The Social Media Buzz

Many organizations today are jumping into the bandwagon of social media as one of their marketing tools. What are these social media buzz is all about? Primarily, social media depends on both way interactions between the customers and the organization using technology. Social media can be in many forms such as forum, wikis, blogs, podcasts, etc. and some popular social media applications are facebook, twitter, wordpress, myspace, flickr, etc.

During the weekend, I came across an e-book on social media which I wish to share. Please click below to download or read the e-book.

The e-book will briefly gives a guide to marketers who are using social media as one of their marketing tools or anybody who are planning to pursue social media. It focuses on social media imperatives, social media metrics and other related issues. Hopefully in my next blog, I would continue on how we should embrace the social media/ web 2.0.

Is This The Way You Engage Your Customers!!!! – (part 2)

In my last blog, I have written on how bad a customer service can be. So to continue with this topic, I would like to write on how we can build customer satisfaction. Developing the right methods to gauge customer satisfaction for any organizations can be summarized as below:-

1. Understanding the organization’s goals, vision and mission and core competencies. These will affect the performance measures of what you are developing. For example, if your vision is to become a luxury product supplier, then your measures will focus more on quality rather than costs.

2. Understanding customer touchpoints. Customer touchpoints are those interactions a customer has before, during and after a transaction in respect to a purchase of your products/ services/ brand. These can be face-to-face contacts, receipts, offerings, websites and so on. Understanding the customer touchpoints is like mapping the customer internal processes to meet his needs or expectations anytime. Lists, improve and measure all the customers touchpoints in your departments/ personnel/ functions that will affect your customers experience.

3. Determine your customers’ needs at the touchpoints. Below table shows some examples of customers’ needs. List and see what is relevant to your business and customize the performance measurements which may impact your customers’ satisfaction. For example, if you’re a retailer and the availability of your products is critical for your outlet, ensure that your stocks are replenished more frequently to avoid out of stock situations for your customers.

Performance measures on customer satisfaction may vary from one business to another. However, it is crucial to align the measures to the organization’s business objectives and relate them to financial performance. Some performance measurements that we should not neglect are as below:-

1. Level of customer satisfaction
2. Customer retention
3. Customer purchasing behavior (volume and frequency)

From these measurements, the development of a customer-centric organization can be clearly defined and the above will give you a rough guide to improve customer satisfaction.

Customer Experience- Is This The Way You Engage Your Customers!!!!

I had read this blog by the Sales Ninja in regards of sales and customer service and would also like it to be the topic of latest blog. I guess many of us have experienced these scenarios and it really disgusts us with the sort of service we get. I would like to share the experience that my wife and I had gone through last week that really frustrated her.

But first, I would like to share an excerpt from the Sales Ninja blog on his experience in a branded outlet:-

Now, let’s talk about Armani, one of my favorite designer labels. I was in KLCC (a high end s.h.o.p.p.i.n.g. m.a.l.l in Kuala Lumpur), walked into Emporio Armani to get some clothes. You may or may not know, Emporio Armani is very expensive! That day, I bought about $3,000 worth of clothes.

As I was paying, I was waiting for some super service lines that this super expensive store will give me.

Know what I got? “Thank you, please come again.”

What the…?? Can’t you see my name written on my credit card? Can’t you ‘customized’ your canned speech to, “Thank you Mr. Hanzo for s.h.o.p.p.i.n.g. at Emporio Armani, the choice you made with the fine shirt and Armani Jeans is fantastic, you look absolutely great in them. (or whatever ego brushing script) Please come again.”

This is what I meant SERVICE that sucks…… It is true what the sales Ninja has wrote. By just quoting your customer’s name (which is already written in his credit card), you have already engaged the customer to another level. You have made your customers feel different, closer and appreciated and he will definitely leave the outlet with a smile. Everybody likes to be called by name. Isn’t this what we want to offer to our customers: enhance the customer experience?

Now this is what happened when my wife and I visited Wong Kok Char Chan Teng in Sunway Pyramid last week. We have a voucher with us that provided us either a free drink or some sandwiches. So we decided to go there and have a drink and my wife just needed to order another one for her. To our surprise, the waitress told us that we need to spend at least RM10 in a single receipt before we were entitled to use the voucher. After hearing this, my wife was very unhappy and felt cheated because there are no such terms and conditions in the voucher.

I do understand her reaction. It was not because of the price issue that provoked her. She just felt she was being cheated by the voucher and the coffee shop. When my wife asked the manager why didn’t the terms and conditions stated in the voucher, he just told her that it was a printing error and the management’s decision to apply the terms on the voucher. Then he just told us to file a complaint to the HQ if we wanted to.

It was an unbelievable experience. Is this the way of a big chain of restaurants engaged their customers? The way you communicate and engaged your customers really reflects the identity of the company. As an established group, you need to ensure that all customer touchpoints are properly managed, and be ascertained to improve your customer experience to align to your brand promise.

All marketing materials should be checked thoroughly before sending out to your customers. What you communicate with your customers is the promise that you need to fulfill. By giving out misleading information will leave a bad experience to your customers and gives a negative perception of your brand.

Even your error is out in the market, please admit your mistakes. Inform your customers. Like in this case, write an email or sms to inform your customers. Or maybe even a notice at the entrance of the restaurant. Your customers will be forgiving enough if you admit your error. Don’t let your customers find out themselves and make your customers puke and leave a bad taste in their mouth.