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When Relationships Go South: Dealing with Negative Fallout Online

After my post on Relationship Killers, I received a great comment from Zach Rosenberg, who brings up another relationship killer—telling the customer they’re full of beans. Here’s what he had to say:

One of the relationship killers I’ve been seeing a lot is brands engaging incorrectly – namely, publicly telling a consumer that they’re wrong, or have somehow used their product wrong. If you’re addressing a customer in public – GREAT! But if you’re addressing them in public and telling them that they’re too dumb for your product somehow…then you’re letting them and everyone else within earshot know that you think your customers are idiots.

For example, loosely-related to another father-blogger’s recent experience – a customer frustratingly tweets something like “@Company’s online stock check sucks” The worst thing a brand can do is reply with something like “well it’s not really representative of the store’s stock. Did you call???”

This sort of brand interaction is toxic. An employee is so rah-rah about how great their retail establishment is that they’ve forgotten that customer experience is the reason why the technology exists…

Zach’s absolutely right—and this reaction isn’t limited to online relationships. We’ve all seen examples of terrible face-to-face customer service interaction, or have been victims of it. The trouble with having the same type of interaction with people online is that the audience “within earshot” is much bigger, and so is the potential fallout for your brand. But don’t think “in-store” interactions aren’t being shared online as well. Better train all employees who are consumer facing and make sure they understand how quickly how they behave can affect your brand.

NOT!

In my opinion, here are three ways brands can avoid this issue:

  1. Carefully screen your online customer facing representatives: If you’re going to outsource your social customer service or assign it to someone in-house, make sure the assignee has the right personality for the job. They should be customer-friendly, naturally helpful and sympathetic. This is generally NOT the job for your IT or development staff or a part-time intern. Just because they set up your profile, doesn’t mean they’re good at dealing with people. AND… train them properly and make sure they understand the ramifications of what they do.
  2. Don’t add customer service to an already overloaded individual: Stress is one of the biggest contributors to reactionary responses. Don’t be tempted to add customer service to someone’s plate when they already have a full-time job. It’s hard to keep your game face on when you’re pulled in too many directions, and this type of interaction requires focus and calm.
  3. Have a written plan in place for dealing with possible negative posts: It helps to sit down and brainstorm all the possible complaints or objections people could have to your product or service before you run into them. Rather than being surprised when something comes up, and not knowing what to say or having a knee-jerk reaction, plan out your responses for given situations. Be honest with yourself here, and put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Get with your legal department that is necessary in your industry for this exercise, but trust me—having a written guide for how to formulate responses by type will help tremendously. But for heaven’s sake, don’t send a “form letter type response” in a social setting. Personalize every response!

For instance, Zach went on to give me an example of a different way to respond to the negative post mentioned in his comment:

“It’s more simple (and makes them look better) to say something like, ‘We apologize; it’s not a perfect system, but we’re working on it! What item were you looking for?’ Even if that employee on Twitter can’t actually solve the problem, they’ve not made the customer feel like they’re the problem.”

Do you see how following these steps would have helped in this situation? Getting the right people in customer-facing situations and arming them with a plan for possible complaint types can help you turn potentially bad situations around… online and off.

Look at a negative response as an opportunity to assist someone, to build your brand reputation… and do your best to kindly resolve the situation and show consumer you care. Remember, you’re on “Candid Camera,” when it comes to social activity. When others see that you responded positively and quickly to resolve an issue, they are more attracted to your brand. Everyone loves great customer service—so be as transparent as possible when you interact with negative comments online. A relationship restored will bring you many happy returns!

Originally posted at TedRubin.com

Don’t Wait for Holidays to Make People Feel Special

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day brings back a lot of memories for parents of teens and grown children, and sometimes those memories can be lessons for business relationships as well—namely, don’t wait for holidays!

A friend told me recently that her eldest daughter bought her a beautiful live orchid for Mother’s Day and a bunch of seeds to plant in her garden. Her youngest daughter (who has no money), picked a big bouquet of flowers from the garden for the table. Both were highly appreciated, and gave the mom warm fuzzies—but she pointed out that they would have given her the same feelings anytime, not just Mother’s Day. So the lesson here is toalways be thinking up ways to make your customers and/or individuals in your networks feel special. What can you do for them “just because?”

As my friend’s example illustrates, you don’t have to spend lots of money to generate warm feelings—it’s the thought that counts!

Can you send a gift? A coupon? A free e-book? Some of your time? Sure you can—you just have to decide it is important and make the effort to do so. The important thing to remember when you’re actually sending something, however, is that it should seem to be spontaneous; out of the blue.

For instance, you could develop a practice of sending thank-you cards to your mailing list when seasons change. We don’t often receive cards in the mail these days, so they get our attention. A nice card that says, “Thank-you for being such a great [friend, customer, client, etc.], we hope you’re enjoying the Spring weather!” is sure to give the recipient a lift.

Birthday cards are another example. Everyone likes receiving birthday cards. If you can hand-write them and stamp them, so much the better. In fact, personally acknowledging any kind of life event with a card is a good practice, whether it’s a positive event or sympathy for a loss. It helps us feel more connected.

What else can you do? Here are some socially-oriented ideas for individuals:

  • Give shout-outs: Tag the person in a public update with a short statement of why you value them
  • Send them a picture or helpful article: Post a picture or article link on the person’s personal profile or email it to them and say something like: “I saw this and thought of you, [give their name]”
  • Give a recommendation or testimonial: If your customer has a LinkedIn profile and you’re connected, send them a spontaneous recommendation (without asking for one in return)
  • Klout influence: If you know people in the Klout.com network, add them as influencers or give them +Ks in their area of expertise to help their Klout scores

These are just a few ideas of how to make your clients, customers and those in your networks feel appreciated. Can you think of more examples? Feel free to share!

Remember, giving out warm fuzzies should never be a chore—it should become a habit. The more you do it, the more natural it becomes, and the more fun you’ll have with it. Plus, the relationships you nourish with this attention will grow to be priceless and add significantly to your Return on Relationship.

Brands, don’t be routine with your interactions, be remarkable.

Originally posted at TedRubin.com

Relationship Killers: Four of the WORST Mistakes Brands Make in Social Media

The biggest goal for any brand delving into social media should be to develop quality, productive relationships. That’s the bottom line. However, many brands still “don’t get it,” and consistently make mistakes that are damaging to them in social media and therefore damaging to their brand. In my opinion, there are four big no-no’s that not only kill those all-important relationships, but also tarnish your reputation:

1. Broadcasting:  Blasting out sales messages rather than listening and engaging has got to be the number one relationship killer of all time. Bar none. People hate to be sold—especially on social channels, where their main objective is to talk, get opinions, relax and have fun, or find answers to pressing problems. When a brand spends the majority of its time broadcasting, it’s a clear message to followers that they’re not interested in real, two-way communication.

Listening should be your first priority, followed by engagement. Don’t try to sell to people until you’ve earned their trust!

2. Taking Followers Offline to Resolve Issues:  If someone has a problem and comes to your social presence to try to get it resolved, the worst thing you can do is shunt them off to a customer service contact with a “form letter” response. Too often I see… “follow us so we can DM you,” on Twitter, or a quick move to traditional customer service channels on Facebook. People have an innate need to be validated—and “showing them the hand” is the fastest way to sour a customer relationship. Sometimes there are things that have to be resolved offline for legal issues, but the majority of complaints or requests for help should be addressed promptly and publicly in social channels. At the very least, if you MUST send them offline, do so in a friendly, personal manner. Address them by name, thank them for bringing the problem to your attention, and so on. Walk a mile in your customer’s shoes—how do you feel when you’re ignored or made to jump through hoops by a company you deal with?

Responding publicly has another important, beneficial, and cost saving benefit. Other people with the same issue, and you can/should assume there are many more, can receive resolution via your response, and see how you interact… and then make their own judgments about your brand character based on those interactions. If you’re doing it right, you will build brand advocates in the process, and when/if needed your best brand advocates will support you when they see that kind of open, honest communication.

3. Having No Brand Personality:  People who spend time on social media like to spend time with people—not logos. If you have a team of employees handling your social responses, don’t make them hide behind the brand logo when they interact with followers—give them a voice and a face. Ford does a great job of this with @ScottMonty building his personal brand along with theirs. Scott interacts with followers as himself, not the Ford brand. This humanizes the brand and fosters good communication. Being able to see the team members behind the company and interacting with them personally makes a big difference in fan loyalty.

When a company censors its employees and doesn’t allow them to participate in social discussion surrounding the brand, it’s usually because they’re afraid of “what might happen if…” They’re afraid they’ll spend too much time on social or say the wrong things. These issues can be resolved with a comprehensive social media policy so all employees know how and when they can and should interact. Remember, your employees should be some of your best advocates, and a natural extension of your “public face.”  You can’t do social right with employee censorship. Your people are your company’s personality. Let them shine for you. And… if you don’t trust your employees, maybe you have the wrong employees, or a business approach that will be difficult to sustain in this hyper-connected world.

4.  Making Social a Direct Marketing Channel:  Can you develop a relationship with a piece of direct mail? A TV commercial? A newspaper ad? An email blast? Of course not! Yet many brands treat social as an extension of their direct marketing efforts—mainly because that’s all they know. They’re used to handing off their marketing to an advertising agency and having them run with it so they can get on with their day. They think in terms of ROI formulas, but falter when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of one-on-one networking.  If that’s you, don’t feel too bad—it’s a habit that’s been drummed into you and hard to break. But you’ve got to break it! Adopt a whole new mindset around social, and think in terms of building relationships and an emotional connection to your brand, or you’ll always be frustrated with your results. Remember… Social Media drives engagement, engagement drives loyalty, and loyalty correlates directly to increased sales. Return on Relationship™ = ROI.

This goes back to the “Broadcasting” mistake I mentioned earlier. Think in terms of providing helpful content, fun ways to communicate, sharing information and asking questions. Leave the direct marketing stuff in traditional channels. Get a sense of who your audience is and give them what they’re looking for in your social communications, or you’ll get “un-followed” or ignored in a hurry.

What other “relationship killers” have you come across when dealing with brands online, and how do you think they could be avoided? Conversely, which brands have you noticed that are “getting it right” in social media when it comes to Return on Relationship™?

Social Commerce is Relationship Commerce

We’re hearing more and more about “Social Commerce” these days – but how many of us actually understand its implications?  I’ve spent years in the midst of the evolution of commerce: As traditional commerce shifted into a digital world, becoming e-commerce, and now evolving through the evolution of social media into Social Commerce. The implications here are huge because the maturing of Social Commerce is… Relationship Commerce.

There are some guiding principles to Relationship Commerce.  None seem drastically different on their own; though they seem radically new when applied to the realm of commerce:

  • Relationships matter.  Discovering something you love is great, learning about it from someone you trust is even better.
  • Buying from someone you like is way more fun and rewarding than buying from someone you either do not like, or have no feeling one way or the other.
  • Shopping can be better.

Relationship Commerce is simple yet novel, it’s buying from people, brands, and entities you know and trust and learning about through social channels in a way that is authentic, natural and a part of your daily interactions. If marketing is relevant, it is a “service” NOT a “promotion.”

But in a fast paced, digital world, defining and maintaining our relationships has become unexpectedly difficult.  Social Media has enabled us to connect with an infinite number of individuals; it has given us the tools to extend relationships that years ago would have been impossible.  But in many respects we are failing and simply starting to believe that a “follow” or “like” is a relationship and after that we can simply move on to the next. This is not an email list or a database. We must be certain to remember: “Social Media is a facilitator of relationships, but it is not the relationship itself.”  You have to give to get. No relationship can survive without trust; it’s so simple in concept yet not always easy to execute.

With effort, a relationship may begin from the request of a Facebook friend or following someone on Twitter; but make no mistake – that initial request or follow will never create the relationship.  Trust is built upon interaction, when you’re true to your word, authentic, and genuine. To build relationships online, you (as a brand or individual) have to offer value in return. Be it via valuable information and content, or personal introductions, engagement and interaction… connection will remain key.

By asking questions and proposing ideas, you can engage your followers in such a way to give them the ability and reason to respond. Then when they do respond, interact with them to solidify your relationship, lest it fade away. Directly acknowledge their response, ask follow-up questions and share their insights with others.  Follow me on Twitter (@tedrubin) and you’ll see what I mean. The more responsive you are to your audience, the more responsive they’ll be to you. And that’s where relationships are born. It is this interpersonal exchange, the relationship, which differentiates Relationship Commerce.  You might even consider picking up the phone sometime and actually talking to someone… or even to many. Life is not just about financial exchange, and neither is commerce… especially in today’s hyper-connected “click here to share” world.

The way I see it, we’re overdue for a revolution in retail.  So many of us have been sharing our passions and discoveries, it’s about time brands and retailers took notice, gave us a voice, embraced the consumers perspective, and realized how our social presence can enhance their bottom line.

Originally posted at Collective Bias

Twitter basics… In My Humble Opinion

The mistakes I see being made is trying to measure Social engagement with the same tools we measure every other digital touch point. In my view email, search, even banner ads, have spoiled marketers into thinking everything can be and must be measured with the metrics used to gauge success in other mediums. I am not sure of what the next stage will be for you, but in the beginning, when you are building your Social Media audience, and testing, I have three stages with which I measure… #1 is Audience growth, #2 is Reactivity… getting them to take an action, and #3 Stickiness… keeping them coming back, engaged and interacting. After you achieve all these I feel measurement will easily follow depending upon what is important to you and your brand.

If you want to continue to reach your market in this social media age, the marketing focus needs to be on building relationships, and metrics need to expand beyond ROI (Return on Investment) to include ROR: Return on Relationship™. If you are not engaging in your field of expertise on Twitter someone else is, so the first issue is that you are missing that opportunity and handing it to others. Second… if you are not talking about your business, your customers and prospects probably are, and you are not there to participate, engage, interact and most important for your business… listen and lead.

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Are You Too Comfortable to Grow? Break out of that Mindset!

Most of us spend our lives trying to “get comfortable and stay comfortable.” We want a roof over our heads, enough food to eat, a decent car to drive, and enough money that we don’t have to worry about the next mortgage payment. That’s just who we are as human beings.

However, that ingrained need to be comfortable extends into our psyche, and can keep us from growing. We don’t like to feel exposed or vulnerable, so we don’t take chances—we limit our thinking so we can feel safe—even to the point of sabotaging our own success. Unfortunately this often begins when we’re young. Many times it is something our parents pass along without even realizing how they’re setting the stage for us. When we hear things like “Oh, Johnny doesn’t like to read,” or “Sue isn’t good at sports,” those things get hardwired into our mental attitudes and before you know it, they become limiting beliefs that keep us from reaching our true potential.

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Social Credibility—Your Relationship Insurance Policy… dedicated to #BewbLuv

This quote has taken on some special meaning for me today…

“Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one.” ~Jane Howard

We all need one… Return on Relationship is there for everyone when they need it most.

 

We’ve all bought insurance policies before. We insure our cars, our houses, our health, our lives—even our vacations! Most of us never have to use the majority of insurance policies we buy, but we’re comforted by the fact that they’re there—waiting—if we ever have a crisis.

But did you know that the relationships you build in social circles can also act as a kind of insurance policy? Whether you realize it or not, you’re building “social cred” every day—and if you do it right, it will act as insurance that can pay off big time when you need it most.

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My Single Most Powerful Productivity Trick

You could circle the world at least dozen times just by stringing together all the words that have been written about productivity.

In particular, managing information overload in a social and new media era is a topic that never ceases to draw the masses. There isn’t a day that passes that I don’t see at least a post from someone lamenting how they simply can’t keep up anymore, or keep track of what they have to do, or how they’re getting buried in information but not finding anything valuable out there. It happens to the best of us.

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