Great quote I ran across from Lester Wunderman.
"Advertising becomes a dialogue that becomes an invitation to a relationship."
So true. Advertising is the first step to any product-customer relationship. Through your advertising and throughout the relationship building process, Starbucks has some great principle's to keep in mind.
- Be Genuine - Customers aren't looking for best friends; they just want a positive connection and their needs to matter.
- Expectations and Service: Connect - Beyond the formulaic greeting is what customers look for.
- Discover - Seek to understand the customer's needs and your audience's situations and challenges. How then can you help them alleviate the pain?
- Respond - Don't just act like customer's needs are important, act on them. And do so in a genuine fashion.
Take these into account, and interject your brand through this entire process. Your brand is your foundation for all communications and touchpoints to your customers.
Recently ran across this on the web and it made me think. How many times has your customer been sub-par? One great instance I can remember, and is still the best to date for me, is a hotel in Stamford, CT. Each and every time I came and went, I was greeted by name. It blew my mind. I've been in a lot of hotels all over the country and I've never witnessed this.
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What are some good and/or bad examples of customer service you've experienced?
This year, I have the honor and pleasure of participating in MDA's Stride & Ride 2008 to help "Jerry's Kids®". To reach my goal I need your help!
A dear friend of mine, Kim Lisa, has this horrible disease and is looking for support.
I'd like to include you or your company on my list of contributors who are helping me reach my goal. Your donation would help MDA continue the important fight against muscular dystrophy. Check out my web page by clicking on the link at the beginning of this e-mail. There you'll find all kinds of information about MDA, and be able to make your tax-deductible donation on-line using your credit card.
MDA serves people in our community with neuromuscular disease by providing clinics, support groups, assistance with the purchase and repair of wheelchairs, braces and communication devices, and summer camp for kids. MDA also funds research grants to help find treatments and cures for some 43 neuromuscular diseases that affect people of all ages, right here in our community.
I sincerely hope that you'll take the opportunity to support MDA. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me.
On behalf of the families MDA serves, thank you!
Warmest Regards,
John Kowalski & Kim Lisa Sobotta
Click here to visit my Participant Page.
If the link above does not bring you to my Participant Page, cut and paste the address below into the address bar of your internet browser.
https://www.mdaevent.org/ParticipantInfo.aspx?j=cad40e40-4184-4f6b-b4d4-4ca9d6531f8b
Great post by PeterD on SEO Book. He really nails when he refers to consistency, experience and viral. Keep focused on the customer experience and keep it consistent. The exact same message at every stage of the way across all media.
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If we can put a man on the moon, we must be able to figure out:
- This layout
- This strategy
- This customer
- This process
- This policy
- This procedure
- This requires more resources
- This requires more budget
- This requires more meetings
No excuses. BUCK UP and get creative to get the job done and to really get the customer what they need. Not only meet, but exceed customer expectations!!
From time to time I find myself getting caught up in "marketing speak" that really means absolutely nothing to customers or potential clients. I cannot stress this enough, but we all must speak to our audience in their language and on their level. We do a good job of this when creating ads, brochures, and marketing materials for them, but what about in general client communications and in proposals? We must also make sure our day-to-day conversations are on the customers' level.
In working on a recent new biz proposal, after a couple rounds of revisions I finally nailed it - speaking with the same grit and rugged language as the potential client. Terms such as sexy beast, intimidator, king of beasts and ass kickin', as used by and in the clients materials, were now part of my proposal vocabulary (yep, it was fun).
Not only will this help with efficiency, but also with the ongoing client relationship. As communicators, we must be chameleon’s of language. Morphing from client to client and effortlessly switching to and from a variety of industry speak.