Why Zappos sent my mom a get well card

Today I’d like to lighten the mood a bit and tell you all a warm and fuzzy little story about my mom and Zappos. Yes, my real mother (Diane) and Zappos, the customer service focused online shoe retailer.

A few weeks ago she was online looking for a new pair of shoes to wear to a wedding. She had recently broken her ankle and needed a pair of shoes with a long ankle strap to fit around an air cast.

So, she finds a pair of shoes she likes online. Being more of a traditional shopper, she wanted to call and speak to a human being about the shoes to make sure the ankle straps would fit in her situation.

During the conversation with the customer service representative, she shared her reasons for shopping for a new pair of shoes. After hearing her uncomfortable reason, they waved any shipping costs and put her name on a “Preferred Customer List.”

If that wasn’t enough, one week later she received this get well card in the mail:

Zappos' outstanding customer service

Not only did the customer service representative she was working with write her a thoughtful message, but six other representatives signed the card as well.

It’s just another lesson on awesome customer service and an example of how Zappos is leading the way.

Fun with links: Customer service, HR marketing trends and how to stop ‘wigging out’

Once again, there’s too much in my giant list of blog post ideas to get around to one at a time. So, here’s some of the latest and greatest marketing advice on the web. Enjoy!

Cut customer service and you’ll lose customers. As straightforward as that idea may seem, some companies are testing the waters when trimming customer service and customers don’t appreciate it. Scott Anthony at Harvard Business is one of those customers dealing with more than one damaged customer relationship due to cuts in customer service.

Yesterday HR Marketer announced the release of their ninth installment of the “Trends in HR Marketing” series of research reports. The findings mirror what was found in previous reports based on surveys sent to HR suppliers. Internet marketing and online social media are playing an increasingly important role in the marketing mix of HR vendors and suppliers. Find out more and get your own copy of the report at the HR Marketer blog.

Times are tough these days and everyone seems to be feeling the effects of the economic situation we’re in. Though the news may be bad, it doesn’t mean your attitude has to be as crummy as the headlines. Use a few of these tips on how to get away from “stinking thinking” and put yourself in a better mood, courtesy of the folks at Conversation Agent.

Paul Williams at MarketingProfs Daily Fix recently asked readers for their expert marketing advice on how to help his struggling business, simplifying the task by pretending the business was a lemonade stand. Advice came pouring in, “ranging from conservative to far out.” Read all of the comments and discover some new ideas to help your business in our down economy.

Have you been worried about the recent request by Postmaster General John Potter that Congress allow the U.S. Postal Service to cut mail service to five days a week to reduce costs? While it may save the USPS money, many marketers and publishers are worried about how the cutbacks will affect business. Read more about their plans at BtoB Magazine.

91% of B2B buyers using social media tools. Are you?

On Monday Forrester Research reported that 91% of B2B buyers are using social media tools, often using the tools to research and execute purchases.

“You heard right. Social media is no longer some fluffy domain for folks who can’t read a spreadsheet. It’s now one of the most widely used and cost-effective ways to reach new customers,” according to Rick Burnes at Hubspot, where we discovered the report (Thanks!).

With more than 90% of your customers using social media tools to research and make new purchases, what are you waiting for? Now is the time to get online and get involved in social media.

Here’s a breakdown of how B2B buyers are using social media, according to the Forrester Research:

• Spectators – 91%
• Critics – 58%
• Joiners – 55%
• Collectors – 48%
• Creators – 43%
• Inactives – 5%

That’s right, only 5% of B2B buyers aren’t using social media. Josh Bernoff at the Forrester Research blog calls the business-to-business sector “one of the most active groups of people I’ve ever seen when it comes to social participation.” Adding:

“What does this mean for you? If you’re a B2B marketer and you’re not using social technologies in your marketing, it means you’re late.”

Social media a major player in crisis communication

When the recent salmonella outbreak caused by tainted peanut butter started making people sick, government health agencies relied heavily on social media to get the word out. Their social media efforts helped to quickly inform the public, possibly reducing the number of deaths and injuries caused by the illness, according to federal health officials.

From Nextgov:

Officials with Health and Human Services Department and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said social media helped them spread the word that peanut butter recall. The agencies used widgets, blogs, Twitter, podcasts, mobile alerts and online videos to warn the public that peanut butter manufactured by Peanut Corp. of America for institutional use and for additives in other products such as snacks may be tainted with salmonella. Eight people died and 500 were sickened by the infected peanut butter.

“The response has been really amazing,” said Janice Nall, director of the division of eHealth marketing at CDC, on the public’s reaction to her agency’s social media campaign. “We look at social media as additional channels to reach people where they are.”

The recent salmonella outbreak and how government agencies used every available form of media to inform the public provides all of us with a valuable real-world case study on how to use social media to help manage a crisis.

When a crisis hits your business, you don’t want customers searching for answers from sources who don’t know the true story. You want to be sure that your customers are getting all the information they need, directly from you.

Social media is playing a bigger role than ever in crisis communication, simply because it is the most direct outlet to reach customers. More than ever before, people are using sources like Twitter, blogs and Google to find the latest information.

Don’t let someone else do the talking for you and ensure that customers are getting the latest information about your company directly from you. Especially when a crisis hits, you want to be the number one source they turn to.

Best B2B marketing strategies to boost sales today

B2B marketing strategies to increase sales

Today I came across another great (and free) ebook, Five B2B MarCom Strategies to Increase Sales Now by Dianna Huff.

It’s completely free – no name, no email, no registration required. Even better, it’s full of five straightforward B2B marketing strategies to help get your sales moving today.

Here’s a clip from the introduction:

YouTube. Twitter. Blogs. Podcasts. White Papers. Search. Direct Mail. Trade shows. Webinars. Networking. TV commercials. Print ads. LinkedIn. Facebook. Digg.

Some days I want to scream, “STOP!”  To say that marketing today is fractured and fragmented is a total understatement. What works? What doesn’t? Where are people (our customers and prospects) congregating? Does it make sense to run ads in trade publications? No wait, maybe we should dump all our money into search.

But wait, some gurus are still advocating direct mail and white papers.

What’s a marketing professional to do?

It covers five proven B2B marketing communication strategies to help increase sales and leads, including:

1. Understanding your target market
2. Determining your campaign objectives before you start writing
3. Integrating online and offline tactics
4. Building your website around what buyers/prospects want
5. Focusing on your customer not your company

Visit Dianna Huff’s B2B MarCom Writer Blog and download your copy of the Five B2B MarCom Strategies to Increase Sales Now ebook.

Friday business humor: Taking Twitter too far

More than one in ten (11%) online adults in the U.S. say they have microblogged, on Twitter or elsewhere, to share personal updates or view updates about others, according to new research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

Those who use Twitter are more likely to use other social media. Both blogging and social network use increase the likelihood that a person also uses Twitter, according to the study.

The study also revealed that Twitter users are also heavy consumers of blog content. About 21% of Twitter users read someone else’s blog the day before they participated in the survey and more than half (57%) have ever read a blog.

The research provides just a few more reasons why your B2B organization should be involved in social media and networking. But at what point does using Twitter for business go too far?

Maybe when you find something like this in the office:

Taking Twitter too far

How to find industry experts in social media

Yesterday we asked, “Is it ‘appropriate’ for business to business organizations to use social media techniques?”

Our answer: It’s not just appropriate, it’s critical to the success of your B2B organization that you get involved in social media.

Even if you don’t have a company blog or a Facebook business page, there are still ways to connect with customers and experts in your industry through social media and networking.

The easiest way to get started is by reading blogs dedicated to topics that relate to your specific industry. Tools like Google Reader make it simple to keep track of interesting blogs and stay on top of the latest industry buzz.

Setting up Google Reader is simple, what’s tough is finding the blogs you should be following.

Here are some great places to start:

• Google Blog Search. Google Blog Search narrows your Google search and only returns information published on blogs. It helps you find industry buzz on whatever subject you search for.
• Alltop. Called the “online magazine rack” of the web, Alltop helps you find what’s happening in all the topics that interest you. The site collects headlines of the latest stories from the best sites and blogs in each topic. Topics range from HR, science, politics, automobiles, careers, to hundreds of other subjects.
• Blogrolls. When you find a blog you like, be sure to pay attention to their blogroll. A blogroll is usually found in the sidebar of a blog that lists other blogs the author follows. They usually cover similar topics, making it a simple way to find new blogs to read.
• Google Alerts. Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results based on your topic of choice. You control the type of sources you want to monitor (news, blogs, etc.) and how often you would like to receive updates.

Social media is all about getting involved in the conversation. Find interesting blogs in your industry, make some comments and get the discussion going.

Does B2B have a place in social media?

Is it “appropriate” for business to business organizations to use social media techniques?

The question comes from another great post from PR Squared. (Yesterday, we talked about an awesome ebook they put together.) Today, I wanted to share the question with our readers to try and get a better inside perspective.

Some may say that social media does not have a place in business to business interactions, arguing that “we already know our customers,” or “we have a very technical, specialized product,” or even “our customers are very conventional.”

But many organizations can discover the answer by starting with another question, “are our customers online?”

Nine times out of 10, the answer to that one will be “yes.”

Whether your customers are doing business online or not, they’re there. Your customers are online – checking e-mail, using Google, researching topics for an upcoming presentation.

If our customers are there, we should also be there. B2B’s MUST have a place in social media.

Check back tomorrow for more information on how to find organizations involved in social media in your industry and how to stake your claim.

What do you think? Is it “appropriate” for business to business companies to use social media techniques? Why or why not?

New (and free) social media marketing e-book

Brink: A Social Media Guide from the Edge

I came across a great e-book recently that I had to pass along, Brink: A Social Media Guide from the Edge.

It covers the past five years of “best thinking” and explains how “we are poised on the “brink” of amazing change.” Social media has made its mark on marketing and is here to stay.

Whether you’re a traditional marketer exploring opportunities in social media for your company or a “Social Media Smarty-pants,” you’re going to get something valuable out of reading this e-book.

It’s short (under 40 pages), full of some great ideas, endorsed by a couple of big players in the social media scene and it’s free.

The author: Todd Defren, blogger and principal at SHIFT Communications PR agency. He’s credited with “inventing” the Social Media News Release and the Social Media Newsroom. Basically, he knows his stuff.

You can read more at PR Squared or download the e-book now.

What is the long-term value of customer loyalty?

It’s a well-known fact that the cost of keeping an existing customer is much less than trying to attract a new one. Still, many businesses refuse to listen.

Businesses that don’t understand the long-term value of customer loyalty tend to spend incredible amounts of money on marketing and advertising to attract new customers, while neglecting their existing customer base.

Especially when your business is going through tough times, focusing your efforts on existing customers is critical to your success.

It is consistently found that 60% to 80% of a business’ lost customers are either ‘very satisfied’ or simply ‘satisfied’ right before they take their loyalty elsewhere, according to a recent Business Week Tip.

Here’s how Richard D. Hanks, Tip author and president of Mindshare Technologies, differentiates between a ‘satisfied’ and ‘loyal’ customer:

Satisfied Customers

• Focus on price
• Shop around for bargains
• Run to a competitor if you mess up
• Don’t provide critical word-of-mouth advertising
• Buy less and test your competitor’s products and services
• Are easily lured away by competition

Loyal Customers

• Focus on value
• Reward you with loyal patronage
• Are forgiving of an occasional slip-up
• Shout your praises and recommend you to their friends
• Buy more and sample across product and service lines
• Are resistant to competition

Hank’s advice on customer loyalty: “Since drivers of loyalty are different across industries, I suggest you invest the resources to determine which parts of your product service mix are the key drivers of loyalty for your business.”

How does your company work to improve customer loyalty? What advice do you have for businesses looking to attract new customers while trying to still focus on existing customer loyalty?