However, I believe that participation applies to much more than just social media!  If we get our customers to participate with us on an ongoing basis, we learn so much more about them than we could in any other arena.  This will lead to (on the customer’s part) trust, better engagement, preference, word of mouth, and ultimately brand loyalty. 

I also had the opportunity to talk about this subject to Chris Brogan at the MarketingProfs event. We discussed why those who want to build a relationship with their customers should consider using social media. And not using it just to talk; using it to finally, truly listen to customers. Chris recently wrote about the difference between having an audience and having a community on his blog. I think an audience is something that you talk at; a community is something that you talk with and participate in.  Chris was nice enough to put his thoughts on video for me as I asked him to talk about social media and customer loyalty. (Note: the conference was in Arizona, hence the cacti - and the slight wind noise)

Here at Customers Rock!, I endeavor to have a place where we talk together about taking care of customers. I realize I have not been carrying on my side of the conversation a lot lately as I have been heads-down working on my new book. I will hold up my side of the bargain and be here to talk with you more frequently - now it is your turn to join in! Thank you all so much for being part of this, and many thanks to you, Chris, for your valuable time. 

(Image credit: Paha_L)

Social media is the big buzz right now. Everyone wants to get their business on Twitter or Facebook without really thinking about why. Usually, it is because their manager or client read an article in the Wall Street Journal about who is using Twitter/Facebook/fill-in-the-blank and how cool it is. And indeed, there are a lot of great reasons to use social media to market a business. I believe one of the most powerful reasons to market with social media is to build and strengthen customer relationships.

Part of the Customer Experience

How customers perceive your company online is part of their experience with your organization. Whether your customers are consumers or businesses, many of them are spending time on social media regularly in order to keep up with friends, make connections, or learn new information. According to a recent study by Cone Research in September 2008, Americans using social media also want to engage with their favorite organizations and brands in that space (emphasis is mine):

• 93% believe a company should have a social media presence
• 85% believe a company should interact via social media
• 56% feel they have a stronger connection with and are better served by companies where they can interact via social media

The study goes on to state this:

“…Americans are eager to deepen their brand relationships through social media.”

Customers definitely view their experience with a brand/organization via social media as an integral part of their relationship with that brand.

Connecting with Your Advocates

While many organizations are currently using social media as a way to increase awareness and do online PR, the sweet spot is in connecting with your customers and empowering them to interact with you. Per the book Groundswell (which I use as my class textbook), companies can use social media to listen to customers, talk with (not AT) customers, energize customers (especially evangelists), support customers, and embrace customers (co-create with them). These uses can all be applied to improving customer relationships.

Anyone who has heard me speak about using social media for marketing knows that I first encourage organizations to listen to what is being said about them online. Unless you first listen to the discussion, you will look a little silly jumping in to the conversation with your own agenda. It’s similar to going to a party and interjecting yourself into groups which are already talking amongst themselves. Your words will be out of context, and you may be seen as rude! However, if you listen first, you will be able to add value to the discussion by being relevant, and you will probably be a lot more interesting.

Once some listening has taken place, the stage is set for planned interaction. You can do this by having your own “party”, and inviting your customers to come and join you OR you can find out where your customers are already “partying” and go meet them there. In other words, you can invite your customers to come to your site or social media property and interact with you, or you can go and engage with them wherever they are already interacting around your brand. Either way can work, depending on your business and your customer relationships.

Companies that have well-established relationships with their customers will discover that social media is a great tool which complements their existing interactions. Companies that have only been using one-way communication with customers will have a little work to do to get them to engage, not just once in a social media campaign, but on an ongoing basis. They should find their customers are eager and ready as long as the conversation is relevant to their needs!

Social Media and Customer Loyalty

Over the past 6 months, I have had the opportunity to talk face-to-face with a number of well-respected people in business about social media marketing. I asked them each the same question:

“How do you think social media can help with customer loyalty?”

I captured their responses with my Flip video camera, and I will be featuring different videos over the next few weeks here on Customers Rock! Please let me know what you think about social media and customer loyalty, as well as about the videos in the comments below, on my Facebook page, or via my Twitter page.

Here is one of the videos, which I have previously posted on Customers Rock!, to get you started.

Frank Eliason, Comcast (@comcastcares on Twitter)

(Opening image credit: Matt Hamm on flickr)

How NOT to Reach Out to Prospects

This winery was slightly off the main thoroughfare at the end of a dusty road. The building looked quaint, and we were hopeful we would find something more down-to-earth (and reasonably priced). We walked around the building on the wooden porch and came to this sign: “START Your Tasting Adventure at The Register. Thank You!”

We almost turned around and left! We knew that we needed to pay for the tastings, but to have that sign as the first thing we saw was a little off-putting. How about “We are glad you are here; come on in!” Or “Start your tasting adventure through this door”. Hitting us over the head with a request for money was NOT welcoming.

Why would they use signage like this? Well, the winery also had a restaurant on the property, so perhaps they were trying to let foodies know they needed to go across the parking lot to eat. Or perhaps they have had prospective wine tasters skip the register and go straight to the tasting bar, only to have to send them back to the till to pay up. Either way, there are several other ways they could have handled this to leave a better first impression with visitors. (Ideas for improvement? Share them below in the comments.)

Welcoming Customers

Many businesses have started to understand that the customer welcome is important. We had a favorite sushi place where we used to live, and as we would come in the door, the sushi chefs would shout out a welcome to us in Japanese. This was fun, as we were regulars and they knew us. I am also a regular at my local bank, and the entire branch, it seems, shouts out a hello when a customer comes in the door.  For some reason, this doesn’t feel as sincere; it feels like they are checking off a box on their list of “how to greet a customer.” Retail clothing stores such as Coldwater Creek and White House Black Market have someone near the door to welcome customers and help point them in the right direction (so does Walmart).

If at first you don’t succeed…

… you might not get a second chance. Customers ROCK! companies look closely at how prospects first see their business.

- For a retailer, the first impression might be as they walk by or in the door. Is the person there truly happy to see them? Or are they just checking off their tasks and biding their time until the lunch break?

- For an online business, the first impression is the website, which could also be a social media site or blog. Is it clear what a prospect should do first? Or does a first-timer have to slice through a jungle of words and pictures to make headway towards their task?

- For a commercial business, first impressions are often a rep making a sales call. Does the sales rep seem to understand the burning issues for their business? Or are they just interested in pushing their products and services?

(Although I like to be positive here on this blog, I just need to share a tiny rant about Twitter and first impressions. There is a feature where you can “follow”, or subscribe to someone, and they can decide whether to follow you back. Some people and businesses have set up an automatic reply to a new follower, and most times it is a sales message (try our mattresses, check out our store, please join my Facebook page, etc). I firmly believe this is the wrong approach! A new prospect/follower has not had the chance to get to know you yet; don’t try to go for the close. Allow a relationship to develop first. OK, end of rant.

Take the Customer’s Perspective

If you aren’t sure what your organizations “first impression” looks like, go get a mirror and find out. It is hard to do this when you see the front door everyday, so many companies use someone new to their organization, or hire an outside “mystery shopper” to review the customer experience for them. Here are the areas to review:

- Your “front door”, whether it be a physical door/entry or a website. What does it say to visitors? What does it say to those who have been there before?

- Your “greeter” (usually a physical person, although some web sites have these). 

- Your “action” - what do you want them to do next? Make it clear, and give guidance if needed.

Your Turn!

In addition to sharing ideas for the winery in the comments, please share either great or terrible “welcome” experiences with a business, B2B or B2C. I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Jason Baer

He describes great customer service being given over Twitter as an example; if the customer experience in other channels isn’t as good as the Twitter channel, then there could be preferential treatment taking place (which could ultimately drive changes in behavior).  He suggests we should be thinking through how we use social media and whether we are intentionally giving this “better treatment” to customers. I highly suggest you go and read Jason’s entire post, as well as the discussion in the comments.

The Real Question

This conversation is right up my alley. Of course, I had to respond. Here is what I have put forward:

What we really should be asking is how we want to treat our customers overall. What is the customer strategy? Most companies don’t have one, so they use whatever is easiest and cheapest (read: most convenient for them) to interact with customers. Treating different customers differently is a great strategy, and one which we used with our clients when I worked for Peppers and Rogers Group (1 to 1 Marketing approach).

I applaud the customer interaction opportunities that social media brings to an organization. However, as I have said both in my blog and to my social media students, it is only one channel of interaction. Encouraging and rewarding customers to use a channel that is more cost efficient is a fine strategy - if that is indeed the strategy. If we are interacting with customers via social media just because it is the new, cool, hip thing to do, what will happen when something else comes along? Will we continue to keep up the social media interactions?

The real question to ask is where our customers want to interact with us. Listen, then use those channels to reward them for their business and for referrals. Thank them for being a part of your organization. Intentionally create a rockin’ customer experience. When we do this, whether those interactions were by phone, mail, or online, the word of mouth will spread!

Help or Harm?

Now to you, my readers. What do you think? Is social media indeed creating a “customer chasm” as Jason suggests? Should customers interacting via social media channels get a different experience?  Please tell us your thoughts, as well as your experiences, by leaving a comment below.

(Image credit: photoauris)

Saul has honored me back by interviewing me on what it means to market in a recession.  Take a listen, then go listen to Saul’s complementary video on his blog. Thank you, Saul, for the opportunity!

Becky Carroll (CustomersRock.net) shares thoughts on Customer Service! from saulcolt on Vimeo.

One of the students in the UCSD class I teach, Marketing via New Media, works for a company that sells flowers, Dos Gringos/Sunflower Guy. They sell flowers to businesses as well as to consumers. In my class, we talk about using social media to market your business, including blogs, social networks, communities, even Twitter. After class one night, my student Joan asked me what to do with a new-found raving fan. I suggested that Joan’s company should reach out to that fan and thank them for their support. Well, they did so via Twitter, among other things, with great results! I found out about this via this email from Joan:

“Hi Becky,
Please see below.  You will recall I asked you in class what to do with
a new-found raving fan.  We tweeted back to her and sent her flowers.  I
thought you would be pleased to see what she wrote.  You helped make
this possible.

Sincerely, Joan”

Sending Smiles

It all started when this recipient of the flowers/new raving fan was so pleased with her sunflower bouquet, she tweeted about it (her Twitter handle is @thatspeaker). SunflowerGuy was listening for customer input via social media and saw her Tweet. Via their own Twitter handle (@sunflowerguy), they responded, saying ,”@thatspeaker so glad you liked your Valentines Day sunshine!!!”

Sunflower Guy then proceeded to thank her by sending a surprise bouquet!

This was indeed a surprise, and their new raving fan decided to blog about her experience via her own blog. Her post, Great Customer Service - Using Twitter! shared the story of the receipt of her bouquet from her husband, the great customer service from Sunflower Guy when they called her husband to make sure the delivery went well, then the surprise bouquet arriving a little while later.

Sunshine - and Results

As a result of the post and the tweets from this happy customer, SunflowerGuy has gained at least two new customers (see comments on above post) as well as new followers on Twitter. In fact, SunflowerGuy has only posted 22 tweets but already has over 900 followers (great job to Internet Marketing Inc., their partner on this). Clearly, their new service is striking a chord with consumers who want to do business with a company that cares about people.

Dos Gringos/Sunflower Guy is doing a great job listening to customer conversations via social media, then responding to them via social media as well as via offline methods (sending the bouquet). You guys rock!

I will share more about this company soon with a summary of an interview I held with the company’s CEO, Jason Levin, and their focus on the customer.

Are Companies Looking for Customer Feedback?

One of the first blogs I read after starting my Customers Rock! blog was Church of the Customer. This easy-to-digest post from Jackie Huba shares the results of a recent survey by conducted by the CMO Council on whether companies are tracking customer conversations about their brand, along with whether they have employee incentives around customer satisfaction. Interesting that not many are focusing on these areas! Especially in this economy, Customers Rock! companies view customer feedback (including word of mouth) as a critical part of their business and create customer listening post in several venues (including but not limited to social media). What are you doing in regards to listening to your customers?

Kill ‘em With Kindness

Tom Vander Well of QA QnA writes an inspiring post on how to treat your customers, even if you think they are going to be somewhat nasty to you! It might sound easy, but this type of treatment strategy requires a plan as well as a certain fortitude to carry it out when a call center rep is “in the thick of it”. Check out the post for tips on “staying chill”.

Handling Negative Reviews

Linda Bustos at GetElastic has a thought-provoking post on how to handle negative reviews. Ignore them? No. Delete them? Definitely not! How about embrace them? Linda highlights one company that has embraced both the positive and the negative; check out her post to see how they do it.

Social Media: Music to my Ears

I met someone new this week (virtually, as many introductions are these days) who works for Heavybag Media. There was a fascinating post on their blog about the use of social media and web strategies in the musical instrument business. Contained in the post are lists of who is using what, as well as who is currently best-in-class using these new tools in the industry.

A Little Self-Promotion (sort-of)

As many of you know, I teach a class at University of California San Diego called Marketing via New Media. One of my long-time blogging friends, Tim Jackson, was kind enough to come and be a guest speaker. Tim shared about his MasiGuy blog and how it has really helped re-invigorate the brand. His stories were riveting, and the students really enjoyed his talk. Here is the post where Tim shares his experience talking to my class, along with some photos, so if you ever wanted to see what my class looks like, here it is! Thanks again, Tim, for sharing your knowledge and passion about Masi Bikes. You rock!

Liked Five in the Morning? Get more where this came from at Steve Woodruff’s Sticky Figure blog, subscribe to Steve’s blog, or follow him on Twitter. Like Customers Rock!? Follow me on Twitter or subscribe to this blog.

(Photo credit: bberry)

Connecting with Employees

Mary started the session by sharing about the strong social networks that have been built by and around McDonald’s employees, or crews. “We have over 1.6 million employees around the world, and we try to inspire the crew to feel great, deliver on the brand promise, as well as reduce turnover.” There are several internal social networks which not only engage crews but also give them the opportunity to become more educated (with some even getting credit for it!). Some of these crew communities include MeTime in Australia and New Zealand, OurLounge in the UK, Latin America’s McLand (hope you speak Portuguese!), Singapore’s Ketchup!, and USA/Canada’s StationM. On this last one, Canadian Amanda Wilson was recently voted, by fellow employees, to be the resident blogger and moderator for this community.  Per Mary, these internal-only communities really help crews with engaging, bonding, and living the brand.

“Each employee could be the one experience someone has with our brand. This is a great way tap in and get people on the same page, share experiences.”

Customers Rock! take: I agree with Mary about the impact each employee interaction has with the brand. This could be a returning customer, or it could be someone new to us. Either way, each brand interaction adds up to an overall brand experience, and in this economy, it is important to make sure those experiences leave a positive impression.

Connecting with Customers

Back in 2005, McDonald’s started a Moms advisory panel - Moms’ Quality Correspondents. Per Mary, McDonalds wanted to learn more about this group of customers and be more closely connected to what they are feeling, needs, brand perceptions, and how they would like to evolve it. It is a live (ie. not online) group with participants from multiple countries, including athletes such as Bonnie Blair, a mom in Latin America who is a chef, another mom in the USA who is a PTA president. The McDonald’s team meets with them once per quarter to find out how to improve. There are now panels country by country.  When asked whether this would move online, Mary responded that enjoy the face to face experience with these moms, and the amount of online activity varies country to country. In the US, it is primarily online.  One of the moms also had her own community where she shared her McDonald’s experiences. Recently, she took a trip to a McDonald’s supplier (they send these moms on field trips!) and blogged about it. Usually, these ladies authentically share what is surprising to them!

When asked about how they recruit the moms, Mary shared a few criteria (one was NOT that they eat at McDonald’s). They tend to look for a woman who is a community leader, an influencer, and someone who will bring in strong perspectives (and share them out, too).

Customers Rock! take: Spending time listening to your customers is a critical part of forming a great customer experience. How do customers perceive your brand? What do they tell their friends (and others)? At a minimum, give customers a place to provide you feedback (online, if your customers are online a lot). If you can meet live with customers to hear this feedback, all the better.

Social Media

McDonald’s sees social media as a great opportunity to gather consumer information on attitude and perceptions about the brand. Per Mary, “This is a big opportunity for us; we haven’t tapped into it much yet, but we will!” She also stated that they are willing to look beyond merely the cost of doing social media marketing, as they recognize that this is a different kind of conversation. I couldn’t have said that better myself!

Customers Rock! take: McDonald’s will be a company to watch in these upcoming months. They have a great focus on taking care of employees and getting them engaged with the brand. This will continue to bring them benefits as they move towards engaging their customers online through their website, through communities, and through the social web. Based on the interactions I could see at the Moms’ Quality Correspondents site, there are a lot of consumers that want to more closely engage with McDonald’s and their offerings (how can I be one of your moms?). Now is the time to cement relationships with brand loyalists, turn them into brand ambassadors, and really harness the powerful social networks that many consumers already have in place.

Thank you so much, Mary, for sharing your time with us. You rock!

- Brand building in a digital world (my topic!)

- Connecting with empowered consumers

- Marketing mix in a fragmented world

- Global marketing on a borderless planet

Here’s my take on brands in this digital world we are working with.

Brand Ownership

There has been quite a bit of discussion of late about social media and brands. Who “owns” the brand in a digital world?  This reminds me of conversations about CRM and “managing” customer relationships. Can we really manage our customers’ relationships with us? Who is in control of the relationship? The customer. Likewise, as much as a brand may cater to their customers, it is ultimately the customer who is in charge of whether they purchase again (and whether they recommend you).

So, what does a brand look like in a digital world?  Whatever its customers say it looks like.

Online brand “impressions” come not only from interactions with a company’s official website, they come from every part of the customer experience.  Customer service, search results (yes, they are part of the customer experience), banner ads, and, of course, reviews, ratings, and blog posts about the company’s products or services all influence perception of the brand. There is general agreement that the brand is a summation of all these small touchpoints of a customer with a company.

Customers may agree or disagree with the branding that a company is doing, but in a digital world, they now have a very fast and easy way to share their thoughts. Thousands or millions of others can see, hear, and experience multiple customer perceptions of most brands, regardless of whether that brand has a strong online presence. In the digital world, other customers may be a stronger influence on the company’s brand than the company itself.

The community defines the brand in a digital world.

More Than a Conversation

Earlier this week I spoke with Jonathan Baskin, author of the book Branding Only Works on Cattle (podcast of the discussion coming soon!). We talked about the opportunities for a different take on branding. What should really be the goal? Jonathan suggested we create more than a two-way online conversation with customers; we need to drive them to action. Talking is great; buying is even better!  Jonathan posed the idea of doing this by creating a branding game plan where the brand comes alive through all the customer touchpoints (such as customer service). And he means games here, using games as models for how to do business with customers. This helps create experiences where customers are moved towards action (purchase, repurchase, or recommendation to others are good ones to start with!) in a way that they not only enjoy but where they can also feed back into the process.

Playing in a Digital World

Brands in a digital world have a lot of opportunities to take advantage of this type of game play. I don’t mean that brands should create online games for customers to play! I mean there is a challenge to make each customer interaction unique, exciting, and relevant to that customer at that moment in time. What your brand is to me is likely very different than what it is to my colleague, sister, or friend. Additionally, my perception of your brand may change depending on what I am intent on doing at the moment or even where I am in my customer lifecycle. Digital media allows companies to be extremely flexible in how they create customer experiences that are differentiated based on customer need (and value). And it also allows brands to make these experiences fun and engaging!

It All Adds Up

As Jonathan’s book states, “Branding is experience in time, and the brand becomes a series of interrelated behaviors.” Brands that will be successful in a Digital World are those that can not only tailor those experiences to their customers as needed, they are able to interact with and engage with customers online in a meaningful way - both for the company as well as for the customer.

(Photo credit: Will Lion http://www.flickr.com/photos/will-lion/2782049563/)

A Rockin’ Year with Some Great Companies

This past year, I highlighted several companies where “Customers Rock!” for them. These companies have great customer focus, operate in a way that is customer-centric, or just did something really, really cool for their customers.  Before I get to the Top 3 Customer Rock Stars, below are some of the runners-up:

• Urbane Apartments - remarkable customer experience with Urbane Loves Pets and Freedom Lease
• Ikea - focus on the customer buying experience
• Comcast - social media listening turns complainers into fans
• Coldwater Creek - making customers feel like royalty
• TurboTax - customer engagement via social media
• Wells Fargo - WOW customer experience and corporate focus
• Hometown Buffet - personal attention makes the difference
• Starbucks - customer-focused coffee specials
• Musician’s Friend - above and beyond customer service

Check out the links above for their stories - all of them inspiring. And now, with no further ado…

Rock Star Number 3: FreshBooks

Freshbooks is an online invoicing and time tracking service.  They are a Customer Rock Star because they do everything with the customer in mind. More importantly, they spend time with their customers - lots of it.  In my post “Freshbooks Rocks: Getting Personal with Customers”, I described how the Freshbooks team, including their CEO, spends time having meals with customers whenever they travel. In fact, last year when they went to SxSW to speak, they rented an RV and had breakfast, lunch, and dinner with customers along the way! The best thing about these customer meals (I would know, they invited me to one, as I am a Freshbooks customer), is they are NOT about Freshbooks pitching their products and what they do. Rather, they are about their customers getting to know each other better, as these people all live and work in the same city.  Along the way, Freshbooks employees get the chance to hear some great customer insights.

Customer listening is a focus for Freshbooks, and it is what gets them into my Top 3 Customer Rock Stars for 2008. Congrats, Mike, Saul, and team. Freshbooks Rocks!

Rock Star Number 2: Zappos.com

If you aren’t familiar with Zappos.com and you buy shoes, you should get to know them. Zappos.com is an online retailer that started by selling shoes over the web; they now also sell many other things such as clothing, accessories, and jewelry. Their main focus, however, is not the products they sell - it is customer service. In fact, their tagline is “Powered by Service”. I met Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, this past February when I spoke at the Customer Service is the New Marketing event. Tony shared with me that they don’t want to be known as a shoe company with great customer service; Zappos.com is a customer service company that happens to sell shoes. I like his focus.

One can find many, many stories on Tony and Zappos.com, as they have become fairly well known for this customer service. I have my own story from Christmas this year. I was looking to find my husband a new pair of Keen sandals, and I couldn’t find his size at Zappos.com. I gave them a call to see if they might be getting some in, and they told me they wouldn’t have any in time for Christmas. However, what happened next really impressed me! The call center rep looked up the sandals on the web and recommended a competitor’s website to me!!  She told me they had the size and color I was seeking, and they also had free shipping both ways (just like Zappos.com does). After thanking her profusely, I asked her why she recommended a competitor to me.  She said, “We want you to be happy, and we want you to come back to Zappos.”  I was, and I will!

Customer service is more than just a focus for Zappos.com; it is their company’s culture and what gets them into my Top 3 Customer Rock Stars for 2008. Congrats, Tony and team! Zappos rocks!!

Rock Star Number 1: Bungie Studios

Who? Bungie. Bungie Studios is the maker of the popular video game series Halo. They are known for treating their customers very well, but the reason they are my number one Customer Rock Star is that they take care of other people’s customers, too!

This past March, a video gamer who is a big fan of Halo had a problem with his gaming console/hardware. It was a special console because he had collected original Halo artwork and autographs on it from the team that developed the game. Unfortunately, when he sent in his console for repair, the artwork and autographs were accidentally erased.  Result: one very sad video gamer.

Bungie Studios heard about this through some blogs and decided that, although it had not been their mistake, they wanted to do something to help make it better. So they gathered up a HUGE amount of Halo-3 goodies and sent them off to this depressed gamer even though they had nothing to do with the problem. As you can imagine, he was thrilled to get this fabulous box of “swag”, as it was completely unexpected. (You can see photos of some of his gifts on my previous post about Bungie.)

In my opinion, what was even more cool was that the blog post describing his “swag bag” received over 600 comments from fans of the Halo video game, all glowing about Bungie Studios. What a great way to touch your customer community!

How did Bungie Studios do it?

- They were listening to their customers, using social media.

- They had previously built up a strong community (see their website for forums, insider information, and an open and honest attitude including Bungie podcasts, photos, and webcams!)

- They decided to “do the right thing”, even though they were not the ones in the wrong

- Bungie has prioritized customers as a critical success factor for their business - and has acted on it.

Clearly, Customers Rock! for Bungie Studios.  Way to go, Bungie Studios, on being the Number One Customer Rock Star for 2008!

Looking Ahead to 2009

This year, a focus on customers will become more important than ever as companies struggle with the economy worldwide while consumers and businesses alike become more conservative with their spending. Customer retention will be critical, as will encouraging customer advocates to share their great experiences with others.  Stay tuned to Customers Rock! for more great ideas and stories of how companies are doing it right, all throughout 2009.

(Photo credit: ussr)