crm

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Thank Ten Customers Today

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About a month ago, some of my customers got upset that they were ineligible (US sweeps rules being what they are) for a promotion I designed around an event they planned to attend.  They complained on Facebook, and I thought they had a good point.

I looked them up in our database and sent them a handwritten note and some brand swag, just thanking them for being a Facebook fans and customers.

The couple hours I spent on that was 100% worth it. One of them even posted an Instagram photo of my note on our brand page.

Every marketing manager, VP, or exec should try this.  But don't wait for a reason to apologize.

Sit down and thank 10 customers.  They'll love it.  Reflect on why you do your job, whether you really value their business,  and keep that moment close to you.  

Relatisonhips matter, and having a great relationship with every customer should be your goal.

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Every Business is Different, even if you're selling Unicorns

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I enjoyed reading Dan Zarella's post “New Data: 'Engage in the Conversation' May Not Actually Work"  very much.   It made me think- would such a recommendation ever be enough to run an ongoing  social media effort for YOUR business?

What ultimately makes "enagaging in the conversation" actually work is the ability to drive action from followers/fans.  What are those actions?  Why are they important to your brand or product?

Communities are powerful, but unicorns and rainbows are equally powerful myths among many in social media.  What separates great social crm is a firm understanding of the consumer, and what they need.  
If you posted 100 tweets about the industry/your firm and then saved one sale with 10 @replies, that's only 10% reply percentage, whcih Zarella's charts imply is low.  Is it?  If it moves your business, you can't argue it's not working.
Agreed, in my example we don't have any data about operational costs or incremental revenue, but every business is different, even if you're selling unicorns.  Concentrate opn what your customers want, and track whether you're delivering it.

 

 

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Gifts I Want, from Staples

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No, no, it's ok, I have everything I want.  You don't need to get me anything.  Really?  What's this?  Socks?  (Actually, I just bought new athletic socks for running, no joke from Amazon (Affiliate Link).

But what I'm really exited about, gift wise, is this page used by Staples email marketing to promote thier Twitter comtest.  Let's face it, brands usually need to give prospective followers something exciting to do - classic what's in it for me.

Things I like about this page:

  1. I arrived via email- always try to support social with email
  2. Choose your prize (one of 5 gifts pictured, showing rage of the Brand as well)
  3. Emphasizes following @staplestweets
  4. Holiday Tweet generator (though I wish it had some more suggestion and was less “mad libs”

What are your favorites this holiday season? 

Closing the sale by being human

Looking for data on the auto shopping behaviors in social media, this video from Automotive Digest featuing Hans Van Order, CEO of UDC, realy stands out.

The theme of this video, "Time to be human again" is spot on- maintaining your existing relationships by being human is something you can do every day.  Don't rely on a computer, a twitter bot, or Google Adwords to do these for you.  The technology is a means to reach out, but the tech is meaningless without the human touch.  

CRM is certainly easier with certain kinds of technology, but being human is what really closes sales.