When’s the last time you talked with your customers?

September 5, 2011

Have you heard someone say?: “To have a friend, you need to be a friend.”

Can this quote be repurposed for a business setting?

How about: “To have customers, you need to act like a customer.”

Drop everything (even that briefcase) and call your customers asap.

Think about it.

  • Customers want to know that you care about them. Am I too small to matter to your company?
  • Customers want to know that their needs are being met. Am I being heard?
  • Customers want to know that you aren’t just pushing something at them that they don’t really need or won’t solve their problem.  Am I just padding their bottom line?

When you are in business, you aren’t ‘necessarily’ in the business of making friends, but it certainly couldn’t hurt to be friendly.

When’s the last time you actually picked up the phone and talked with your customers?

Go ahead right now and act like a customer with your existing customers; make a courtesy call with the following questions in mind: (Remember you aren’t selling anything; your goal is to listen intently and show genuine appreciation for their business.)

  • How’s business going?
  • How are things going with ‘Insert your product name’?
  • Do you have any questions about using our product?
  • Is there anything else we can do to help your company?

Close the call by sincerely thanking them for their business, setting the stage for future interactions.

Dale Carnegie said:
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”

There’s no reason we can’t replace ‘friend’ with customer:
“You can make more customers in two months by becoming interested in customers than you can in two years by trying to get other customers interested in you.”

Now, get out there and speak to your customers. (not just e-mail or text)

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | Communication, communications, community, Conversation, customer experience, knowing your customers, marketing, personal, personal connection, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

Give me a reason to try your www

August 15, 2011

We’ve been a bit blurred by the ever-presence of dot-coms. Nearly every billboard, advertisement (radio or TV), newspaper, magazine article contains www.[clickhere].com.

You’d think most businesses would know there’s a bevy of ‘advertising’ noise in today’s marketplace. If you don’t raise above the clutter, you are lost, done, finished. Everyone’s clamoring: “Click this,” “Follow me,” “Retweet now,” “Friend us,” but some aren’t giving us a compelling reason to do so.

Increase your odds of a meaningful Web visit.

Recently, I was driving up I-10 and found a casino billboard that lacked a reason to compel. (This was rural I-10, what else was I to do?)

It said: (something to the effect)

Evergreen Special Casino

http://www.evergreenspecialcasino.com

Huh? Do they expect that I just have random free time to visit their Web site?

How about adding a few ‘urgent’ lines to the billboard?

  • Visit our Web site for $10 in free chips
  • Visit our Web site to win free tickets to see Hall and Oates
  • Visit our Web site to get $50 off your first night’s stay

What does just randomly, meaninglessly placing a URL on a billboard do to continue the conversation?

Before slapping your URL on everything in an effort to draw attention, give people to reason to commit to click.

The days of being excited to just have a Web site ended about a decade ago. Write and market with busy, ‘prove it to me’ prospects in mind.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | billboards, Communication, communications, community, marketing | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

4th of July: It’s got it all

July 25, 2011

The 4thof July has always been one of my favorite holidays.

The trumpets sound loud and true for parades.

The day’s pace slows (at least for adults), although the children seem to be pushing into overdrive. They celebrate the height of summer, realizing the many weeks that yawn between them and the start of structure and school: summer’s wide abyss uninterrupted.

BBQ wafts through the neighborhood. American flags appear on many doorsteps. We pause to reflect on the great country that provides us with so many blessings.

Most years (not this one because of the exceptional drought conditions), the youngsters beg for the stars to replace the sun, signaling fireworks time.

It’s now been a few weeks ago, yet the 4th of July community parade always leads my list of 4th of July activities.

Families congregate on Main Streets across this land to applaud firefighters, police officers, military and other service professionals. Children stretch, stumble and fall for candy treats thrown from Corvettes, Mustangs, Mini-Coopers, floats. Local politicians put on a smiling face for the upcoming election season.

It’s too long until the next 4th of July parade; how about starting a New Year’s Day parade in local neighborhoods (weather permitting)? Instead of jumping for candy, adults and children would lunge (and possibly slide) for hot cocoa.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | community, Kid-friendly, marketing to kids, personal connection, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

It’s the people that count

July 18, 2011

I’ve been around more product launches/refreshes/reworks than I can remember. Each experience introduces its own unique pitfalls and opportunities.

Throughout all of these episodes, the one thing that stands tall above all else: the people. I can’t remember much regarding a scintillating piece of collateral or glitzy Flash Web site intro. My memory fades when I think back to professional-sounding demos or tight copy on an e-mail delivery to subscribers.

No matter the size of team or difficulty of the task, don't forget those two important words.

I do, however, remember Anthony. Anthony communicated every step of the way and produced designs and layouts that weren’t about his ego; they were centered on solving the problems for our customers. Amidst the stressful frenzy of a re-launch, his presence was comforting.

There’s also Dave. Dave settled the development teams when the entire production was nearly ‘off the rails’. If it weren’t for Dave’s ‘everything will be fine’ calmness, the development team would have halted production or our soon-to-be released product would have been a disaster.

Here’s to the great people that make releases, re-launches, re-works happen. People want and need to be appreciated, especially when schedules are tight, sleep is optional, nerves taut. Take the extra time and say: thank you.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

Leave a Comment » | Communication, communications, community, Connection, personal, personal connection, teamwork, tell a story, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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Tell a good story and you’ve got a customer for life

July 11, 2011

I have plenty of fun doing nighttime baths with the kids. In kids’ bathtubs, animals, boats, floating books take up nearly every inch of the tub.

Our children’s imaginations run wild in the tub (amongst other places!). Recently, they’ve wanted to ‘create a story’ based on whatever toys they could grab in the tub.

rubber duck in the bathtub

This duck is sometimes privy to some very good stories.

While our daughter grabbed a floating duck and a cow and wove an intriguing tale about friendship, forgiveness, sharing; I sorted through the floating alphabet letters and selected ‘M’ and I was off….

‘M’ always felt stuck in the middle.

‘M’ listened as children recited the alphabet, but felt anxious. To ‘M’, children were also quickly rushing through the middle of the alphabet; it seemed as if it were a race to the letter Z. No one stopped to appreciate what ‘M’ had to offer.

‘M’ wasn’t a vowel.

‘M’ wasn’t glamorous like ‘S’ or ‘T’.

‘M’ wanted out of the alphabet. This ‘A to Z’ game just wasn’t cutting it anymore.

The other letters noticed his dejection.

“Hey M, cheer up. You’ve got nothing to worry about. Kids love you,” exclaimed the letter O.

“Yeah M; you start some pretty cool words you know. Think about how kids love the words: Monster, Marshmallow, Mustard, Monkey,” added K.

M began to smile. “You know what? You are right. I do bring happiness to children’s lives.”

As a business owner or marketing manager, I am not recommending bathtub brainstorming sessions. Your business, however, can benefit from some creative storytelling when it comes to matching customer need with the exceptional successes that you potentially already have at your disposal.

  • Do you have a small business success story that nearly saved a company from ruin and now they are thriving?
  • Do you have some customer stories that you could share from a few verticals where you’re continually losing deals? Show the prospects in this industry that have a proven track record of dealing value.
  • Is the founding of your company or product a unique story? People love to hear how Groupon, Google, Amazon got started. Why not dazzle your prospects and customers by taking them back in time?

Don’t be afraid to ‘break the mold’ and get those creative juices flowing to unlock some hidden stories that can help your business communicate its special offer in the marketplace.

It’s getting late. In fact, it’s close to kid bath time. I think there’s a letter Z that needs a little boost. I am hearing through the grapevine that he loathes being at the end.

Until next time,

Dan Naden

1 Comment | Communication, communications, community, Connection, Conversation, Conversing, group communication, knowing your customers, marketing, simplicity, Stories | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Dan Naden

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