There is nothing worse than silence. Whoever said “no news is good news” or ”silence is golden” must have been the parent of a new born because as an entrepreneur and the mother of a college student – there is nothing worse than NO NEWS.
It’s Friday. The end of the work week. I should be wrapping things up – preparing for a girly weekend with my middle schooler, but no. Why?
SILENCE.
On a personal front, my son is facing the consequences of his actions today and I’m awaiting news. His phone is turned off – probably to avoid my text messages – and the silence is killing me. So I focus on work. Except, guess what?? SILENCE.
I am presenting a series of four workshops on Social Media scheduled to begin February 10 and follow for three additional Wednesdays. I’m very excited about the events and have receive great feedback from potential attendees.
Using the social media I so strongly believe in – I set up registration for all four classes on Events Bot. It was a fairly simple process and even included HTML code for spreading the word and creating cutsie REGISTER NOW boxes. Except here’s the rub. Sign up for my class and get charged an unexplainable shipping and handling fee of $19.80. What needs to ship? Who are we going to handle?
So I contacted the help desk. The email gave me no answers.
I sent another message to the help desk. Nada.
So I sent a message to the abuse email. Nothing.
I changed my account and paid for premium service thinking that maybe there was a glitch in the free service. I got a lovely canned welcome email. It included another customer service address to contact. So I sent them a message. No return message.
This is my first time using their service and could have been a long and mutually beneficial relationship as I am now using their premium service. But no communication isn’t sitting well with me. I see from the reports that a really good number of people are clicking on the events. If only 10% of them purchased, my classes would have been filled yesterday. So how many are getting to the invoice – seeing an additional $20 charge and cancelling out on their reservation?
Silence from Events Bot is not helping my business or theirs.
I was reading a recent post by Drew McLellan on follow up and the importance of being available and touching base and being responsive to your customers. HA.
How true is that?
So once again, I’m hoping social media will work for one of two things:
1. You might know of a different event site I can go to and set up my events – please share and quickly.
2. Events Bot has a Google alert set up for their name – will see this and finally give me an answer.
Cuz here’s the deal. I’m new. This is my first time. It could very well be my fault. In fact, I’m sure it is. I’ve probably clicked something I shouldn’t have. But TELL ME.
As for my son? Prayers.
Okay. don’t be silent – help me out here. Anyone have advice for me? Thanks a bunch!
Yesterday morning I attended the monthly ABC meeting: Akron Bloggers Connect and we had a wonderful turnout w ith some friendly, familiar faces and a few that were new to the group.
Chris Brown of Branding and Marketing (Marketing Resources and Results) led us through a packed agenda. But first we went around the table and introduced ourselves. It is an electic group of bloggers and blogger-newbies:
and Jill McCauslin and Mary Helscl who are just getting started.
We talked about creating FAST content for the web that is a constant task master wanting more and more words of wisdom. We talked about using Market Samurai to research key words and the value of finding the right niche product to connect with targeted prospects. We shared resources and websites/blogs that we’d found of value like Nathan Kievman with Link Strategies Group and Frank Kern’s videos.
In the end,we all commented about the wealth of information that had been shared and in particular, how some so experienced, were willing to share what they knew with those just starting out.
It was a make or break moment in my mind.
We’ve been taught to hold our cards close to our vest. If we find out something new and exciting – we should keep it a secret so that we have a leg up on our competition. Yet isn’t there some value in sharing what we’ve learned so that we can all become better in business, better using social media, better with our customer relationships?
So do you hold knowledge as a closely guarded secret or do you share the wealth?
Are you local? Consider joining us for our lively discussions. We meet monthly at the Mocha Joe’s in Stow - last Thursday of every month from 9:30-11am. Hope to see you there.
Photo courtesy of Chris Brown and her amazing camera!
So I’m going through my stack of articles that I rip out of magazines and save for the “some day” that I’m going to do something with them and came across this article about the top 50 Innovative businesses of 2009 that appeared in the March 2009 issue of FastCompany.
Amazon comes in at #9 with a tagline piece of advice “what’s dangerous is not to evolve.”
The article is about the incredible sales of the Kindle. Of course, almost a year later, the Kindle isn’t new news but there was a statement in the article that was important enough for me to circle it and save:
“There are two ways to extend a business. Take inventory of what you’re good at and extend out from your skills. Or determine what your customers need and work backward, even if it requires learning new skills. Kindle is an example of working backward.”
It is rare that a company begins its life or expands its offerings by first asking the customer what they want or need. If we start with the customer first – how would that change what we offer or how our business evolves?
I talk with many entrepreneurs who ask “how many years did it take you before you refined your niche market.” Or other veterans of business who say “my business today isn’t anything like what I thought it would be when I started.”
If we started with the customer first…would we get to our ideal business sooner? Do you have a customer focused business?
I love conversations with Leslie Ungar. You know her. I talk about her often. That’s because she always has some interesting little tidbit to share that speaks volumes. Today it was the retelling of something Bruce Nordstrom (Grandson of Nordstrom’s founder) had to say when visiting Northeast Ohio a while back.
Someone asked him if people took advantage of Nordstrom’s famous return policy. You’ll all heard the story about the customer who returned a tire to Nordstroms and they didn’t even sell tires. But the associate smiled and happily gave the customer a refund.
Well, first off, my Dad - another person who always had great stories to tell, said that there was a Nordstroms location that did in fact sell tires, but the point of the story is that Nordstroms takes their customer at face value and does whatever it takes to make them happy. (p.s. the tire return took place in an acquired store that had sold tires before being owned by Nordstroms)
So how did the founder’s grandson reply? “Yes. There are some people that take advantage.”
He went on to say that only about ten percent of their customers took advantage of Nordstroms policy to make customers happy. “You don’t make policy based on ten percent,” he was quoted as saying. “You make policies based on the 90%.”
I’ve often heard of the 80/20 rule. You know – the rule that says 20% of your customers bring in 80% of your revenue. That 20% of your employees generate 80% of the work. That 20% of the whiners take up 80% of your time.
But here, the rule is even stiffer. Make policies based on 90% of your customer’s needs. Nordstroms has been in business over 100 years and their customer philosophy has remained the same – regardless of the change in economics:
The company’s philosophy has remained unchanged for more than 100 years since its establishment by John W. Nordstrom in 1901: offer the customer the best possible service, selection, quality and value.
What else has remained the same for over 100 years?
Okay – let’s get back to your company policies. Do you make your policies based on the few that try to take advantage or the many that build your business? I can remember in school there would be obscure rules and the teacher would say “It is because of the actions of a few that we’ve had to change the rules.” Didn’t you want to punch “the few” in the nose for making it more difficult or less enjoyable for you?
Our customers feel the same way. Imagine a world where companies created a culture around the many. So look at your customer service policies. Are they based on the few that try to ruin it for the rest of us? Or have you positioned yourself like Nordstroms and created policies around the 90% of your customers who just want a good quality product/service at an affordable price?
I normally focus on the customer at Make or Break Moments, but today I’d like to shine the spotlight on our NUMBER ONE ASSET – our employees.
How we treat our employees and how we make them feel directly impacts how they treat our customers.
I remember a store visit I once conducted with Pearle Vision. The franchisee owned three stores but worked primarily out of one of them. This store visit was to a store he rarely visited. It was a small store in size and sales volume and only had three employees. On this particular day there were two associates working. As was my practice during my visit, I kept an open ear to the customer conversations to see how the customers were treated and to critique the sales conversation.
Were they asking questions about lifestyle?
Were they making recommendations based on those facts?
Were they suggesting a second pair purchase?
Did they recommend lens treatments like scratch protection, tinting and ultraviolet ray protection?
During a lull in the afternoon, I mentioned the fact that they really just filled out order forms. They didn’t ask any questions and they made no recommendations. For me it was an “ah – ha” moment. This is why sales are so low in this store. The opportunities were incredible. Until I heard the associates response.
“Oh sure, we know what we could be doing to improve sales but why should we bother? The owner clearly doesn’t care about this store or these customers. He certainly doesn’t care about us – he never visits or calls or asks us questions or allows us to attend training. If he doesn’t care – why should we? We get paid either way.”
Talk about the real “ah – ha” moment in this store visit.
Yesterday during the sermon, our minister, Rev. Dr. Peter Wiley, shared a letter Paul wrote to the Corinthians in which he likened our body to that of the Body of Christ – each part has a role, each role no more important than any other but without the whole – we don’t function. As part of the sermon he talks about how people each carry a bucket. And we can respond to each other’s bucket in one of two ways:
1. We can fill each other’s bucket with words of praise, recognition and encouragement.
2. We can drain their bucket with criticism, negativity and judgemental comments.
That really hit home for me. At the end of the day, Peter asked, can we look back and say we spent more time filling buckets or emptying them? On any given day, for me, it could go either way. I find that the people I am closest too, the ones who mean the most, I spend more time being critical. I assume they know their value and how important they are to me and how proud I am of their accomplishments.
Do we do the same with our employees? Do we assume they know their value and therefore, we spend the most time finding things wrong that they could be doing better/differently? Or do we ignore them entirely which is another way of emptying their bucket?
How our employees feel is directly related to how they treat our customers. If they were asked – would they say you spend more time FILLING their bucket or EMPTYING it?
p.s. we need to ask the same question of ourselves with all our relationships.
It’s hard to build a relationship on the Internet. You can’t make eye contact. You can’t ask questions and if you could – you certainly wouldn’t be able to hear the answers.
Yet the Internet is where our prospects and customers seek information and make decisions about potential vendors or companies with which they’ll do business.
So how do you tell your story? How do you communicate your vast knowledge and experience without a bunch of WORDS PEOPLE WON’T READ?
YouTube offers a platform to share your story – but you have to be creative if you want to capture the attention of viewers and hopefully create a message that “goes viral.”
In a recent edition of Advertising Age, Teressa Iezzi of Creativity Online shared the top creative picks of 2009. I’ve talked about one of them in an earlier post – the musical stairs in Stockholm. But this time I want to share the story of Johnnie Walker in their historical, yet extremely creative video called “The Walk” which chronicles the history of one of the greatest adult beverages known to man.
You have a unique story as well. One that people would be interested in hearing. Have you considered using YouTube to tell about how you got started? Or maybe your start-up story is ordinary, but how you came to focus on a particular product or service is unique.
For more information on how to connect with your customers and share your story using YouTube, check out this video from Small Business Trends by Jim Kukral with 101 ways to use YouTube and this article from Meryl Evans on the 34 ways to use YouTube for Business.
Have you ever lost a customer and didn’t know why?
I was talking with Business Coach and Professional Speaker Leslie Ungar of Electric Impulse Communications about customers. She shared a story with me that really helped put things in perspective.
As the economy takes its good old time recovering, the trickle down effect of lower revenues is hitting some of the smaller companies and as such, companies are cutting back some of their vendor/freelance relationships. Each time we loose a customer we have to access the situation.
Is there something I could have done differently?
Was it price?
Was it attitude?
Should I have said something different?
Should I have kissed him?
(That’s what Elizabeth Kitt – recent participant who was eliminated from ABC’s The Batchelor is asking herself today.)
Leslie used to show horses. She told me that at the end of a competition participants could approach the judges and ask for advice on what they could do differently next time to place or win in their category.
“I was always the first in line to ask a question,” Leslie told me. “I wanted to know why I didn’t win and what the judges thought I should have done differently.” Sometimes they would remember, or after refreshing their notes they might have a specific comment, but often it was a general bit of advice that they would share. She listened carefully each time to what they had to say.
“If one person told me something, I would listen but I might not make a change. I was listening for patterns that I couldn’t ignore. If I heard the same comment from different judges or multiple times then I knew that was an area I needed to address.”
She was looking for patterns.
We need to do the same thing with our customers. Of course that means we have to engage them in conversation – exit interviews – follow up surveys or phone calls to ask about the service and experience and then listen for patterns.
Customer complaints are another great place to look for patterns. Some times you just have a complainer – but often, if you listen closely enough, you’ll find out about an area of service you need to address because it impacts the customer’s experience.
Have you lost a customer lately? Do you know why? Has it been the first time you’ve heard the reason or has a pattern begun to emerge?
Listen carefully to those patterns you can’t ignore and then start to make some changes!
Did you hear about the new prices at Starbucks? I have to confess. I don’t like Starbucks coffee – too acidic, but I do love their frappuccinos. But the budget just can’t handle the cost and my waistline can’t afford the calories.
So here is my midmorning gift to you. Actually, this is from a Weight Watcher member Joan Lawrence who provided this sugar free recipe for Mocha Frappuccinos and I am enjoying one right this minute!
1 cup skim milk
2 T Splenda granular (or your choice of sugar substitute)
2 T sugar-free mocha instant coffee (General Foods International – I’m actually using the decaf, sugar-free French Vanilla)
1 T instant coffee
1-1/2 cups ice.
Blend about 30 seconds and then ENJOY!
Some times we need to take a little break from serving customer’s needs and cater to our own!
Just got back from a wonderful night at Marcelita’s Mexican restaurant in Hudson. I have to be honest, I don’t go for the food. I only go when The Reunion Band is playing. One of the band members, Jim Gray, is a family friend and the band plays all the classic rock songs you love to sing.
So I am sitting there sipping my drink after last call when the waitress brings the bill. My companion doesn’t have his reading glasses and leans over the bar and asks the waitress for a pair of glasses. Steve is a regular customer and is aware that Marcelita’s UNDERSTANDS THEIR CUSTOMERS sometimes need helping reading the bill!
They offer a variety of readers in different colors and strengths just for the purpose of customers who need a little help reading the bill. I love it! What a great, simple, inexpensive way to help your customers do business with you!
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What simple service can you provide, like a pair of reading glasses, to make it easy to do business with you?
By the way – if you have a chance to hear The Reunion Band – I highly recommend them. They can play for hours without repeating a song and each one is better than the one before. And you don’t need reading glasses to enjoy them!
I was at a meeting recently and Candace Benson, owner of Camp Tech, said that she talks to her students about the “Land of Ungratefulness.”
Are you the Mayor of Ungratefulness? she asks them.
I loved the visual of a town, a country, an entire land of people who are ungrateful. It reminds me of my favorite line from Billy Crystal’s movie City Slickers in which the character played by Daniel Stern, when arguing with his wife says:
“If hate were people, I’D BE CHINA!”
Another amazing word picture that says a lot with few words.
Ungrateful. How often are we ungrateful of:
Our customers when they have demands
Our employees when they do something wrong
Our boss when they ask too much
Our industry when it doesn’t respond like we’d hoped
The little things in life
The economy is tough and we can find ourselves wallowing in the land of the ungrateful. Perhaps we need to take a deep breath, lift our head from the myriad of everyday tasks – look around and find all that we should be grateful for.
Repeat customers
A smile on the UPS carrier’s face
Our employees who come to work every day, even when (just like us) they’d rather stay in bed and avoid the snowy, cold winter weather
The opportunity to solve a customer’s problem
I am reminded of the grace my Father said every morning over his Cheerios. “Thank you, God, for bringing us safely through the night and for the gift of another day.”
hmmm. Each day is a gift for which we should be thankful.
I believe it is a choice we make – this decision to be ungrateful or thankful. And our customers, our employees, our vendors and especially our families can easily tell over which land we preside.
So I ask you: are you the Mayor of Ungrateful Land or a resident of Thanksgiving-ville?
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