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Social Media Customer Service: Don’t Fake It

By on February 8, 2011 in Customer Service, Guest Articles, Social Media

In recent years, social media has effectively taken everything that we know about customer service, and turned it upside-down. Online, there is no place for your company to hide. If you leave your customers unsatisfied, you are pretty much guaranteed to see a rant or rave about it on a social media network somewhere. Consumers are quick to embrace this power that they have received- the power of mass exposure. And this can leave you and your company feeling, well, massively exposed.

One of the most valuable things that you can do as a business owner today is to develop a specific and detailed social media customer relationship management program in order to foster a positive rapport with your customers. There are plenty of small business owners out there who stumble across negative threads about their business, and do not know how to conduct themselves in response, nor do they have a plan for how to handle this type of negative exposure. If nothing is said, the problem is guaranteed to escalate. If the business owner poses as a “fake” customer to post a contradicting positive comment, the falsehood almost always shines through. However, with a plan in place, you can quickly change a customer’s negative experience into a positive one without taking on a false identity.

Oftentimes, what fuels a customer’s discontent in the first place is a company’s lack of response. For example, if a customer writes to a shoe company that he bought a pair of leather shoes that disintegrated the first day he wore them, and receives no response, it is likely that he will post a negative thread about the company on a public forum. Noteworthy is the fact that the likely focus of his thread will be the simple lack of response and lack of customer care from the shoe company, not the lack of quality in the shoes. The relationship that your company establishes with a customer is equally as important, if not more, than the product itself.

When your social media team responds to a customer service issue, such as a negative comment posted on your Facebook page, you must have a specific plan in place. First, ensure that your company has access to each customer’s contact information. A designated customer service representative should contact this customer personally in order to assist him or her. A social media customer service representative should always leave the customer with his or her own email address and personal phone extension. While social media allows your company to be available and accessible to consumers, you should never doubt the power of personal one-on-one contact.

When aligning your social media customer relationship management plan, insure that your customer service representative will follow through appropriately with the customer. For example, if a replacement pair of leather shoes has been sent to the customer, the representative should call the customer back in 2 weeks to make sure this pair has not disintegrated. Insuring that the same CSR checks back with the customer is necessary. We have all had the experience of being transferred to 4 different reps on a customer service line before, and it’s an experience that leaves you steamy under the collar, isn’t it? Insuring that a customer is able to correspond with one dedicated representative allows him or her to establish a comfortable, trusted relationship with your company. Enable your customer to provide a satisfied testimonial once you have corrected the problem, and you will see that the level of attentiveness you have provided is reflected in the customer’s new feedback.

As you continue developing and refining your social media customer service methods, make sure that your plan evolves as social media evolves. For example, if you use Twitter as a forum for customer’s to post feedback to your company, how do you handle the fact that Twitter is always on? Will you designate customer response hours in your bio? Will you designate a CSR to Tweet when the CSRs will be offline for the day? Allow your methods to evolve and develop over time in order to provide the best customer service possible.

Debra Leitl is the Mentor in Residence at eMentormarketing.com.  You can find her on twitter @MentorMarketing. Her specialty is interactive marketing with a focus on ecommerce and online marketing strategy.

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SmallBizChat Q and A with David Allen Getting Things Done

By on June 3, 2010 in Customer Service, SmallBizChat

Every week as SmallBizLady, I conduct interviews with experts on my Twitter talk show #SmallBizChat. The show takes place every Wednesday on Twitter from 8-9pm ET. This is excerpted from my recent interview with David Allen @gtdguy who is widely recognized as the world’s leading expert on personal and organizational productivity.  David is the international bestselling author of Getting Things Done: the Art of Stress-Free Productivity, and Ready for Anything: 52 Productivity Principles for Work and Life. He is also the engineer of GTD, the ground-breaking Getting Things Done methodology that has shown millions how to transform a fast-paced, overwhelming business environments to facilitate the implementation of the best practices of productive work.

Find out more about David Allen and GTD at www.DavidCo.com.

Smallbizlady: If you are a habitually unorganized person, How do you get started organizing yourself?

David Allen: Get an IN-basket (or box), and put everything that’s not “in” its permanent place, in it.  Then make simple but important distinctions: To do something about, To give away, To store, etc. And get a tool for managing lists that you need to track.

Smallbizlady: How can you master your work flow?

David Allen: You must capture what has your attention, decide the actions and projects that they represent for you, organize the results of that thinking in appropriate places you will review regularly.

Smallbizlady: How do you create a vision for an organized small business?

David Allen: Simply ask and answer: if we were being wildly successful in fulfilling our purpose, what would it look, sound, and feel like?

Smallbizlady: What are natural planning techniques?

David Allen: To plan the way we naturally think. First, have an intention, envision success, brainstorm what has your attention about achieving it, organize the results of the brainstorming, and come up with next actions on the moving parts.

Smallbizlady: What things should a small business owner do to make being organized stress-free?

David Allen: Identify what’s distracting, or what has your attention; make the appropriate decisions about outcomes and actions required; park the results in appropriate categories, and build in trusted habits of keeping the inventory of commitments current and reviewed.

Smallbizlady: Many small businesses start out working from home, how do you set up an effect home work space or professional office space?

David Allen: The same as you would anywhere. Have all the tools you need, easily at hand, lots of filing space, an in-basket, and good work space.

Smallbizlady: How should a small business owner (who’s doing 10-13 jobs on average) deal with managing commitments?

David Allen: Keep track of all commitments and keep them reviewable in a format that allows you to overview the whole and their relationships.

Smallbizlady: How do you define stuff and how should we all deal with it?

David Allen: Stuff is whatever shows up that has potential meaning for you, but for which you haven’t decided what, exactly, it means and what you’re going to do about it.

Smallbizlady: How can you make appropriate choices about how to spend your time?

David Allen: Keep a current inventory of all the options about actions you could or should be taking; review all your longer-horizon commitments and values regularly; and trust your intuitive judgments about what to do, moment to moment.

Smallbizlady: Can you talk about your threefold model for evaluating daily work?

David Allen: You either do something you’ve already determined needs doing, or something the moment it shows up, or you are taking the necessary time and energy to determine what your work is (i.e. processing your new incoming stuff).

Smallbizlady: What are the top 3 best practices every small business own can use to get more of their work day?

David Allen: Keep your head as clear as possible by capturing, processing, and organizing all meaningful inputs. At least once a week step back and do a review of all your projects, commitments, and actions. Avoid being driven by the latest and loudest things.

If you found this interview helpful, join us on Wednesdays 8-9pm ET follow @SmallBizChat on Twitter.

How to participate in #SmallBizChat: http://bit.ly/S797e

Melinda F. Emerson, also known as Twitter’s SmallBizLady is a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach whose areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media marketing. She hosts #SmallBizChat weekly on Twitter for emerging entrepreneurs.  Her book Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to a Business That Works was released in March 2010 by Adams Media.

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The Right Way To Make Sales Calls For Your Small Business

By on March 8, 2010 in 10 Things Lists, Become Your Own Boss Tips, Customer Service, My Recommendations, Your Small Business

I have recently been exposed to too many instances of sales calls that are inappropriate and ineffective to actually make a sale.  Social media networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are great for making the initial connection, but if you do not take the time to interact and actually build a relationship with your new connection, you are still a stranger.

My nickname is SmallBizLady and @smallbizlady is my handle on Twitter.  I am considered a power Twitter user, with more than 10,000 followers between two accounts. That is great and all, but my favorite thing to do is reach someone outside of Twitter – on the telephone.  That’s where the real relationship is made.  Once that connection is made, there’s a right and a wrong way to approach a sale.

SmallBizlady’s 10 Rules For Small Business Sales Calls

  1. Do not make sales calls on Monday! Mondays are tough enough for people; do not bother them when they are just getting their week started — if you want to be successful.
  2. Make sales calls on Tues. Wed. Thurs. and never make sales calls before 10am or after 3pm.The prime calling hours for sales calls are 10-noon and 1-3pm. People do not like sales calls generally. Do not be a bother to a potential client before they get their morning coffee. After 3pm people on deadline do not have time for your call. Give yourself the best possible path to success by respecting your prospect’s time.
  3. Always ask if your contact has time to speak with you. And if they are busy, ask when would be a best time to give them a call back.  Then you’ll have a scheduled appointment which is even better.
  4. Make sure you can remind your contact how you know them.
  5. Research whether or not the contact is really a potential customer. It’s always best to know what products and services your customer purchases – and when they make these decisions to do so. If you really know your target market, you’ll know this information.
  6. Make sure you have the correct name of the person you want to speak with on the call. When you do get a potential customer on the phone, be ready. You only have 7 seconds to make an impression.  Stammering over someone’s name is not the way to make a good first impression.
  7. Do not leave a voicemail if you do not reach your sales target. Connections are only made with real people. Your message will be deleted anyway.
  8. Use contact management software. You need to track your calls and when it’s time to make follow-up calls.
  9. Never make a sales call on a Friday! No one wants someone selling them something when they are trying to wrap up their week and get out the door to start their weekend.
  10. Use a target list for potential customers.  Make sure you contact you target list at least once a month by phone, email or direct mail.

Your sales pipeline is the life’s blood of your business, so you must make sales calls. Just remember these rules so that you can build on your social networks instead of instantly turning them off with no chance of a sale.

Do you have any more rules to add to my list of sales calls dos and don’ts for a small business owner?  Please leave me a comment below.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, E-NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

Melinda Emerson “SmallBizLady” is a Veteran Entrepreneur, Small Business Expert and Social Media Coach who hosts #Smallbizchat on Twitter.  #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business.  Melinda’s first book, Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-By-Month Guide to a Business That Works will be released by Adams Media in March 2010.

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Is Everybody Your Boss?

By on February 8, 2010 in Customer Service, My Recommendations

The good thing about being an entrepreneur is that you get to be your own boss. The bad thing about being an entrepreneur is that every client is your boss. When you have a job, you generally have one boss, in business every client is your boss. You are not working for a raise; you are hoping to get a long-term opportunity.  Anyone will buy something once; you want your client to buy over and over again — from you.

So how do you manage your new bosses? Customers come in three types:  those that know exactly what they want, those that know only what they don’t want and the dream client who looks to you for your expertise to solve their business challenge.  The dream client comes along two to three times at most in any business.  So be sure you are prepared for client option one or two.  No matter which kind of client you have the best thing that you can do for your client is carefully manage their expectations.  Here are some standard practices you should develop for client management.

  • Develop a detailed project plan
  • Create a listserv for all key players involved in the project.
  • Over communicate with weekly status reports
  • Anytime there’s a meeting or conference call immediately follow-up with an email recapping the conversation and any action items and delivery dates.

If your client makes a request that changes the scope of a project, never say no.  Just explain to the client how this new request will add to their budget and change the delivery timeline.  Be careful not to act like you are not flexible.  Clients pay for convenience and to have problems solved.  Clients will change their mind, especially those that do not know what they want. You must make sure your fee is high enough to include covering these costs.  Most importantly, never show your clients that you are overwhelmed or frustrated.  Be aware that clients’ staff may sabotage you, too.

So what do you do when there is a problem? When you are struggling to communicate a roadblock that your client has created, never communicate about a problem in writing. Request a phone conversation or a better option… which is a face-to-face meeting.  You can’t communicate intent in writing.  Talking directly to your clients is always the best way to solve any problem.  If you or your subcontractors are the problem, it is best to communicate with the client about any delays or mishaps before you miss a deadline.  These are the most difficult conversations to have, but when you are the boss, you have to take responsibility for any mistakes or problems and — make it right for the customer.

So how do you make it right for the customer? It depends on how big of a mistake you made. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Respond immediately with an action plan
  • Ask for another chance to do a project or ship additional merchandise.
  • Offer a heavy discount on future purchases
  • Offer to refund all or a portion of your fee.

Your goal should be to make sure your client walks away thinking you did everything you could to fix the problem.  A happy client is a repeat customer who will be an ambassador for your product or service.

Do you have any suggestions for making nice with customers? Leave me a comment.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE, E-NEWSLETTER OR WEB SITE? You may, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:

Melinda Emerson “SmallBizLady” is a Veteran Entrepreneur, Small Business Expert and Social Media Coach who hosts #SmallBizChat on Twitter.  #SmallBizChat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business.  Melinda’s first book, Become Your Own Boss in12 Months is scheduled to be released by Adams Media in March 2010.

If you’re ready to start or grow your small business subscribe to Melinda Emerson’s blog at www.succeedasyourownboss.com

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