firm to win the British Video Association’s Rental Success of the Year – Home Delivery award in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008, as well as a host of other industry awards.

‘To a large extent we live or die by our service. Customers are free to leave anytime. You would not survive in these circumstances if you didn’t have a world-class service. That requires a high level of customer satisfaction,’ says Morris.

An important part of keeping customers happy is getting them the films they want, when they want them. LOVEFiLM offers over 65,000 films and video games: and that’s almost every DVD available in the UK.

First Class Post
LOVEFiLM relies on Royal Mail’s standard tariff letter First Class and Second Class services for outbound mail, and its Packetpost™ service for bulk mailings.  For returns it uses Royal Mail’s Returns Management Services.

LOVEFiLM sends and receives hundreds of thousands of items of post each week; making three million despatches a month, with packages having up to four disks each.

‘We must be one of the largest users of Royal Mail’s First Class services,’ says Morris. ‘Since we began we have seen steady growth, which has been managed in partnership with Royal Mail, and we are grateful for that.  Royal Mail is the best of breed in terms of its services.’

Flexible friend
Royal Mail and LOVEFiLM have worked closely together from the beginning.  They worked together on packaging design to create standard and robust packaging that is efficient to process.

Royal Mail has aided the firm’s growth through its flexibility on things such as early delivery times into its warehouse, through a service called Timed Delivery, which allows LOVEFiLM to specify its preferred delivery time.  As a result, the firm can process hundreds of thousands of disks a day, sending them back out as they come in, if required.

Royal Mail has also started providing volume discounts this year, which has helped to offset postal cost increases, saving LOVEFiLM £0.0187 per item dispatched.

Moving forward, Morris sees many more opportunities.  For starters, the firms are working on a mail sorting solution to lower outbound mail costs.  And after that, they plan to look at flexible delivery to the mailsort hub, helping to process mail going to different regions of the UK.

Five tips for successful customer services from LOVEFiLM’s chief marketing officer, Simon Morris.

1. Role Reversal
   Put yourself in the customer’s shoes.  Treat them the same way you would like to be treated.
2. Exceeding expectations
   Anticipate your customers’ needs and be prepared to meet them before they ask.
3. At Your Service
   Give your customers a high quality product and a high quality service, which in LOVEFiLM’s case means a fast and reliable postal service.
4. Good Handling
   Solve any and all complaints and problems to the customer’s satisfaction.  If you handle the customer complaint in the right way, you are more likely to retain them.
5. Extra Mile
   Always be willing to do a little extra, and go the extra mile for your customer.

• Send your bulk mail via Packetpost™ and enjoy a flat rate price, free re-deliveries on undelivered items plus free collections?
• Manage your returns better and remove old records from your database with Royal Mail's Returns Management services
• Receive your mail at a time that suits your business with Timed Delivery