Could you possibly be annoying your clients?

Doesn’t anyone else notice this? Should I say something?

Recently, I was waiting for a haircut and couldn’t help but notice an annoying sound – a fuzzy, static-filled radio station. The salon was playing (well, attempting to play) music and its radio reception was terrible. In fact, it was downright annoying and distracting. I gave up trying to read my magazine and found myself thinking, Doesn’t anyone else notice this? Have the owners and employees become numb to it? They must know this isn’t good for business. Should I say something?

Why is this a big deal? A salon’s, #1 job is to create an experience for its clients. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we (the clients) are taking in the sights and sounds, smells and textures of every business we enter. All these things – small and large – contribute to our experience. It’s easy to see how static-spewing speakers will make a negative impression. Problem is, many businesses don’t see these annoyances as a big deal. Some may have initially, but then become numb to the problem. I remember having dinner with friends on the patio of a nice local restaurant a few summers ago. We couldn’t believe how heavy and, therefore, how loud their big iron patio chairs were. Every time we – or any other patio guests – scooted our chairs in our out, it was like nails on a chalkboard. Big, heavy, iron nails. All we could do was laugh at how ridiculous – and preventable – this was. What an oversight!

What do your clients have to overcome, or endure, in order to fully experience your company and its products or services?

Take a cue from movie theater owners. They understand the seriousness of “experience wreckers.” Over the years, we’ve seen theaters become more soundproof, so you don’t hear the action thriller playing next door while you’re trying to enjoy a romantic comedy. We now enjoy an unobstructed view of the screen because the owners installed expensive tiered seating. They’ve even created clever ways of telling us to silence our own cell phones.

Here are a few more annoyances you may have experienced for yourself:

• A wobbly table and/or chair
• Trouble finding a company’s phone number on its website
• Visiting a website only to be jolted by music that automatically begins playing (without your permission)
• A busy front door that slams shut each time, instead of closing gently
• A ceiling fan blowing cold air directly on you
• An offensive odor
• Overhearing inappropriate language from employees
• Sun in your eyes from a poorly shaded window
• A shrill, constantly-ringing business telephone
• A cold rush of air every time another patron enters
• A loud electronic door chime
• Sticky floors
• And, perhaps worst of all, deafening silence

What do all these examples have in common? (more…)

Tags: annoyance, annoying, creating the experience, Double Tree, experience, Fridays at Four, NABOE, Ron Wills, social media

Understanding, Harnessing and Leveraging the Power of Social Media for Business Leadership

If 80% of success is showing up, then how are you and your company showing up … online? Do you keep hearing about “leveraging social media for business” but see challenges in connecting the dots? And what’s your social media policy for the workplace: do you discourage it or embrace it? Does your website fall into the category of static … or is there some level of freshness and interaction?

Social Media is not the future of business leadership … it’s the now.

The Compelling Numbers

300,000 = the number of new Twitter users EACH DAY!
400,000,000+ = the number of Facebook users
60,000 = the number of people you are 2 degrees from, on Linkedin, with only 250 connections
70% = the number of Facebook users outside of the United States
2,000,000,000 = the number of YouTube Videos viewed EACH DAY
24 = Hours of Video uploaded to YouTube each MINUTE
35+ = Fastest Growing Age Group on Facebook and Twitter

On Friday, May 28th I shared with the Leadership Breakfast of Virginia how to position you and your company as the go-to, resource, expert, or even thought leader of your industry (Powerpoint shared below). Attendees discovered how to tap into an endless referral source, remain top-of-mind for existing clients and open the door (more fully) for client engagement.

. . . . .

By the way, don’t use Social Media to

be a “Me Monster” [Related Video] >>

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Tags: Blog, Cooley, facebook, Leadership, Leadership Breakfast, Linkedin, Ping, social media, twitter, Wordpress, YouTube

Do your clients want to do business with a person, place or thing?

4 Tips on Warming Up Your Brand

In last month’s article, I included the phrase “… referrals are where it’s at!” A loyal reader replied to me with an e-mail that read, “Not that I’m knit-picking, but it should be ‘referrals are where it is!’ … Unless you are writing colloquially, which it appears to be the case.” Maybe that guy was onto something …

There are two schools of thought on the topic of business etiquette. One school tells us to remain completely professional at all times, while the other says, “C’mon man, loosen up a little!” Is it possible to be friendly and warm while remaining professional? Absolutely! Why is this important? Because by and large, “loosening up” (a.k.a. “warming up”) is becoming a requirement if you want to attract and retain more business.

Why?

1. People do business with people they like AND people like people like themselves.

Who are your clients? Perhaps more important, what type of client do you want to attract? If your clientele is completely “buttoned up,” then the loosened up approach may not be the best. (This should only apply to a few of you.) The rest of us, however, are dealing with everyday people; people who want to deal with … everyday people. So how can you be perceived as more of a “real” person?

2. Be Accessible

In a recent video message, the wildly successful (and always-charismatic) wine expert and branding guru, Gary Vaynerchuk, shared his insights on “customer expectations” and advises that your clients want to know and feel that you are accessible.

Here’s an example we can all relate to: Just a few years ago, it was a big deal to have contact with your favorite author. Now, personal replies from famous writers are becoming the norm (I’m in touch with several). If your clients can reach out to their favorite author and receive a response, shouldn’t they be able to reach you? Gone are the days of burying your phone number and e-mail address in the basement of your (more…)

Tags: Approachability, Approachable, Business Etiquette, Direct Message, DM, facebook, Gary Vaynerchuk, meet our team, Optimal Networks, Scott Ginsberg, social media, southwest airlines, twitter, We Mean Business, Web 2.0, WMB

“Why do I need Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter? I’ve gotten along just fine without them!”

A Look at Social Media and How it Can Benefit You

If you’re just getting involved with social media, or only know what you’ve heard, I’m inviting you to let go of any preconceived notions you may have as you read on.

Facebook friends, Twitter tweets, Linked-In connections – no matter how computer-phobic you think you are, you’ve probably had, or overheard, at least one conversation today that involved one of these three terms. They’re part of a growing phenomenon called social media, which refers to technology designed for the express purpose of keeping people in touch via the Internet and/or their communication device (phone, Blackberry, computer) of choice.

Some people dismiss these technologies as entertainment for tweens or Hollywood starlets, when in fact they offer tremendous potential to promote your business or a favorite cause to literally thousands of people (Facebook alone has more than 200 million users). Imagine being able to spread the word to an audience of that size – for free. Over the next two months we’ll examine ways to harness these powerful tools and put them to work for you. For starters, here’s a demonstration of the power of Facebook I find particularly touching:

Kritika Singh - Facebook Group

“Help to send Kritika’s body home” … Given only a week, how do you reach your own circle – and across the globe – to raise thousands of dollars in support of a worthy cause? My girlfriend, Maggie, is the accounting director for a small university in Virginia. In November, one of its 380 students, Kritika Singh, was killed in an auto accident. Kritika’s parents could not afford to ship their daughter’s body home to Nepal and asked if the university could help with expenses – it would cost about $15,000. (more…)

Tags: connect, connected, doostang, facebook, facebook group, kritika, kritika singh, let's connect online, Linkedin, local news, making sense of social media, myspace, naymz, plaxo, social media, social media 2007, social media marketing, social media optimization, social media sites, social mountain, tipping point, TK Sports Camp, twitter, VARN

How “Human” is Your Customer/Client “Experience?”

4 Tips to Recapturing Some of the Good Ol’ Days

The mother of a 13-year-old told me a very interesting story. After she encouraged him to do so, her son wrote a thank-you card to his grandmother in response to a recent gift he’d received … he wrote it with pen and paper in text language!

“Tx grnma 4 the awesome new fone. Mus’ve cost u alotta $$. U rock!”

According to Nielsen*, “During the second quarter of 2008, a typical U.S. mobile subscriber placed or received 204 phone calls each month. In comparison, the average mobile customer sent or received 357 text messages per month.”

Did you know that we experience 1/20th the number of human interactions today, as compared to just 20 years ago? Put another way, Baby Boomers grew up with 20 times more human interactions than Generation Y (approximate current ages 9 to 29).

While this is certainly startling, it’s also clear as to why it’s so true. Often, when I hear a Baby Boomer say, “These kids today!” what I’m hearing is a frustration around a “disconnect” that they’re feeling.

How is it possible that we only have a twentieth of what we had just 20 years ago, with regard to human interaction? (more…)

Tags: baby boomers, gen y, generation y, good ol' days, good old days, human experience, human interaction, network, Networking, social media, text messaging, VARN