Andy Sernovitz's Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!

Real feedback when it matters

Most companies spend a ton of money doing generic research.  Most front-line employees aren't part of the process. But that's where the best insights come from

Renald Fortune is a banquet server at Lowe's Royal Pacific Resort in Orlando.  I was at a conference and I commented on the better-than-usual food.

Renald took a moment to thank me. Then he asked me to go to the web site to provide more feedback.

 

He cared enough to engage with a customer, to make a personal connection, and genuinely ask what I thought. It seems like a company-wide attitude.

The lesson:  What can you do to get your team to truly care what customers think?

Watch my video interview with Renald:

 

Visible Word of Mouth

 

Word of mouth isn't necessarily spoken.  Sometimes it's a function of the how people behave.

Take a look at the people in the photo.  All pilots. 

That's all you need to know when picking a restaurant in an airport. 

And yes, Rubio's makes the greatest fish taco in the world.

P.S. Add your thoughts to the list of Greatest Airport Food of All Time

Northwestern U Course in Social Network Analysis

I'm on the faculty at Northwestern where I teach Word of Mouth Marketing.  I just noticed this fascinating new course.  More evidence that word of mouth is moving from art to science.

Topics in Communication Studies: Social Network Analysis

Description: This course explores the use of social network analysis to understand the growing connectivity and complexity in the world around us on different scales - ranging from small groups to the World Wide Web. It examines how we create social, economic and technological networks and how these networks enable and constrain our attitudes and behavior.

The course will discuss how social networks concepts, theories, and visual-analytic methods are being used to design  and understand a wide range of phenomena such as social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, MySpace), recommender systems (e.g., Amazon, NetFlix, Pandora), trust and reputation systems (e.g., eBay, Epinions, Slashdot), search engines (e.g., Google, Technorati), P2P file-sharing (e.g., BitTorrent; Joost), user-generated content (e.g., Flickr, Wikipedia, Yelp), social bookmarking (e.g., del.icio.us, digg, reddit) and virtual worlds (e.g., Second Life, World of Warcraft).

Instructor: Professor Noshir Contractor, Northwestern University

Site: http://nosh.northwestern.edu/

(Thanks for the tip, Megan!)

The little things matter #2

I wrote about the nice word-of-mouth-worthy coffee perks at a $700 hotel in Miami. 

But I also travel to exotic destinations like Marriott's Fairfield Inn in Grand Rapids.

Waiting for me in the room:  Cookies, water, and manager Jodi Beers' business card.  It was a weekend, it was a personal trip, and there was no reason to do anything special for me.

But Jodi did.  This entire gesture cost $1 and took 1 minute.  Made me very happy.

It's not about the chance that some guy like me will blog it.  It's about the genuine warm-and-fuzzy feelings that each customer leaves with.

I'm curious about how/if Marriott encourages this.  I stay there fairly often, and this sort of thing  happens a lot, usually in the out-of-the-way locations.

Your job:  Right now - find something nice you can do for every customer that costs less than $1.

What would you do? Starbuck is closing for 3 hours tonight.

Starbucks is closing for 3 hours tonight.

Dunkin' Donuts is giving away free coffee.

An amazing word of mouth opportunity. 

What would you do? Comment below.

From the Chicago Tribune:

On Tuesday, Starbucks plans to close almost all of its 7,100 stores between 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. for an unprecedented education and training session for its employees. The event, according to Transformation Agenda Communication #6, "signals the company's focus on transforming the Starbucks experience" for both its customers and workers.

Coincidentally, Dunkin' Donuts has planned a special promotion offering free small lattes, cappuccinos or espressos at all 450 Chicago-market locations from 1 to 10 p.m. to overlap with the event.

Full story ...

Get into the community

Are your best people stuck in your store? Or are they out there in the community, making friends and building goodwill?

Barnes and Noble has a huge advantage over Amazon in one way - real people in the community.  Each store has a "community relations manager" whose job is to get out there and connect. They will host a book event for you, come to your events and sell books, let you have your community group meet in the store, and handle all sorts of wacky requests.  They make a lot of friends.

The lesson:  How can you turn your employees into ambassadors?

Kathy Kaysen from Barnes & Noble in Minneapolis talks with me about it:

 

Thanks, Kathy!

BtoB blogging advice from Dave Armano and Matt Dickman

Great advice for BtoB bloggers from two smart guys Matt Dickman of Fleishman-Hillard and Dave Armano of Critical Mass.  Also some good advice on how to get started.

Watch the video:

(Kudos to Debra Murphy from Vista Consulting who blogged my video before I did. Nice!)

Sometimes you see some amazing things: Miami Speech on March 6

I'm speaking March 6 in Ft. Lauderdale at the AMA South Florida dinner.    The generous hosts are giving a copy of my book free to all attendees.

More info here

But check out this video they made to promote the event!

I promise that I won't sing.

 

QVC.com and amazing community participation

400,000 reviews were posted on QVC.com in the last 8 months. Amazing.

Bob Myers, CEO of QVC.com, talks with me about their amazing level customer participation.  He shares a great story about how even their celebrity hosts, like Carson Kressley get into the conversation.   

There’s a signal in this for all etailers: Consumers want to be heard. They want to be part of the process. They want to share what they think with you … but more important they want to talk to your other shoppers.

400,000 reviews represents more content volume than any marketing team could ever generate. That content fills the site with richness — richness that is a magnet for search engines.

More important: That review content has credibility that no marketer could ever have with corporate written copy. Each review sends key messages to shoppers:

1. Real consumers just like you are shopping here. Every review is an implied endorsement of the entire site. 
2. This company cares about what we think. 
3. The products are good. If they weren’t, why would the company let us review them?

Watch the interview:

Some of this post was previously posted here.

Good reads

1. Achievement-Based Interviewing by Mel Kleinman with JoAnna Brandi. 

• A really interesting take on how to interview potential employees.  I've found it helpful and eye-opening.
• More info

2. Humanize It: Bring five-star sparkle to your customer interactions and watch your business flourish by Micah Solomon and Leonardo Inghilleri.

• Being human, nice, and real is how smart companies win.
• Download free from ChangeThis

3. TED Talks Videos

• Possibly the most interesting people in the world, in 20-minute while-you-exercise portions.
• Download here or from iTunes.

Make it easy to read: Jeremiah Owyang

Jeremiah is a top analyst at Forrester Research.  He makes a good living selling expensive research.  But he has fans because he gives it away too. 

The best part:  Jeremiah does a great weekly summary on his blog that is perfectly designed for the busy reader. It delivers just what you need to know, in a variety of formats based on how busy you are. Take a look:

I’m respecting your limited time by publishing this weekly summary, read the summary, then quickly scan headlines, read the bullet, then click to learn even more.

I’ve created a category called Digest (you can see archives) where you can start to track and access these going forward. Quickly scan the succinct and categorized headlines, read summary for analysis, and click link to dive in for more. You can subscribe to this digest tag only, which filters only these posts tagged digest. 

Need to make decisions about your web strategy? I’m here to help: subscribe to my blog, sign up for emails (right nav), follow me on Twitter, I’ll add you back.

The lesson: Want more readers?  Make it easy for them to read how, where, and what they want.

Making a splash on at a trade show

Trade shows are tough for exhibitors.  You've got a ton of competition, lots of distractions, and (frankly) most of the attendees want to avoid you. 

One way to stand out: Extend your presence beyond the booth with a clever handout.

BazaarVoice had a great booth at the Shop.org Innovation event.  They passed out funny ribbons for people to put on their nametags.  By the end of the show everyone was wearing one.

Everyone had fun, BazaarVoice got noticed, and it must have made their competitors insane to see everyone walking around with them.

To make this work keep it really, really simple and fun.  No one is going to wear your advertising.  You need to think about what makes the participants happy, not your marketing department.  (Notice that the ribbons don't even have the BazaarVoice logo.  But everyone knew where they came from.)

Watch the video

 

P.S. I'm an advisor to BazaarVoice

Twitter is a weird thing

But useful.

If you follow enough people, here's what you get

1. A true sense of what's going on out there
2. Early links to news (before it shows up in the alerts from major media)
3. Links to the greatest blog posts that you would have missed
4. A lot of silliness
5. A sense of community. It's like a non-stop happy hour.

It's one of those you-just-gotta-try-it things.  So try it for 2 weeks.  I went from skeptical to a fan.

Remember, you have to follow a lot of people or it doesn't do much. So find someone you like and follow them, then follow who they follow.

Start with me:  http://twitter.com/sernovitz

(More from Jeremiah)

Update: Added the Twitter application to my Facebook page. Now I'm getting a ton more Facebook messages. In a good way

This is what a home page is for

There is nothing more important than capturing an email address on your home page.

There is nothing more important than capturing an email address on your home page.

There is nothing more important than capturing an email address on your home page.

You spend a ton of effort and cash getting people to visit your web site.  You hope they buy something.  Most people don't.

If you let them leave without some way to contact them again -- you need to spend all that effort and cash a second time to get them back.  That doubles your cost and reduces your profitability.

If you get their email -- and send a nice newsletter -- you can bring them back to your web site again and again and again. For free. Forever.

Here's a great example from the Obama home page. It's the only thing first-time visitors see.

More on Meatball Sundaes

I wrote the other day about Seth Godin's Meatball Sundae idea: 

• Word of mouth and social media work best when you design your company/products specifically to take advantage of these techniques. 
• They don't work so well when you slap the new stuff on an old business model.

Here's an example of this from Andy Nulman's blog:

Will Wright's next computer game, Spore ... designed a modeling tool that gives players the power to take the things they create within the game outside its confines and into other digital realms, a la YouTube, Facebook, 3D printers, et al.

The product is built from scratch to be shared. It's word of mouth to its core.

Who Loves You, Baby?

I've been passing out these buttons everywhere I speak.  Just to cheer people up.

Here's the great news:  Most people choose "I Love My Job".

Send me a note here and I'll mail some to you. Download the original graphics and print your own.

(Thanks to Scott for the I Love My Job idea.)

Yes yes yes

Seth Godin: "It's too easy to criticize hope. And in the end, cynicism is a lousy strategy."

A rare moment of corporate transparency

Chicagoist released a unique video today -- Sam Zell talking to the management team of the Chicago Tribune.  It's fascinating for lots of reasons, including a look at how a takeover artist talks to his new company, how the Trib is dealing with the changing/collapsing newspaper industry, and how any company faces rough times.

But most of all, it's amazing that such a video exists - and that it is available for all of us to watch.  It is an amazing comment on openness and transparency in the corporate world. Transparency isn't about showing the good stuff - it's about showing the real stuff.

Assuming they approved the release ... major kudos. Only good can come from this sort of public trust.

If it is an unauthorized leak ... let it be a lesson to all companies that everything you say is on the record.

 

Sam Zell's Talk at the Chicago Tribune from margaret on Vimeo.

Snowball of Meat: Seth Godin's new book

As usual, Seth Godin's latest book makes a big, complicated idea really simple.  Here are the big ideas in Meatball Sundae:

1. The new marketing (blogs, social media, etc.) works really well for companies and products that are built to take advantage of it. 
2. Slapping a blog or viral video on an old-school product isn't going to work. It's forced, fake, and just doesn't make sense, like putting whipped cream and cherries on a bowl of meatballs.
3. Companies that use these new word of mouth techniques have an advantage over old-school companies.  They get their customer easier and cheaper than competitors, giving them a fundamental structural advantage.
4. Your job: Figure out how you can change your company to take advantage of these tools.

For all of my consulting clients, this is an important theme that we talk about every day.  Word of mouth isn't hard to do.  But it can't just be for show.  You need to really challenge yourself to ask three key questions:

1. Why would anyone tell a friend about us?
2. What would they say?
3. How can we make it easier for them to tell more friends?

Case Study: The Candy Heart Generator

Happy Valentine's Day from the wonderfully sad people at Despair Inc.  They are the champs of using humor in marketing.

Check out the Candy Heart Generator

Take some time to study their web site.  It's full of well-executed word of mouth strategies that you should copy.

1. Commit to the message:  It's not just that they sell funny stuff. It's that they are true to the brand, with the humor message woven all they way through every thing they do. You'll get more word of mouth when your fans know that their friends are going to get a complete experience, not a one-time viral gimmick.

2. Use many tactics:  They do a little of everything.  Blogs, podcasts, ecards, customer-generated content.  You never know what is going to be a big word of mouth hit, so try it all.  Invest a little bit in a lot of things. Test everything you can.  When something viral gets really big...do more of that.

3. Get the little things right:  All those little tell-a-friend forms, "share this" links, and email lists will fundamentally improve pass-along and conversion rates. Do them well.

Check them out, learn, and buy their stuff.  One of my favorites:

White Castle: Make Your Valentine's Day Reservations

Possibly the greatest word of mouth promotion ever for a restaurant:

Make reservations at White Castle for Valentines Day.

Free samples and word of mouth

It's hard to talk about something you've never used.

Free samples, one of the oldest marketing techniques, is a proven way to start conversations.  You need to put something in people's hands to spark the talk.

I got a free sample of a Schick Quattro razor in an order I received from Amazon. I liked it and I'll probably switch brands.

My wife got one, too. She didn't like it.

What's the net word of mouth impact? Probably positive.

• As a happy user of the product, I'll be talking about it over the long term.  I have a story to tell about how I got it free and how I liked it enough to switch. Plus, you talk more about things that you see every day.

• As a non-user, my wife may mention it if directly asked about the razor, but her experience with the product is essentially over.  Not much left to talk about, and it's unlikely to come up in conversation.

The lesson: Free samples are a great way to start word of mouth.

How to start conversations

I've blogged before about my very pretty new monitor from Dell.  It's become an interesting case study.

Letitia runs the office where we sublet, and she's an Apple user.  She came by my office to ask a question, and immediately noticed the monitor.  I told her it was only $239, and was Mac compatible. She said she had been saving up for a monitor from Apple for 3x the price, but she was going to check out the Dell instead.

Here are some interesting word of mouth marketing ideas that came from the conversation:

1.  Use conversation-starters.
An Apple cable came with the monitor, and I'll never use it. This cost Dell money -- but if it hadn't been there, I never would have known it was Apple-compatible.  The cable is a conversation starter. The resulting word of mouth pays for the extra cost. What can you put in the box to start a conversation?

2.  Use good names. 
It's hard to recommend the "SP2208WFP" and it's harder for the person you're talking with to remember it. Call it the Fred 22" or something like that.  (It's easier to recommend a Camry than an SLX.) Simple product names get better word of mouth.

3.  Use simple URLs.
Create simple web pages to match product names. Let your talkers say "Just go to dell.com/fred" -- easy to recommend and easy to buy. Make it easier to turn a referral into a site visit.

4.  Use referral landing pages.
Create a place for recommenders to send people.  For example, give me a page at dell.com/sernovitz with all my favorite purchases and wish lists. It's easy to do and it makes me look great when I tell people about it. Give me points when my friends visit. Give referrers status and recognition.

The lesson:  Great word of mouth is more than buzz. It's nailing the simple tactics that help the conversation spread.

Combating trade show stress

Here's great advice from trade show guru Julia O'Connor of Trade Show Training. I've been a fan of her newsletter for years.  Subscribe here.

HOW TO COMBAT TRADE SHOW STRESSES...by Julia O'Connor

1. PLAN FOR AN 18 HOUR DAY... From arising at 6am to hitting the pillow at midnight, the exhibitor staff must be sharp. This means, watch the booze, get solid sleep, keep breath mints handy, watch the diet - no onions, garlic, smelling spicy things. And don't come to the show tired because you trying to tie up all the loose ends before you left. Plan your time before and during the show, Sleep on the plane going home. 

2. WATCH YOUR FEET... Not only where you are walking so you don't trip, but what you put on your feet. Change shoes at least twice a day - a difference in heel height and toe enclosures help. Make sure the shoes are neat, clean and comfy. 

3. PLAN ON CLOTHING... We may comfortable in casual clothes but there are two very important caveats (1) If wearing casual clothes they must be neat and clean every hour of the day (2) Make certain your dress is appropriate for each event. 

4. KNOW THE SCHEDULE...A big stressor is not being in the right place at the right time. Get the directions and schedule beforehand, figure the times - the larger the event, the more traffic congestion, the greater the chance you will be stuck in a traffic jam. And the larger the show, the more people congestion you will run into with registration or just getting to your spot on the floor. 

5. TAKE A BREAK...On the floor, I advise you schedule two hours on, 15 -30 minutes off for food and bathroom breaks. Have a flexible schedule for all staffers, but make sure everyone takes time off the floor to refresh.

Thanks, Julia 

Love to love you baby

Donna Summer summed up the appeal of Guy Kawasaki's new site when she sang:

When you’re laying so close to me
There’s no place I’d rather you be
Than with me here

I love to love you baby...

Egos at Alltop puts the most popular - and often incendiary - bloggers on one page together.  I'm sure these guys are going to be writing about it, maybe nastily, because no one can resist their own name.  It's a great strategy to bring people into the Alltop site, which has pages for blogs on all sorts of topics.  But starting with big-deal bloggers is a great way to jump start the conversation.

Why does this work?

Recognition is one of the most powerful generators of word of mouth.  We love it when a company acknowledges our existence, when they comment on our page, when they add us to their blogroll, when they give us a gold star on the message board.

What should you do about it?

Say thank you a lot. Comment on blogs. Mention your favorite customers in your newsletter. Give out VIP cards. Send thank you notes.  Anything that that shows your community that you know they exist.

Fat Grilling Machine!

Why design matters: 

Did I buy a George Foreman Fat Grilling Machine, or a Fat Reducing Grilling Machine?

It's good to have a goofy name

When you Google "sernovitz" you pretty much get me.  Having a relatively rare name make it easy to have a big presence online.

It's harder for people who have Google-proof names, like Michael Rubin and Jennifer White.  There are a zillion results, none of them relevant.

Think about this when you name your next product.

Chicago Tribune: "Storm grounds flights, closes mall"

Oh no! The mall is closed!

I love "quotation" marks

Read The “Blog” of “Unnecessary” Quotation Marks

The little things matter

I was in a $700 Fairmont hotel room in Miami (paid for by someone else). It was nice.

But what really turned me on was the fantastic coffee with a real French coffee press.

Any hotel could improve the coffee machine and make every guest happier.  It wouldn't cost more than $50. Why don't they?

It's the little things that make people happy. It's the little things that start word of mouth.

Lesson: Look for one simple conversation-worthy thing you could upgrade today.

Applause! Applause! In Recognition of Outstanding Customer Service

American Airlines sent me a sheet of these coupons to recognize employees who give outstanding customer service.  I love it! 

Customers will complain without any help. Getting positive feedback needs a little push. 

Of course, I don't carry the coupons when I fly, so I've never used them.  Could they give these out at the gate or print them with your boarding pass?

PR News Webinar Mar 31

I'm pleased to be joining Ogilvy's Virginia Miracle and Golin-Harris's Idil Cakim on my second webinar for PR News.

Here are the details:

Now more than ever, knowing how to engage your customers and foster brand enthusiasts is what will separate your organization from your competitors. Recognizing that word-of-mouth marketing is a powerful and cost-effective tool in your communications arsenal, PR News has designed a nuts and bolts workshop to help you build your reputation and bottom line through savvy Word of Mouth strategies.

   

Word of mouth is such a commonly used phrase, but the truth is, very few companies are effectively using this tactic to advance their standing in the marketplace. Spend 90 minutes at this March 31st Webinar and you’ll see how Word of Mouth will work for you.

   

At this Webinar, you’ll get case studies of companies using word of mouth marketing to boost reputation, media exposure and sales, and you’ll learn how to:

   

       

• Identify the Influencers in your markets
       
• Create and maintain customer evangelists
       
• Execute effective viral marketing communications
       
• Implement online vs. offline word of mouth tactics
       
• Use online conversations to spread your company’s message
       
• Use social networks to your advantage
       
• Set up online communities, loyalty programs, blogs and other WOM techniques
       
• Learn the 5 steps of a good viral campaign – Talkers, Topics, Tools, Talking Parts and Tracking
       
• Boost sales through Word of Mouth PR and marketing
       
• Make PR lead the conversation with customers and other stakeholders
       
• Measure your word of mouth techniques
       
• Choose the best low-cost tools for tracking Word of Mouth
       

Website

Prediction: Short-sighted greed kills United Airlines

United just announced that they are charging passengers $25 to check a second bag. This is supposed to make them $100 million this year. 

It will also infuriate 4 million customers.  If 10% of those customer switch airlines - and they will - United loses $100 million this year. Plus they lose all future revenue from those customers.   

United already makes you pay extra to sit in the front of the plane.  They will fly the plane with 15 empty rows to enforce this policy. They make millions of dollars doing this.  But ...

You should see the anger of fully-paid ticket holders being blackmailed at check-in for another $25 to get a good seat, even when they booked tickets months ago. You should feel the waves of fury from dozens of people in middle seats in the back of plane while the front flies empty. You should feel the embarrassment of flight attendants who are put in the horrible position of enforcing this policy. 

Ideas from Customer Service is the New Marketing #3

A zillion great ideas from the Customer Service is the New Marketing conference.

1. When you open up to customer participation, your brand belongs to your customers, not you. 
2. Use your product every day. It aligns your interests with your customers'. It lets you fix problems as they happen. It lets you see things as a user, which is always more helpful than seeing it as a marketer. 
3. Turn the bullhorn around. Stop talking. Give the community a chance to speak. 
4. There is no such thing as a "community strategy". The community will do what it wants.  Go with it. 
5. Join conversations early.  Negative gets worse if you don't respond. Positive grows when you do. 
6. Why pay for product photos? Encourage your community to share their product photos. They may even blog about the fact that you chose their photos. 
7. Sounding "professional" does not require you to sound like an ass. You don't need formal language or big words. Talk like a human being. Talk to people online like you talk to your friends. 
8. The great thing about communities is that you can hear from everyone. The bad thing about communities is that you can hear from everyone. 
9. It's ok to moderate and set rules of civil discourse. You can politely refuse to engage with ranters who don't want to have a civil conversation. 
10. Your community will support you if you enable them.  When a critic gets vocal, let your fans reply instead of you. 
11. Listen to experts but design for novices. 

From the panel "Customer service as community, community as customer service"

• Gina Bianchini, Ning 
• Matt Mullenweg, Wordpress 
• Tara Huntl, Citizen Agency 
• Patti Roll, Timbuk2 
• Brian Oberkirch, Small Good Thing

Ideas from Customer Service is the New Marketing #2

A zillion great ideas from the Customer Service is the New Marketing conference.

1. Wesabe's CEO answers his own phone and the phone number is on the public support site.  People call all the time to see if it's real - then get so surprised that they hang up when he answers.  It's a huge confidence-builder for new customers.
2. Let the community help itself. There is no more cost-effective service than customer-to-customer service.
3. Communicate MORE when things are going wrong. Use a blog that is hosted somewhere else so you have a way to communicate if your site goes down.
4. The average employee doesn't spend their time handling business process. They handle exceptions to business process. How do you prepare them?
5. Find customers who support other customers (like those people who voluntarily answer questions in the forums).  Support those people. Give them knowledge, attention, recognition, and gratitude.
6. Enlist the community to help moderate, edit, and improve.  Do they have the tools?
7. When you email a customer-satisfaction survey, if anyone checks "unhappy" -- immediately and automatically page your senior service team and your CEO to get it fixed on the spot.
8. Surveys with open-text question are hard to compile, so companies avoid them.  What should you do with all that messy data? Read it and learn!
9. Customers who are great contributors are doing it for their own reasons, not yours. Figure out what motivates them.
10. Get smaller as you grow.  Break customer service into smaller and smaller teams focused on supporting very specific segments.

From the panel "Scaling Customer Service"

• Marc Hedlund, Wesabe
• Heather Champ, Flickr
• Frederick Mendler, Rackspace
• Ross Mayfield, SocialText
• Pratap Penumalli, Google

The Speed of Trust

I recommend that you get your hands on "The Speed of Trust" by Stephen M. R. Covey.  It comes out in paperback today.

Trust is the root of word of mouth. It's what all great companies (big and small) are built on.

This book does the best job yet of making the case for focusing on trust in business.  It's too bad we need a business case for for something like this, but so many companies do. Start here in your mission to educate your colleagues.

Ideas from Customer Service is the New Marketing

A zillion great ideas from the Customer Service is the New Marketing conference.

1. Check out the Company-Customer Pact. Big idea: It takes two sides to make things better - companies treating us well, and customers treating service reps like real people, and giving them a break sometimes.
2. Anonymity gives people license to be rude. This applies to employees and customers. Putting your name on something ties ensures responsibility and civility. It's easy to be a rude service rep, until people start asking for you by name. It's easy to abuse an anonymous customer service rep, but harder to abuse a real person with a real name.
3. Zappos:  3/4 of purchases are from repeat customers. Loyalty is a huge competitive advantage.  Let's say the average cost of customer acquisition in their field is $50.  They are always $37.50 ahead of the competition. How can you beat that?  (a - Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos)
4. Zappos:  There are no call center time limits.  "A rep would spend an hour on the phone with a customer and not result in a sale - and that's perfectly ok with us." What's important is building a long-term relationship.  (a)
5. Zappos: Everyone hired goes through 4 weeks of training on customer service, loyalty, and company culture -- even executives, lawyers, accountants, etc. (a)
6. Zappos: The company has a "culture book" that every employee can add to.  It's full of the good and the bad.  Management doesn't edit it. What a great way to prove that openness isn't just talk. (a)
7. Make WOW part of your company's everyday vocabulary. When people ask everyday Did you wow this customer? it gets everyone to redefine what customer service is. (a)
8. Customer service is an investment, not an expense. (a)
9. Give great service to everyone - including vendors and employees.  They're all part of your community and integral to your success. (a)
10. Why most service sucks: Companies do it as an afterthought to sell more stuff. (b - Robert Stephens, Founder and Chief Inspector, The Geek Squad)
11. Geek Squad: They set the tone from the moment they walk in the door and take off their shoes. That's why they wear white socks. (b)
12. When you have no money for marketing, everything you do is marketing. (b)
13. Creativity doesn't have to cost anything. If you have a lot of money, limit how much you use, force creative solutions instead. (b)
14. Don't even look at your own industry for ideas - look everywhere else. If you take it from your own industry, you're a copycat. If you go to a different industry, they'll tell you how they did it - and you're the innovator in your industry. (b)
15. The Founder's Dilemma:  How am I going to get other people to convey our values after I'm gone? How do you institutionalize the vision? What would happen to their companies if Steve Jobs or Richard Branson left?  Geek Squad institutionalizes the culture with dress, attitude, gimmicks, and fun. (b)
16. Hire for the skills you cannot train for: Curiosity, drive, and ethics. (b)
17. Geek Squad puts it's logo on the the heel of their shoes.  They average human takes 7,000 steps a day x 17,000 employees.  Even if it doesn't show up on the balance sheet, it sends a message to the team: We want you to be different and to question things.  And it's great word of mouth. (b)

 

(a) Tony Hsieh, CEO, Zappos

(b) Robert Stephens, Founder and Chief Inspector, The Geek Squad

AMA Webcast (Free!) Apr 23

I'm doing a rare live, free webcast for the American Marketing Association.

Tune in to Marketing News Radio and ask your own questions of this dynamic author with our call-in feature. The first FIVE callers will receive a free autographed book.  If you aren't able to dial in on the day of the show, please email your questions prior to the show, radio@ama.org.

Toll Free, U.S. & Canada: 877.474.3302
Outside U.S. & Canada: 858.678.8958

Website

Customer Service is the New Marketing Conference Feb 4, San Francisco

I'm quite looking forward to attending (but not speaking at) this fascinating conference.  As a professional speaker, it's rare for me to attend an event just for fun, but this one has an important message.

Learn how smart organizations are turning customer service from just a cost center into an engine for building culture and creating evangelists.

This conference brings together innovative business leaders from several industries to share tips and suggestions about how they got their own organizations to do customer service differently. Confirmed speakers include Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos; Alex Frankel, author of "Punching In"; Michael Murphy, head of customer service for Virgin; Robert Stephens, founder of The Geek Squad; and many more below.

I'll be bringing free books for attendees.

Website

Company - Customer Pact

Learn more and comment here

Superbowl

Ze Frank speaks for me:

Best line:  "Everyone knows it takes millions of dollars to create compelling content."         

Website

Customer Service is the New Marketing

I'm off to the Customer Service is the New Marketing conference on Monday.  Let's just say the had me at the name.  I'm excited to see old friends and meet new ones.  Anyone who is smart enough to show up at an event like this truly gets it.

Looking forward to meeting new folks and seeing old friends.

Kudos to Get Satisfaction for creating it.

Tech Data (private event) Apr 18, Chicago

Website

Blood Centers of America (Private Event) Apr 23, Chicago

CUNA Mutual Group Discovery Conference Jun 19, Hollywood, Fl

Website

The PBR of internships

Check out this ad from Pitchfork:

Pitchfork Seeks Administrative Intern in NYC Office
The PBR of internships

Pitchfork Media is looking for some obnoxious hipster scum to beat up in the back alley of our New York City office. But more importantly, we're seeking an administrative intern. (Seriously, no mustaches.) The ideal candidate will be available 10-15 hours a week and have prior administrative experience. It'd be pretty great if you also have some general office experience and familiarity with business applications (you know, like Microsoft Office). A good presence on the phone and strong writing skills are mandatory. Tasks include, but are not limited to, coordinating schedules, shredding watermarked promos, and assisting all departments with daily operations as needed. Qualified applicants must submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@pitchforkmedia.com. Deadline is Friday, February 1 at 6:00 p.m. EST.

How boring are your ads?  Do boring people respond?

 

Lesson:  Have a personality, have fun, chill out.

Thanks for the tip to Frank Roche at Know HR

P.S. We're hiring!

Financial Publishers Association Webinar (Private Event) Apr 04

Website

National Restaurant Association Show May 18, Chicago

Website

KemperSports (private event) Feb 27, Chicago

Website

Ask your fans for help

Marriott asked me to vote for them in the Freddie Awards.  They sent a short email with the subject: "Take 1 minute - vote Marriott Rewards a 10".  The body of the message had a short list of new features in their awards program.

I'm glad to do it. I'm a frequent guest.

Lesson:  When was the last time you asked your fans to help you?  You've got a zillion happy customers!