Insights and Ingenuity

Socially active…for the sake of your career (and your sanity!)

My appeal to B2B service providers who overlook key components of basic customer service and advocacy.

Fast Company examines Ashton Kutcher as a leading new-world media mogul, one who uses his brand to entertain and reach audiences using mixed mediums and channels.

Life’s too short to be a passenger, to let circumstance shape your surroundings. Businesses, like people, should take more control over their route and intentionally, purposefully direct their progress to a destination.

Gurus are made, not born. Gurus are normal, everyday people with some skills and self-awareness. They’re not all that different from you.

Twitter Lists – another metric for determining influence? Or simply a buzzy new feature that’s rather polarizing?

More from the social media diner menu: Agency serves up the “F Numbers” (friends, fans, followers, and fruitcakes) for a cool $3,000. Kathxbai.

In social media, there are no rules, only good practice and bad practice. Those embracing the medium and using the tools are figuring things out along the way, learning from compatriots and through trial and error. The cream – practitioners, tools, methods – is rising to the top while others (including service agencies and sole consultants) are jumping into the pot in search of their share of the soup. *Trouble is, some folks don’t belong in the kitchen.*

Chances to learn, grow, and evolve are all around you. Take them.

In many cases, it’s not the means that count but the results. Social, telephonic, snail mail or pigeon carrier. Companies simply can’t afford to turn a deaf ear to constructive customer feedback, irrespective of the outlet or channel from which the feedback originates. Customer sentiment is customer sentiment, period. Not listening (or perhaps worse – listening, but not acting and/or involving) is tatamount to shouting “Customers, we don’t care what you have to say. You, and your concerns, are irrelevant.”

As consumers, the experiences we have with brands leave almost indeliable marks on our minds and even our hearts. After all, we’re offering bits of ourselves (money, time, personal commitments) in exchange for a promise (whether real or implied or imagined) of delivery (the best taste, the most attractive fit, the most entertaining two hours). Where does experience begin? Where does it end? With today’s technology and consumer value drivers, the perpetuation of experience (duration, reach, strength, even frequency) means so much more than ever before.

A brand call-to-action video. Re-think your old “its about me” marketing. It’s not working with consumers anymore. Or hadn’t you noticed?

Pull customers in with helpful content messaging that informs decision-making and drives affinity through the generous availability of relevant material. Open your doors to placing customer needs first and be surprised by how your business grows.

Nothing like a good analogy. Here I describe a few ways that social is like s-e-x. Rated G.

Online networking forums are a great means to connect like-minded people for sharing, collaboration, healthy discussion, and introductions (“It’s not what you know, it’s who…”). While there are a healthy handful of professional-oriented networking tools, LinkedIn is king. As with all social (by that I mean connectivity) applications, there are no official rule books although if you’re lucky, you find a few e-book primers written by solid ambassadors along the way. I haven’t found that insightful, clued-in PDF about LinkedIn yet, but I wish I had. I’m backing away from the LI group Q&A’s for awhile…

Nickel-and-dime is a notoriously quick, easy way to turn any transaction or service-based relationship sour. To get too granular with relatively insignificant charges mocks the trust demonstrated by the customer or client. And it’s insulting, placing little value in their past aggregated patronage. Businesses should take care to consider the bigger picture and larger opportunity that forging a courteous, trusted relationship presents with prime audiences.

Good customer stories – testimonials, case studies, endorsements – help prospects understand your business and solutions beyond the polished marketing-speak.

Serving client interests is a tricky thing. You start in one place with your eyes on another. Take a step forward hoping collectively you all want to head in the same direction. En route you discover technical flare-ups, supplier-side problems, competing priorities, and the ever-present politics along with some disengaged parties (who, nevertheless, will be looking for someone to hold accountable). What do you do? How do you handle the situation so that you all end up at the other end (mostly) together?