Customer service, the new marketing (part 2)
16 June 2010
Sales Tip 16th June 2010
Customer service the new marketing (part 2, Social Media)
Time to read this section about 55 seconds, time well spent
In my experience, customers make their purchasing decisions based on how they feel. When they develop relationships with their service and product suppliers, they tend to do more business with a person who smiles, is inviting and easy to talk to.
Take a moment to think about both your last great customer service experience, and your last bad customer service experience. Generally the main difference between these 2 experiences isn't about the product or service that the organisation provides, but more about the customer service, the reaction, how friendly and how helpful the staff member was during this interaction.
This is where social media can be the rise or fall of a business...some businesses are scared that people will say bad things about their business and drive customers away. That scares a number of businesses to try to avoid social media altogether. Unfortunately sticking your head in the sand won't protect your business! People will still say bad things, whether you are pro-active about it or not.
There are the businesses like Dell.com, Air New Zealand, TV3 and Vodafone who have used social media to engage their customers rather than just advertise to them. Used social media to find out what their customers are happy and unhappy about, in real time, and gain a general feeling for the mood of their customers. This allows businesses to respond quickly both minimising damage to their products and services and capitalising on opportunities before their competitors.
Here's a few ideas on how to capitalise on social media in New Zealand:
- MOST IMPORTANTLY Get your current customers ‘raving' about your products or services.
- Capitalise on your competitors mistakes and react to your own quickly and professionally.
- Use social networks that will best attract your target market (is Facebook the best to drive corporate kiwis to your business?).
- Make a plan and commit to it (once a week, 10 minutes a day, start blogs or make comments).
RepHub NZ is a great platform for you to get your customers raving about your products and services to attract more customers to your business. It's also a great platform to network with SME corporate and sales professionals.
Twitter is a great platform to communicate to your customers' small pieces of information quickly.
Facebook is great platform to keep your current customers up to date with your business.
LinkedIn is great for networking with USA, English and Indian corporate.
Fruitbowl is great for businesses with a Hawkes Bay focus.
Tripadvisor is great for international tourists looking for tourist reviews on accommodation.
You get the idea, there are a lot of options out there. Choose 2, make a plan and commit to them.
If you need any help, leave a comment and we'll be happy to offer our opinion.
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