From the dawn of time the essential idea at the core of all sales, whether it be in a bazaar in Mesopotamia or on a car dealership in current day Minneapolis, is that your customers are always thinking “What’s in it for me?” in each and every transaction.
This is nothing knew.
However, is it apparent to the hordes of businesses who are rushing into Social Media? Do you keep it in mind when navigating those waters?
Using Social Media to market your business is only the tip of the iceberg (a quite unimportant chunk of your existence on Social Media as far as your customers are concerned).
What you must do is realize that using Social Media for customer service is the most accepted use. Why? Because your customers, even your core loyal group, will always have the “What about me?!” attitude.
One of Amazon.com’s recent acquisitions, Zappos , holds customer service on a pedestal, be it online or on the phone. Virtually every employee has their own twitter accounts. Do you know what that means? 900+ individuals who are in charge of customer service. Overkill? The customer doesn’t think so.
Take heed, folks. New advertising is less about sales and more about humanizing and showing a story or highlighting customer service. Your customer service team is at the forefront of your marketing. That is usually the customer’s point of contact. How they experience the company will determine the trust factor for your products and services. The higher the trust, the more likely someone will use your company for their needs versus another.
Frank Eliason in charge of Social Media for Citibank in 2010, said that businesses need to change their culture. He insisted that businesses stop looking at numbers, stop hiding behind their logo and start looking at what they can learn from their customers. And we feel that he is totally right.
For those of you who have yet to make the jump into Social Media because you’re worried about your Return on Investment or because you are unsure of how much money and time to invest in it, think about this: Your competitors are already on Social Media having conversations with your perfect customers. Don’t you want to join that conversation? Or at least have your eyes and ears on those conversations going on right this minute?
Then there’s no time to delay. Change the culture and join the conversation.
Agree? Disagree? We’d love to hear your thoughts.