Listen To Your Customers, Stay in Business

If you've been reading the news this week, you've probably noticed that in light of terrible sales, JC Penney's new CEO resigned after his idea to simplify pricing and remove coupons from JC Penney's pricing structure backfired (more here).

The Internet is chock-full of lessons-learned articles, and the lesson that stands out most to me is "Know Your Customers, and Give Them What They Want." These folks are on to something.

Listening is important. Photo: John Morton.

OK, you say.

I won't be like JC Penney. I'll know my customers and give them what they want.

How?

The best way to tackle this problem is the direct way - by asking them.

Here are a few things you can try:

1) Ask questions on Facebook - open ended or you can use Facebook's questions functionality to do a multiple choice question. Facebook is a two-way street - you can post your content, but you can also use it to gather new content from your fans.

2) Ask questions on your other social channels, too - are you on Twitter, Pinterest, or Google+? Use those platforms to say "What do you think of this?" or "What do you want to see next?"

3) Survey your customers on email. Ask them how they'd like to hear from you, how often, and what about. Ask them what would make their customer service dreams come true.

4) Script some questions for your call center to ask. Are there common reasons that people call that could be resolved another way to everyone's satisfaction? Is there a product they wish you sold? Why do they shop with you and not the competition?

5) If you don't have product reviews on your web site, add them. They can be critical to helping your customers decide to buy, and to setting expectations appropriately. Also, when customers help each other, they build community and return to your site more. Reviews also make great content for, you guessed it, Facebook.

Next:

1) Listen!

2) Listen some more!

Then:

Collect all this feedback and look for themes. You'll probably be able to find several common things that customers think you can do better, and lots of things they like that you should continue doing. Implement this feedback where it makes sense, and you'll be on the way to happier, more profitable customers who appreciate that you took the time to get to know them and what they want.

What are you doing to make your customers' dreams come true? Please share.

Need help getting to know your customers and what they want? Let me know. I can help.

Related Posts

Why Customer Service is Marketing, Too
Five Steps to a Better Facebook Feed

Your 2012 Strategy: Driving Brand Engagement

How are you going to engage your community in 2012?

First things first. 

Change your headset – it’s not an audience, it’s a community.

What does an audience do? It watches.

What does a community do? It communicates, engages, and acts.

Community. From Flickr user Tobyotter.

Who’s doing this? One example I came across was Heinz – in the U.K., where they are a big soup brand, they’re getting fans to send personalized soup cans with “get well” messages to one another for cold and flu season. The cost is low - just 1.99 pounds, and the engagement factor is high – people are taking pictures of the cans, tweeting and sharing with others. The bonus – many people who had never purchased anything from Facebook before are now buying from Heinz in a new way.

How can you start driving your community to engage with your brand?

Monitor conversations – evaluate what people are talking about and why. With this insight, you can understand what’s going on before you get involved – to avoid barging in.

Track – what, when, how much interest, and sentiment. What are people saying about you and how often? Is there a time of day or week when you get more attention? What are people interested in the most, and is that interest - sentiment - positive or negative?

Community of dogs. From Flickr user Beverly & Pack.

Identify key influencers and track their conversations so that you can engage with them in a relevant, authentic way.

Look at what competitors are doing – what kinds of campaigns and activities are generating a lot of comments and buzz? Is it positive or negative.

Also, mobile is key. A recent statistic from Motricity that’s been getting some attention? 64% of holiday mobile shoppers plan to shop with their mobile device more in 2012 – with mobile coupons, giftcards, and ratings getting the most attention.

How are you driving engagement this year? Drop me a line and let me know.


Related posts: 

My series on 2012 planning
Why you should care more about tablet users

On Building Trust

One of the most important things your potential (and current) customers need to do is trust your business. After all, if they don't trust you, why would they buy from you? Why would they recommend you to others? Why would they follow you via social media?

Photo: Flickr user Sahaja Meditation.

Here's how to build that trust:

Mean what you say and say what you mean. Keep your promises.

Be available. Answer phone calls, emails, and posts on twitter, Facebook, and Google+ promptly. If your company is reviewed on other sites like TripAdvisor or Yelp, keep track of reviews and reply appropriately.

Stand for quality. Provide a quality product and resolve complaints quickly and fairly.

Appreciate what you've got. When customers publicly thank you for the great work you do, acknowledge it.

In short, treat your customers the way you want to be treated. The best way to build trust is by simply being trustworthy.

Related posts:

Refocusing on Your Customer
Don't Rickroll Your Customers - Offer Better Service
A Tale of Two Customers - Why Customer Service is Marketing Too

Creating Your Brand Story

We've discussed different aspects of story marketing on this blog before, here and here.

Today, it's time to think about your brand story.

Your brand story is how you explain why you do what you do. It gives a bit of history, and invites people in to support what you're doing and who you are.

For example, there's a pretty popular brand of all-natural frozen lunches that says something like this:

When our children were born in 1982, we were very busy, but we still wanted to be able to eat healthy, quality food that was quick and easy to make. We couldn't find any at the store, so we created it ourselves. We liked it so much, we wanted to share it with you.

So, what does this story do?
photo © 2007 Keith Tyler | more info (via: Wylio)

• It explains how long the company has been in business.
• It provides a way of identifying with the company - many people are busy, and many people are busy parents.
• It explains the problem that this product solves - being too busy to make healthy meals - we can all identify with that!
• It welcomes you in to the brand, and offers you a seat at the table to share.

When you're writing your own brand story, think about:

• When did your brand come about and what was your situation?
• What problem were you having that your brand solves?
• How can your current customer identify with that?
• What can you say that invites them to join in the story?

Not sure where to begin? I can help.

Related Posts:
What is story marketing and how does it work?
Writing your own customer stories