Sharing . . . .
You either get it or you don’t. We live in a world where we expect people and companies to respond IMMEDIATELY. That doesn’t mean the problem has to be solved NOW or the question answered ASAP, but it does mean that it has to be acknowledged.
Kent Lewis, President and Founder of Anvil Media, an integrated marketing agency specializing in search and social media, wrote a great post about communication. In his post, Impact Marketing: Winning Customers with Quick Wits, he states:
“How many companies have you chosen because they were the first (or only) one to return your initial call? This has been the case for my plumbing, roofing and moving vendor selection. On one hand, many invest in decent visibility . . . yet they drop the ball when you actually reach out. Similarly, once I’ve chosen a company to provide services, there are times when a simple response would resolve a question, concern or complaint.”
Kent shares four terrific anecdotes about good and poor communication, including one where M&M’s were left on his dashboard after a repair. The stories alone are worth the read.
He makes the following recommendations:
“So what does all this mean for you? In case you didn’t take away sufficiently actionable insights from the above anecdotes, here are a few parting tips:
- Build responsiveness into your culture: focus on providing timely communications throughout the customer journey (from new business to customer service).
- Ensure quality, not just quantity, in your timely responses. Provide training and incentives to your team to ensure the interactions are positive and productive.
- Take good notes. Build a dossier on each of your prospects or clients and add any useful insights like birthdays, anniversaries, pet and children names, etc. Use that information to create a closer connection to your customers with timely emails, cards or gifts.
- Empower the team. Create a process and train your team to problem-solve independently and resolve issues as they see fit (within guidelines). The Four Hour Work Week outlines this concept well, as do any stories about Zappos customer service.”
I would love to hear your thoughts.
–Mel White
http://www.linkedin.com/in/melmwhite
mel@classicexhibits.com
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Based in Portland, Oregon, Classic Exhibits Inc. designs and manufacturers portable, modular, and custom-hybrid exhibit solutions. Classic Exhibits products are represented by an extensive distributor network in North America and in select International markets. For more information, contact us at 866-652-2100 or www.classicexhibits.com.
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