Archive for Customer Engagement
Customer Service Starts at the Front Desk
Posted by: | CommentsA company can make the best products, but if customer service is bad, there goes the company’s reputation – and sales. I was reminded of this the other day when doing a few errands.
Service with a Smile From TD Bank
TD Bank's Penny Arcade
I started at TD Bank, well known for its “Penny Arcade.” It’s an automatic coin counting machine in each branch that saves you the trouble of rolling all your coins. I save all my change in a plastic container and when it’s full I bring it to the bank – it’s usually around $100 (today it was $105.35) and treat it as sort of a present to myself.
Immediately on entering the branch on Third Avenue, a receptionist greeted me with a smile and asked, “Can I help you today?” She offered to help deposit the coins and then asked if I would like to open an account.
After the machine issued a receipt, I brought it to a teller who welcomed me and asked how I wanted my money. That was a nice touch – so I said in $20 bills. Then she also asked me to open an account. Not this time, but maybe next time? I left as a happy non-customer.
Too Busy for a Greeting at Ethan Allen
I walked a couple of blocks and entered the Ethan Allen store where I had bought an ottoman, which needs a minor repair. Two people at the reception desk. No greeting. Just bored expressions. Finally I told them what I wanted and one of them said in an unfriendly tone of voice, “we don’t do that here – you have to call customer service.”
Then she went back to reading messages on her iPhone while her colleague looked up the phone number and handed it to me on a slip of paper. I thanked them and said goodbye. No response. I like Ethan Allen products, but this kind of service doesn’t make me feel good about the brand.
A Helping Hand at Bloomingdale’s
Bloomingdale's little brown bag
My last stop was Bloomingdale’s to shop for a housewarming gift. As I wandered around the gift department seeking inspiration, a sales person came up to me with a big smile and asked if I needed help. Score a point. I found a very nice tray, a pitcher and some bowls and as I struggled to carry them, she immediately took them from me and brought them to the cash register while I continued to look. Two points.
I was happy with my choices, so she rang up the sale and packed them up. I left with a good feeling about Bloomingdale’s. (I also love the yogurt at the store’s 40 Carrots restaurant).
Burnish Your Brand
Companies spend millions of dollars on advertising campaigns to build their brands. But often the first contact a customer has is with a receptionist or a sales person. These employees need to be trained in proper customer service. Don’t think of this as just another below-the-line expense. Consider it an investment in your brand, which is your most precious asset.
Story Telling is at the Heart of YouTube; the Five Pillars of Content
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve been boning up on the newest developments in cyberspace at Social Media Week seminars in New York. This annual ritual is taking place in eight cities around the world with Twitter aficionados tweeting all the goings-on to their followers.
Today I attended a YouTube presentation. It was awesome. I learned there are five primary “pillars” into which most videos fall: informative, entertaining, conversational, useful and inspiring.
The two presenters, Lauren Siegel and Ali Pulver, are creative content specialists at Google, which owns YouTube. “Story telling is at the heart of YouTube,” they said. They called it the “digital campfire” with people gathering to hear new stories every day. The site also has the elements of a “general store” where you can pick and choose exactly what you want from an endless barrel of videos.
Just a couple of mind-boggling statistics and then I’ll move on. People are watching 2 billion videos a day on YouTube and every minute 24 hours of video is uploaded to YouTube. Wow!
Lauren and Ali discussed each pillar and gave examples of how companies and ordinary individuals have developed huge followings.
Informative: Making knowledge more accessible.
One example is Khan Academy with 1,700 videos, 24 million views and one faculty member Sal Khan, the founder. He covers subjects as simple as how to add, divide and multiple fractions. He’s got Bill Gates interested in exporting these learning tools to underdeveloped countries. “How to” videos is one of the fast-growing categories. In effect companies and individuals with a huge number of subscribers are becoming distribution channels for information.
Conan O'Brien
Entertaining: Bringing us into new worlds and extending the experience.
One example is how Conan O’Brian kept himself in the limelight until his non-compete with NBC expired and he could get on with his new cable talk show. The vignettes starring the host are really kooky and fun and he dubbed his followers Team Coco. That’s the name of his YouTube channel now where you can see episodes of his talk show.
Live streaming extends access to concerts such as those of the rock group Bonnaroo, sponsored by Ford. On-site attendance at concerts is 75,000, but the live streams reach 43 million viewers.
Conversational: Inviting dialogue and community participation
Toyota turned its YouTube video channel audience into brand advocates with 50 humorous and irreverent videos launching its Swagger Wagon. Millions of viewers tuned in. The You Tube promotion was just once piece of a campaign that integrated TV and other media channels.
Useful: Offering tools for engagement
Seal of the President of the United States
I have to say I was unaware that a few days before his State of the Union Address, President Obama made himself available to answer questions on a wide range of issues submitted by and voted on by YouTube users in “Your Interview With the President” moderated by YouTube’s Steve Grove. Obviously the President understands the power of YouTube in reaching constituents directly, unfiltered by traditional media.
By the way, YouTube offers a nifty tool called Moderator that allows you to “collect commentary, questions, or ideas on your YouTube channel and watch the best ones rise to the top. It’s easy – you bring a group of people together on a topic of your choice, and leverage their collective wisdom to vote on the best video and text submissions.”
Inspiring: Helping us to realize our potential
Lauren and Ali showed the case study of Panacea81, “the everywoman as beauty queen,” as they called her. Lauren Luke, a UK housewife, decided to make a series of video tutorials about how to apply makeup. Sounds simple enough. She now has 448,007 subscribers and her videos have had 104,224,397 views.
Well, if you think I’m giving you a link to visit my YouTube channel, you’re mistaken. That’s my next project. Me, on video? Should I lose weight or get a face-lift? Nah. I’ll just visit the Panacea81 lady for some tips on makeup.
How a Boutique Tax & Bookkeeping Firm Uses Social Media Big-Time
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Gunwel: Your local tax & bookeeping firm
Gunwel Associates is a boutique tax and bookkeeping firm that utilizes social media to enhance relationships with our current and future clients. We know that working with finances is a very intimate issue for everyone and social media allows us to build trust by providing valuable information. With only four people in our firm, this is a big commitment. But it has paid off for us and can for other small companies that want to forge strong bonds with their current clients and attract new ones.
We blog every day in addition to tweeting, posting to Facebook, doing podcasts, and publishing a monthly newsletter and daily Gazette. Our content is developed in house, not outsourced, and gives our readers a sense of our firm’s personality. The tax office model (or any business model for that matter) you grew up with is no longer the norm. In this environment you must connect with your clients outside the office through social media.
Building Lasting Relationships
We focus on client relationships throughout the year and not just on how many people we can get through the door during tax season. If we are in touch year-round we demonstrate to our community that we are not just tax accountants, but advisors that are available for all their bookkeeping needs. Social media, whether you use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn or other networking channels, is critical in today’s marketplace. Tweeting, providing status updates and publishing blogs with useful tips will help to build lasting client relationships.
Thus far our strategy has been very successful. We have built a strong following of readers who frequently comment on our blogs and engage us in commentary across a wide spectrum of subjects. Blogging is a way of “conversing” with our clients and prospects when they’re not in our office, on the phone with us or reading through our marketing materials. Social media is the new form of loyalty marketing and, best of all, users are addicted to it.
If you’re not connected then you must get connected. And if you’ve given up on blogging, start doing it again. You’re investing in your business. Becoming active in social media can and will grow your business as well as build client loyalty. We’ve seen it happen and we’d be glad to share our experiences with you.
Christopher Sheehan is Director of Operations with Gunwel Associates Inc, 44 East 21 Street, New York, NY, 10010, info@gunwel.com.
“Connect by Hertz” Car Sharing Deal Leaves Me Spinning My Wheels on Facebook
Posted by: | CommentsHertz has climbed on the car wagon and is competing with companies like Zipcar that enable renters to book a car for a few hours, in effect sharing a car for a day. I think competition is great and I signed up for the service a while back.
I was happy to receive an email from Hertz today with a sweet offer: “Every week we’ll offer a special deal on one of the cars in our NYC area fleet. Find us on Facebook to find out this week’s special.” A lot of companies are using Facebook for special offers, coupons and promotions so I am impressed, at first, with Hertz’s ingenuity.
I’m more excited when I read: “All vehicles selected for this promotion will be available for rent at a $5 an hour rate!”
Holy Moly – $5 an hour! New York has among the highest rental car rates in the country – that’s because most of us, in Manhattan at least, don’t own cars so we rent a lot. This $5 promotion is for Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Wow, save me a car.
Round and Round I Go
Not so fast. First, I click on the Facebook icon. Seems easy enough. I land on the rather boring Hertz Facebook page. No sign of the $5 offer. Then I click on http://www.facebook.com/ConnectbyHertz, which sends me back to – the same landing page I was already on. OK. So then I find another link and click on http://www.connectbyhertz.com. I’m instructed to hit “See the cars.”
Now I’m whizzed to a snazzy website where I click on New York and reach another page that tells me to “Book a car now.” First thing I read: “Rates start as low as $8.50 an hour.” Where is the $5 offer? How do I find it? So I click on Book Now under a nifty looking Toyota Prius. Next page.
“We’ll make this easy. Just tell us when you need the car and we’ll show you what’s available. Then, choose the car that’s right for whatever you’ve got planned.” I start from left to right across the navigation bar with Select Location and, boom, I’m taken back to a page to pick my country. Dumb me, I should have looked at the next tab to log in, which I do. Wasn’t this supposed to be easy?
Getting Close
Next I choose a date and time for the rental, click on See Availability. Nada. Zilch. I click and click. Then I look further down the page and see Look for Vehicles Near. OK, let’s try that. Input my zip code and a red star appears to indicate the nearest location where a car is available. Click on the star. Click on See Availability. Nope.
By now I refuse to give up. I start the entire process again. I can see 100 vehicles are available at a location close to my home – so near, yet so far. Click on the star. Click on See Availability again. Nope.
I scoot over to Zipcar for their availability, but I would need to fork over $85 to join. That’s why Hertz is so appealing – no application or yearly fees. I’ve used Connect to Hertz in the past before they got so fancy and forced me to go to Facebook to book a car. Why?
Social media is a great tool to reach customers with information and special offers. But companies shouldn’t force customers to take yet one more step in the buying process when it makes no sense. And where is that $5 an hour car?
