“Can you hear me now? No? Really? How about now, better? Ok, hold on, ahmmm, how about now? Oh good, ok, so, what I was trying to say… ” No, this is not a new take on an old commercial. It was actually an attempt at a conversation I happened to overhear while waiting for a cup of coffee at a convention hall’s concession stand. There are so many points to be made about the “appropriateness” of this call but let’s focus on this: When making a call, especially to…
Is customer service the new marketing? This question isn’t just about the increasing importance of social media and customer reviews, or rising consumer disenchantment with traditional marketing. For some, it’s about making the decision between long-term reputation and short-term profit. This topic was at the center of a recent Google+ Debate that I moderated, hosted by research firm Software Advice. A panel of experts (Micah Solomon, Shep Hyken, Denis Pombriant, and Jon Miller) discussed what kinds of companies should embrace a customer-centric strategy as a form of marketing, and how…
DEALING WITH ADVERSITY You’ve had one of those days… you know, bad news from a client, conflict with a peer, bad luck or timing on a crucial project, or whatever. Bottom line, something went horribly wrong, and the rest of your day, week, or month may very well be determined by what you choose to do next. Here then is a brief three-step approach that has proven to be quite useful over the years: What’s done is done… Is there some other action that you can take to reverse or…
… and then I found myself unable to talk for a few days. (I will not bore you with the details but it had something to do with laryngitis and damaged vocal chords.) Anyways, here’s what I’m getting at: Even though I believe that I am a good listener and conversationalist – always making sure to engage others, ask questions, and be mindful of not taking over discussions – a strange thing happened when I lost my voice… Given my forced silence, people around me seemed to have a lot…
Encouraging the involvement of your whole organization in your marketing, selling and customer service efforts has this as one of its many positive results: the more integrated you become with your customer’s organization the more solid the relationship will be. The basic premise is that the more time you and your customers invest in understanding how to best work together, integrating processes, and developing effective communication channels for mutual feedback, the less likely they will be to switch suppliers when otherwise might be tempted to do so. This is due,…
