How NOT to do social media
This article from MSNBC.com shows how quickly a jerk can rally opposition these days. Evidently a customer named Dave inquired about the ship date for some gaming hardware he had already paid for and was told it would be late. Dave also found out the vendor was offering a $10 discount to new customers because [...]
Customer service representatives
If you ever want to spend abnormal amounts of time on the phone with customer service representatives, move to another state. Every service I’ve ever had has to be shut down in one state and started up in another. And, truth be told, I’ve encountered some very nice customer service people who were as helpful [...]
Playing to your strengths
As I’ve written before, much of the marketing ideas that come through our door have to do with offering coupons, discounts, or other promotional specials, either as the main point of the marketing, or as a means of measuring the response to the marketing. Everyone wants to be free with our money, it seems. And [...]
“Macy’s sending customers to Gimbels! I just don’t get it!”
One of my business partners has an interesting take on customer service, which is one of the reasons I went into business with him. His take is nothing new–he and I both got it from “Miracle on 34th Street”. The idea is this: When you enter my store, my job is to help you get [...]
Everyone’s an expert–and a critic
Last week I mentioned an encounter with a customer who offered us some unwanted business advice. While this gentleman was a more extreme example of the know-it-all customer, he was by no means the first. When it comes to small business, everyone has an opinion, from your landlord to the Fedex guy, and every customer [...]
Be a good customer
I had an interesting encounter with a customer today that got me thinking more about how I act in public. Our store’s custom is to call out a greeting to a customer as they enter to let them know we know they’re there and so that they know who to talk to with questions. We’ll [...]
Social Media requires vigilance, not obsession
One of the hardest tricks of social media is balancing the amount of time you spend on it. It’s addictive, as most people on Facebook will likely attest. It’s easy to keep logging in to see if anyone has commented, and before you know it you’ve spent all day just logging in and out. But [...]
Someone Commented! What Now?!
In the early stages of any social media effort it will seem like you have no friends, that no one reads your posts, and you’re basically shouting into the void. You start to view social media as a one-way conversation with…well, yourself. But then one day someone leaves a comment! Oh-my-gosh! Now what do I [...]
You no longer control the message
Whether or not you engage in social media with your business, social media may be engaging you. People are interacting with and talking about your brand online. They control the message. You only get to participate in the conversation. This can be good or bad, as shown by two example. The first is a 2009 [...]
Dealing effectively with customer feedback
eMarketer interviews Pete Blackshaw, vice president of Digital Strategic Services at Nielsen, and his colleague, Maya Swedowsky on how to deal with customer feedback through social media. Read the entire article, but a couple excellent points to consider: If that person has come to one of the company’s social media outposts, like Facebook or Twitter, [...]