Category Archives: Marketing

Online Customer Relationship Management In Action

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It was driving me crazy.  Norton, my internet security provider, was blasting me with pop-up ads for other products. It’s not like you can ignore a Norton pop-up.  You have to read the message to know if you’re being warned of a potential breach that requires action.  No amount of research helped me stop those evil little yellow boxes from appearing on the screen. Then I remembered the great results I’ve gotten from Twitter in the past.

So, as a last resort, I decided to tweet about it.  Here’s what I wrote:



Norton responded!  So I launched my challenge:

After several more questions from Norton Support, they came up with a solution that worked instantly. I have just had 2 full days with no pop up ads. And I’m feeling a lot more loyalty toward my internet security provider. When it comes time for the annual renewal I’ll remember that Norton is out there listening and offering solutions.

This is not the first time I’ve had a great customer experience via Twitter. Last week during a presentation to the B.C. Career Development Association, I used a humourous story about Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee to illustrate how online connectedness is becoming the new basic business standard.  You can read the story here.  This got tweeted by one of the attendees and resulted in some interesting banter the next day with the Vancouver Airport and WestJet — both of whom were monitoring and engaging in customer conversations on Twitter.

Now, if I could just figure out a way to eliminate those irritating Netflix pop ups.  Wish me luck!

Are You Building A Brand Or Just Making Noise

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There’s a lot of competition for our attention.  Email, phone calls, colleagues, meetings, LinkedIn, direct mail…  Here are 3 steps to help you cut through all the static and reach your intended audience.

1.  Think like a customer.

Most marketing messages are all about the seller.  If you’re not providing a solution or creating a need, you’re just making noise.

2.  Target the right eyes and ears.

Marketing activity without a solid plan behind it is just noise.  Knowing who your target audience is will help you craft a relevant and engaging message.  You’ll know you’re on the right track when your message addresses your prospect’s needs and challenges.

3.  Use multiple media.

If you normally send email messages, mix it up and send something by regular mail.  Add an after-hours voicemail with an intriguing teaser.  Consider augmenting your campaign with traditional print or radio ads.  Just don’t stick to the same old thing every time.

Prospecting for Business: The Change Management Connection

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Asking a prospect to consider your company over their current supplier is tantamount to asking them to take on a change management initiative.  Failing to recognize this keeps many otherwise skilled sales people from achieving their objectives.

People are naturally resistant to change.  That’s why all good change management programs start by describing a burning platform.  Some sales people will call this identifying pain.  A nicer way to put it is: What problem will my product or service solve.

If you’re not offering a solution then you will be forced to attract new clients based on price – something no consultative sales person should be willing to do.

3 Things You’re Missing on Twitter

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This post is dedicated to those who think the only thing people do on Twitter is report what kind of sandwich they had for lunch.  Instead of pulling out my hair every time I hear this line, I decided to showcase what you’re missing.  It’s way more polite and I’m too vain to go through life with random bald patches.

Connections with lifelong learners

Meeting these people is the reason I participate.  Sometimes their tweets contain a link to online material – sometimes they’re just a short, provocative thought designed to get the mind turning.  They enlarge my perspective and introduce me to other great thinkers and learners.  Here is a sample:

Accessing help from the Twitter community

Everyone needs assistance as some time.  Are you looking for a job?  Do you need help finding an apartment in a certain neighborhood?  Have you just received a medical diagnosis and wonder what community support might be available?  Tweeps (Twitter people) are tireless sharers.

Building your business

If you’re in business and you’re not using Twitter to listen to your user community and engage in two-way conversations, shame on you.  That’s like discarding customer demographics data because you don’t like the way the text is formatted.  I’m not talking about using Twitter to post ads. The opportunity Twitter affords is that of building a community around your brand.  Where else do you get the chance to overhear people discussing their experience with your product or service? Below is a tweet from ING’s CEO, Peter Aceto. I admire the way he regularly engages with his community by listening to them.

So there you have it: my totally biased view of Twitter as a valuable tool.  If you’re looking for me on Twitter, I’m @SWrightBoucher.

Signal: LinkedIn’s Best Kept Recruitment and Business Development Secret

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Signal helps you search status updates – not just within your network – but from among the entire LinkedIn community.

Signal can help you with recruitment searches, competitive surveys, and prospect research.

  • Research your potential clients – What are their employees saying?
  • Research / Post Jobs – Its a free way to post jobs – and is now searchable!
  • Monitor your Brand – What are people saying about you or your company?

I shouldn’t call it a secret.  LinkedIn rolled it out in their blog in September 2010.  At that time it was a limited roll out by invitation only.  It was released to the rest of us in February 2011 – albeit quietly. 

For those who like to dive right in with no instructions, here is a direct link:

http://www.linkedin.com/signal/

Or, click on the video just below this text and learn how to search status updates like a pro.
 

 

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