Little known fact about the web
The Internet is like this, multiplied by a million.
You know this already, but just a friendly reminder that the Internet is a two way street. It gives customers a huge audience to publicly share their experiences with you.
Treat them right!
Your customers could destroy you.
I’m not referring to the fact that you’re outnumbered by them.
Church of the Customer runs a great quote from Jake Nickell (co-founder of Threadless, a site where users submit designs for shirts and vote on their favorites): “Our community could destroy us if they wanted to.” Understanding that our customers have ultimate control of our business keeps us entrepreneurs from just being folks with very stressful hobbies.
The whole post goes on to show how Threadless applied this awareness in a crisis and contrasts that with Facebook’s recent controversial feature roll-out.
Old school marketing: hand-written notes
Jackie Huba over at Church of the Customer blogged about a hand-written note she received sent by a sales associate at a retail store.
Hand-written notes leave a strong impression — as follow-ups, a thank you, a reminder, or just checking in. I’ve observed that people appreciate the old-fashioned, personal touch.
I know many professionals that spend a lot of time being “in-demand”. To an extent, that’s attractive. We all want to work with someone who has things going on. But that attribute turns quickly from a plus to a minus when service is in question.
Each time you tell someone how great you’re treating your customers, remember to send out some notes. Need a refresh on writing good thank yous? The Morning News has you covered.