On Sale: Your Small Business

A couple weeks ago, my mum and I had a Mum/Daughter shopping day and I had not been to Grand Bazaar since the interchange was opened cause frankly, I did not know how to get in. lol. But in any event, we made and during our mummy/baby adventures, we checked out a new store - J&K Signature Styles, which had only opened at its second location that same week. Needless to say I got some very nice items in said store, but the real winner was the service and the marketing.

Many small business owners leave marketing of their business to chance. The photocopied flyers and word-of-mouth, though not dead, are simply not enough to push a new business into the mainstream. It takes some extra effort to make your business stand out and create that buzz and I loved how the owners of this store had gone about doing that. And it was nothing particularly earth shattering or innovative. Just a simple email and text message. After I laid out some serious cash, I was signed up for their customer loyalty programme, gave them my email address and my mobile number, and a gift card outlining the details of a promotion they would be having in a few weeks time. Of course, the little card went into my wallet never to be seen again, but a couple days ago, I got a text reminding me of said promotion and the dates. This morning I got an email. And that is how this small business will get me to come back and spend more money I should not be spending.

Sometimes when starting that business, when negotiating funding and the like, the stuff like marketing, PR and promotion get forgotten. But this is the most important thing and should be planned for. Press ads are expensive and depending on the size of your business, you may not yet be able to afford full or even half page ads which have consumer pulling power, but there are other ways - email marketing, text marketing, customer loyalty programmes, open house days etc. You can have the best stock, the best staff but if noone knows about you or think you're a cut above the rest, then noone is going to care about what you're offering. The cost of that text message was minimal; the email free - but the ROI on both have to be worth something, including customer awareness and loyalty and sales.

The key point to remember that in order to get sales, you have to be on sale. Don't sell yourselves short.

Zeroing in, or out...on your brand

When Twitter zero'ed out last week, lots of faces crumpled in anguish, in sheer terror because the legions of followers they had built up over the past few weeks, past several months were suddenly gone, leaving them in an empty room, with no voices, no chatter, no hero worship. Among these were the brands who had painstakingly set up fancy Twitter pages, all nicely branded and boiler-plated. Luckily for all of them...us...it was a temporary glitch and in no time at all, the world had righted itself and following and followers had been restored.

But what if it hadn't? What if Twitter had screwed up your online "popularity" forever? What if you had lost all your followers - all those people who reached out to you during the day asking questions, retweeting your links, #FF-ing you? Would you have survived?

And more importantly for brands, do you have any idea who these people are? Now chances of knowing them all, may be slim to none. But is the rapport with them strong enough to withstand a crash such as this, and make them come back on their own, without you having to sit at your desk, trying to remember their Twitter handles?

It's something to think about isn't it? One lesson brands can learn from this is to not put all their social media energies into one social media basket. Some folks love Twitter and that's the extent of the relationship, but as we saw last week, it can be doom for the one-way brand. It's not an excuse to now go out and populate the SM universe. Be practical and relevant and go where your audience is sure to be. Be practical if you're a one-man show and it's just you managing social media.

But the other question coming out of the Great Zero is...

Would you have been able to keep on going without them?

There are some who have relied so heavily on social media that perhaps the traditional forms of engagement and communication have taken a bit of a hit. So on a day when the technology hits the skids, are you prepared to keep it going without missing a beat? Have you managed to create a synergy with your online tools and your traditional strategies to build a loyal offline community?

I often wonder where I would be if one day I lost my old phone (not a smartphone, so I guess it's a dumbphone), chock full of email addresses, phone numbers and texts with important info - all of which, sadly, is saved nowhere else. I think about a life before advanced mobile technology and how my telephone book was just that - an actual book, and I could rattle off numbers without blinking because I did not have mobile phone books to depend on. Now, with maybe the exception of my mother's mobile number and those of a couple close friends, I am just terrible with remembering data like that now. At the same time however, I am not limited by emails and tweets when it comes to my real life relationships. It makes it more fun, more convenient, yes...but it does not beat going out in the real world.

So really the question is How else are you building your brand?

• Is your website a hot mess because you have sold your soul to Facebook and Twitter?
• Do your followers know how else to find you, i.e. via your website or other platform, or do they think your Twitter URL is your...well...your URL?
• Is your non-virtual frontline customer service below par because you are a Twitter customer service superstar?
• Have you done away with in-depth articles or blogs because you've got 140 characters?

It seems ludicrous but it's a serious question - one which we all should be asking ourselves because at the end of the day, these are merely tools and not the whole enchilada. If the basket of eggs should fall, would that be the end for your strategy?

Unmasking the Faceless Consumer: The Importance of Relationship Marketing

I take my car to be serviced at the same place every 10,000km, not because they're cheap, because they are not. I go there because of the relationship and the after sales service. Last year, when my radiator did embarassing things on the highway, not only could I call my service company after hours, but they saved me the expense of double towing and sent a guy to my house after work the next day to replace my radiator. To say this was excellent and convenient would be an understatement. And as a woman, who is on the road a lot, the safety and reliability of my vehicle are doubly important, so this type of personal service is a bonus to me.

Sadly, not a lot of organisations understand that there is a person behind the dollar bills which come with a sale. They take your money, and send you on your way with a sense of longing and undone-ness. It's little things like follow up calls, after sales service, seasonal greeting cards which can make or break the relationship your customer chooses to have with your brand. I was pleasantly surprised to go to my bank one year on my birthday and have the teller wish me a happy birthday and give me a cute, albeit generic branded card. But it was the thought and the consideration that set her apart from her sour-faced counterpart in another bank and kept me loyal.

Now you also have  social media, which in its essence is about getting to know people, how brands use it to manage relationships is an issue which can also set one brand apart from the next.

A lot of brands are using social media to drive sales and let's face it, this is the world we live in. We are constantly searching for new and innovative ways to raise our brand's profile and increase consumer behaviour, and social media has been a catalyst in many instances for doing so.

Yesterday I discussed the social media contest and how it has been used by one brand to build its following. The following which it has now been able to create is now a great pool from which to draw out the eager consumer and this is great for the brand. How they now manage these thousands and thousands of people and engage them will be the second part of their social media story.  I don't want to just be one of the thousands, and yes, it may be a challenge to engage everyone, but this is why you embarked on a social media strategy isn't it? And you should now have the resources to properly manage these relationships, if in fact you are eager to form them.

Yes, we constantly hear ROI ROI ROI,  and we translate this in numerical terms - sales, number of customers, etc, but what about MY investment of my trust and my purchasing power in your brand? Where does my Return on Investment manifest itself? Just in your product? I am more likely to stay true to one brand because of the interactions I have had, or the service which they provide. It's the reason I choose one airline over another, or one telecoms provider, or one restaurant. We all want to feel appreciated and special in some small way and not just as a walking wallet. And be it via a follow up call to see if I am pleased with your product, or a DM or email to help me manage my customer issue, how we treat with the faces behind the cash register is important in building the brand and customer loyalty.

It seems almost trite typing it here but in my experience, especially here, it is like rocket science to some people.

How are you building relationships online and offline?

Social Media Contests: And the Winner Is...

Now I follow a few organisations on Facebook and Twitter. Why?

- I have an interest in them
-I have an interest in what they are selling
- I have an interest in the industry in which they operate
- I am looking for exclusive updates and offers

Now I have had the opportunity to win a prize via social media and that was great, but it's not my main motivation. I hardly have the time either. I joked with my cousin, who coincidentally won a prize from the community discussed in this post, that one had to almost live on the internet, stalking updates and tweets in order to get a chance to win, and then you're competing with hundreds of people who have the same idea at the same time. It's a bit much for me. But that's just me. Lots of people go looking for goodies and there is absolutely nothing wrong with this. I think it can be a great way to engage your community and get them talking or participating.

But I have seen where communities are formed and built with no real brand focus.  There is a recent example of where a community (same one where my cousin won his prize) has exploded with daily trivia and the like, giving away product-related prizes. The product related prizes are great. Simple, not too flashy. Gets people wanting to come get them. The trivia I was not too enthused about though. It's some of the most random things, not even closely related to the brand, not to the company, not even to the industry. Just stuff you could probably go on any arbitrary "Party Games" site and pull down. I must say, this was a tad bit disappointing. Yes, it's a pretty strong brand we're talking about, so some may say they don't need to do much, but give away stuff. But where is the value in that? Whats the point then?

The prize I won was related to the brand, and got me to come in and see the place (though I have seen it many times), but HOW I got it was also creative and forced entrants to think, discuss and share about the brand itself.  They focused the contest around an event they were having, and the trivia was about the event, the origins of the event in its native format and cool facts one never knew about the event. So one had to go searching out the info and in effect, one learnt about the event with the end result being the opportunity to win something related to it. So I was more informed, more interested and ultimately better positioned to make a purchasing decision based on the whole contest experience.

This current contest experience does a lot to build the following, but not much to build value. The other content being shared as well is soooo random. No product updates, specials, company updates. There are a few photos from brand events which are great but when I saw the random YouTube videos, quite like the ones you may share with your friends on your profile page, I was a bit astonished.  I am hoping that maybe the first objective was to build the following and then engage them once they had them. But seeing that they are now in the tens of thousands with the following, can we start the value-add?

I know we love numbers and big numbers at that, and that's fine, but social media should not just be about numbers but a meaningful community. I love getting feedback from my community on things related to what we're peddling and on the general financial matters, which I think help them and help us as well. And while we may not have flashy stuff to give away, I think there is a greater value in hearing what customers like, don't like, want, don't want and empowering them to voice their opinions. Not saying we don't give stuff away. We do, though not as much as others. But what we do give everyday is something which focuses on the brand and the helping the customer. I think that's worth a whole lot, but again...that's just me.

What do you think? Great strategy or could be better? Who's the winner here?

5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest

Bo Obama - PR Superstar!

This weekend I discovered Bo. Bo Obama.

Now while I knew about Bo, what I did not know is that Bo had such a huge online presence. And I am not just talking about articles about Bo, but official and unofficial blogs and tweets and Facebook pages Bo is a social media superstar. Is it any wonder, considering that his master used the tools so skillfully in his presidential election campaign?

Ole Socks has nothing on Bo the dog! (rest his soul)

Now what I like about Bo, besides being a dog lover myself, and loving anything doggie, is that Bo is just another piece of the Obama brand and a piece that has not been forgotten. Of course all eyes are on the President when it comes to policies, both home and foreign, and all that other presidential stuff, but the President is also a regular guy, with a family and of course, a dog.  And say what you will about it, Bo is part of public relations gold, because there will always be an audience out there who is interested in the other parts of the president's life - what he likes to eat, read and what's going on with the kids, and the dog. While the parents may not want to open up the kids to such public scrutiny, I don't quite think Bo Obama minds being such a public sensation.

Politics aside, most people would agree that President Obama is a masterful communicator. Obama is really our nation’s first public figure to adeptly embrace the full power of the new media buffet. - Aaron Kwittken

It's just another part of the brand machinery behind the President, who has opened up the White House to the world as never before, and who has leveraged both traditional and new media to keep in touch with the public on both business matters and not-so-much business matters. Though there have and will be missteps where this is concerned, he continues to have a broad appeal and you can be sure that the peek into his everyday life has helped that.

In much the same way, customers want to do business with real people and though I hardly advocate pets' blogs in order to achieve this, the insights which can best be shared via social media should be encouraged. And whether it's sharing information on staff activities in communities, or creative peeks at the daily operations of the business, now is the time to start building communities not just around your products and services but around your people, ultimately humanising your brand. Brands should not be afraid to talk about themselves and of course there are still issues around employees and how they use social media to promote the brand, but the time to start not just thinking about it, but doing it is now.

I still love Bo though. He's such a star!

More Bo?

Official Bo photos from the White House
Bo on the official WH blog

As well as
Bo blog (too cute)
Bo videos

Pedalling CSR to the masses

I heard about a great initiative this morning. The Crowne Plaza in Denmark is giving guests the chance to cycle their way to a free meal. The hotel has installed "two exercise bicycles hooked up to generators, so that when people start pedaling, they can produce some electrcity."

"Anyone producing 10 watt hours of electricity or more for the hotel will be given a locally produced complimentary meal encouraging guests to not only get fit but also reduce their carbon footprint and save electricity and money"

This is one of the most interesting initiatives I have heard about in a long time and I think it's great. Great innovation in corporate social responsibility. Not only can guests be encouraged to get fit, but it also directly links them and their actions to green issues and actively involves them in environmentally responsible activities. Though there are quite a few hotels which have green initiatives, how many of their guests actually support these? For example, show of hands, now:  Do you read the cards behind your bathroom door about the hotel's recycle/re-use policy when it comes to towels? How many of you actually know that a towel on the rack means you plan to use it again, and a towel on the floor or in the tub means that you would like fresh towels?

But, on the flip side,  how many of you actually take the time to hang your towel, and then the housekeeper changes it anyway? I cannot tell you how many times I have hung my towel up, with plans to use it again, and come back to my room and there are fresh towels waiting for me. I mean, sure we love fresh towels, but I don't change my towels at home after one use, and clearly there is no understanding or buy-in of the policy from staff.

And some people take vacation to the max. It's almost as though they go on vacation and their "green-ness", if they had any in the first place, goes on vacation too. Guests go out and leave the hotel room like a virtual disco ball, with all the lights on, the tv or radio on.

I like the innovation of this new green initiative. In the interview, the spokesperson for the hotel mentioned that the actual energy generated from the cycling does not really cover the cost of the meal, so the hotel in effect is not saving any money. But the impact it leaves is invaluable. I mean, it's fantastic for the hotel's CSR brand and shows they are willing to go the extra mile to do their part in reducing their carbon footprint. It also gives them something unique and creative to market, and for green-minded guests, it's a great selling proposition. It serves as an opportunity to sensitise guests to environmental issues. Guests can understand how much human energy it takes to power up a light bulb, or how their indifference can affect not only operations costs, but the environment. And the initiative gives these guests the chance to make a tangible contribution to conservation, totally independent of hotel staff who may not support or who may have no clue as to policies and initiatives (shame on you, housekeeping!)

I would probably be one of those who would take a go on the "power" bikes (once I am properly padded cause biking is not fun on the bum), because I usually try to work out on vacation anyway, and I know someone is going to take my towel against my wishes. The free meal is really to me, a bonus. So good job, Crowne Plaza!

What's the best green initiative you have come across on your business or pleasure hotel stays?

What we can learn from Rainy Days!

Ever been trapped in a rainstorm without an umbrella? It's not a fun experience, especially if you have just had your hair done, you're in a hurry and you're marooned under a building, just waiting for the rains to cease, or you are caught in an open area with no retreat!

Ever notice that in almost every "help me" scenario, there is usually a vendor selling umbrellas, and making a killing? Oh yes, I have had cause to buy umbrellas both home and abroad when foresight was lacking and rains caught me unaware, and I needed to get where I was going in a hurry and preferably as dry as possible.

Vendors are always ready for what life throws at them. Their awareness of their environment, their clients and market forces can make the most professional marketers hang their heads in shame. They are always ready to meet the relevant need at just the right time. New York street vendors have loads of scarves and gloves available during the nippier months (Thank God, says the Caribbean girl), but visit their stalls in July and you bet they have adapted to the change.

It's a lesson the shirt and tie, and high heeled wearing "vendors" can learn from the dude selling cold water on the highway in intense heat, during rush hour. I once was stuck in traffic and the Bobo Shantis who sell nuts approached me in the car to ask if I was interested in a pack of nuts. I am not a lover of peanuts, no matter how ravenous I am. So I told the dude this and explained that maybe he should expand his vending horizons and diversify. The next time I saw him, this particular vendor had indeed diversified and had gone into selling channa (fried chick peas for the Yanks), caramel bars and cheese balls. His primary product was still the small bag of peanuts but he took the feedback and walked with a few extra bags of other stuff, which I appreciated immensely. A lot of the other dudes have now gone into granola and other non-nut things perhaps for the same reason - not everyone loves peanuts!

So we have to be on the ball and be ready for any eventuality - ready for a rainy day, you can say - as well as not assume that what we have is what our customers want, and acting on feedback from the people we are targetting can more times than not, be in our best interest!

I have since started keeping a sturdy yet purse-compliant umbrella in my handbag, with the larger gale-resistant umbrella in the car. This post inspired by the thick black rainclouds circling Port of Spain and the rest of Trinidad today.

You Talk, We Listen, We Respond. Or Do We?

I got an e-survey from Caribbean Airlines this morning, basically asking me to let them know how they were doing. I happen to think they are doing pretty okay. What do you think?

In any event, I appreciated that they wanted to find out from their customers why they do or don't choose them as their preferred airline. I hope the feedback is actually taken into account and used to improve/enhance the service which they offer.

Which I guess leads me to a question, or a few questions - do you ever use suggestion boxes to offer a company useful feedback, and more importantly, do you ever wonder what happens to it?? Is it used? Is the box with the slips of paper and the 10 multiple choice questions, merely window dressing or a showpiece that says "We want you to think we care about what you have to say, but quite frankly, we don't". Do you only use it for negative feedback or do you praise the customer service representative who delivered superior service?

I often wonder about those little boxes, and whether there is actually someone who actions my thoughts and applies it to make something better or to reward someone. Does the manager at that KFC outlet care about my customer experience at his/her branch? Do they compile the info on these slips of paper, and discuss them at team meetings - in an effort to continuously improve?

I am one who rarely use the box for venting. Oh no. For that I find a supervisor or manager, and then usually to rant about something totally hideous. I am a huge believer in positive feedback when it comes to customer service in Trinidad. We need to give them feedback about the bad service, yes, but when I get good...no...GREAT service, I want the person's boss to know that this person was a customer service superstar! Especially because we complain so much about how poor the customer service is here.

I also don't appreciate when you actively solicit my feedback and then I don't feel like anything has come from it, because there is no feedback on my feedback. One example is a recent social media competition which was put on by a locally based international organisation. They wanted fans to suggest new names for parts of the business, and a few of my friends and I came up with some suggestions and submitted. Months have gone by and there has been no result. Now, I am not dying to win the thing but I entered because I had an interest and would have liked to know the result. I even enquired directly, both on the social media channel and with a few persons I know working at the organisation. A simple update explaining that maybe none of the suggestions met their vision, or something would have satisfied me. But nothing, months later. It was a bit disappointing to say the least.

I would hope that my feedback - good or bad (albeit, CONSTRUCTIVE) - would be positive for the person requesting it, because ultimately constructive feedback is essential for continous improvment, can lend to creativity and innovation as to how stuff can be done better and can add value to the community. And the community, through one way or another, would appreciate some feedback back about changes, upcoming initiatives or events. Reciprocity is key! More times than not, people want to feel like their feedback is valued, and that inevitably that they are valued.

Customer Capital: From Outflow to Inflow

When pitching social media to managers you get a myriad of reasons why it may not be the best idea, but one of the loudest challenges usually has to do with putting the brand out there to be criticised by the public. Well, guess what...whether you're there or not, the customers will criticise and bash the brand. The fact is, they're not waiting on you to give them permission to do it. They are going to do it and more importantly, they now have the tools with which to do it.

But the interactions which social media provide, if they are indeed interactions and not calculations (counting how many fans and followers you may have) can help a company to counter these negative comments and even learn beforehand what's on the mind of the customer - the good and the bad. It's a bit arrogant of companies to think or believe that their brand is so fantastic that it should be immune somehow from negative comments or criticism. The age of the marketing campaign - that one way street of communication where the marketer ruled the roost and called the shots - is basically over. I think while we stood tall and beat our chests because we controlled the outflow of communication, and it was our way or no way, really many companies are scared of the inflows. Are we really content with passive audiences? Are we really that scared of a level playing field and the active consumer who knows what he/she wants and know what he/she likes and is not afraid to say it openly?

To merely think of the inflows in negative terms is shooting onself in the foot before even starting the race. The richness of social media interactions cannot be denied. So many times, customers have given me great suggestions and ideas for the "what next?" and the "what could be better". I want some creative assistance and they are there, always willing to lend their own opinions and suggestions. The creative customer capital inflows have to be considered as much as the management of the negative feedback, which in themselves are ALSO rich and useful for they can now shape the way forward.

This fear of social media is not going to go away very soon for a lot of organisations, but the new media are here, not going away any time soon, and being used by millions of people every day. I would prefer to be ready and in the trenches to deal with the feeback, and learn from it, than standing on the top looking down, without a clue how to get in on the action.