Talking to or performing in front of crowds is a real art, isn’t it? Bands do it. Magicians do it. Politicians and inspirational speakers do it. They personalize their performances and their messages for great customer engagement.
Be in touch with your customers. It is the only way to gain meaningful insights.
When politicians enter a crowded auditorium and as they walk down the aisle they stop to warmly shake hands with a few people on the aisle and shares a few friendly words with each.
The lead singer in a band bounds onto the stage of a packed arena, punching the air with energy. He pauses at the stage edge as if he’s caught someone’s eye in the crowd. He smiles broadly, points and waves at what appears to be a fan he’s spotted. He then calls out to the whole city all the time maintaining a pointed finger to his “friend” in the crowd.
Related: Improve Customer Engagement to Win Business
So remember this. Once you stop treating the crowd as a crowd and start focusing on individuals, people notice. The more you do it, the more everyone engages.
One by one, the experience and expectation in the crowd is that this isn’t just a one to many thing. It’s about the performer and me, a unique, unrepeatable, magic moment shared. Even people who don’t get individually called out still start to believe this.
Multi-channel communications need to focus on customer journeys and customer centric communications. It is all about the imperative of getting into the crowd, waving and smiling and connecting with our customers where they are.
Quite simply, we are moving to a customer centric marketing approach.
So here are 10 building blocks for even better customer engagement and customer centric marketing:
Make changes
… based on your insights.
Best customer engagement companies.
Do the right thing
… even if it adds costs. Dealing with people means that you will have to take the good with the bad. The patience to deal with all types of customers is vital.
Exercise
… occasional random acts of kindness.
Be social
… offer smiles and friendly words. When dealing with the public, things can go wrong. You have to be flexible enough to roll with the punches and think outside the box sometimes. And be social at all costs.
Demonstrate
… that you listen, hear, and most of all, remember.
… for customers to do business with you. Keep in mind that time is the most valuable resource of most customers. Being able to look at a situation through the eyes of a customer is an extremely valuable skill that can enable you to provide the highest degree of service.
For great customer engagement … personalize
… your services as much as you can.
Best customer engagement examples … be proactive
… take initiative for as many actions as possible. It’s never a good idea to wait until a customer is stressed or agitated before offering assistance. Being one step ahead to gauge when someone needs help is the best way to minimize a brewing situation.
Customers don’t want to deal with sales associates who have to force themselves to be pleasant and nice.
A great example
JetBlue recently launched a brilliant new ad campaign called “Air on the Side of Humanity”. Have you seen it? You might want to check it out.
They ingeniously use pigeons as a transposed metaphor for frequent flyers who are challenged by business travel and crowded flights. Believe me, I can relate. The spot shows crowded skies full of pigeons while an off-camera narrator says “the reality of flying is not very pretty”. It’s a royal headache and a major inconvenience.
They show crowded jostled pigeons on a building ledge lined up single file facing the camera while the narrator says, “They pack you in there, you hardly have any space for yourself. Hey, I’m a big guy and I need some room to breathe”. As the narrator continues talking about the future situation being bleak the camera focuses on a man’s legs sitting on a park bench throwing crumbs to pigeons on the sidewalk as the narrator says, “They throw you crumbs and act as if it’s a 5 course meal”.
Next, they show a lonely pigeon on a busy pedestrian sidewalk as people walk around ignoring a confused bird as the narrator says, “I feel completely ignored”. Then the narrator asks the question, “There’s gotta be a way to fly with a little respect, you know?”
Then they cut to a different voiceover announcer which says, “Enjoy JetBlue’s award-winning service, free unlimited snacks and the most legroom in coach.” An awesome way to engage customers, isn’t it?
What I love about this engagement approach is that it takes a customer experience perspective that no doubt was derived through deep customer insights. As a frequent flyer myself I was able to relate to the spot on multiple levels. I can just imagine what the creative brainstorming session must’ve looked like.
It probably went something like this… Let’s find a metaphor for flying … pigeons. Put them in crowded lines and jostled frustrating situation … crowded skies of birds flapping their wings. Demonstrate the food is not very good … throw some crumbs. And show how nobody cares about the passenger … show bird on a crowded sidewalk alone being ignored.
Then ask the question, there has to be a better way and the answer from JetBlue is … Air on the side of humanity! Simple and easy. And brilliant.
Do you have a lesson about making your customer engagement better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your customer attention and focus. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Need some help in building better customer trust from your customer engagement? Creative ideas to help grow your customer relationships?
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on customer engagement from our library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
Ken Blanchard once said: If you want to know why your people are not performing well, step up to the mirror and take a peek. When was the last time you saw a local business leader demonstrate leadership accountability and responsibility?
Or make a very disastrous business decision? We’d guess we’ve all seen our leaders make bad decisions at least occasionally.
But here’s the thing. For every famous mega-disaster, a thousand slip under the radar screen. And every time we confront one of these nightmares, big or small, we ask ourselves, “Why do they do it?” Ironically, it rarely has anything to do with leaders’ intelligence or even aware that their actions will likely do more harm than good.
So what is behind the behavior and bad decision making? In many instances, they put their own self-interest ahead of those they serve and then rationalize or compartmentalize their behavior so they don’t face the loathsome truth.
In other words, bad leaders are often selfish, weak-minded and blissfully unaware that their self-image is a skewed version of reality. The truth is we all behave that way from time to time and to varying degrees.
Which brings us to the main point: Every one of us can do with an extra dose of humility and self-awareness to remind us that we’re not always the insanely great business leaders we believe we are.
Here are seven simple thoughts you should get your head and ego around to help you be a more accountable leader:
Accountability and responsibility in the workplace?
Accountability and responsibility … what can go wrong?
What am I missing? What can derail our plan? It’s such a great feeling to get everyone all hyped up over a hot product idea or corporate vision that you just hate to take a step back and ask what can go wrong. But, guess what? Skipping this crucial step is a sign of an immature leader who’s not ready for prime time.
Actually, I don’t know
It took me years to learn how to say that consistently, and you know what? It improved my credibility while lowering my stress at the same time. It’s the same as admitting your wrong: it’s a tremendous relief to let go and admit you don’t know everything.
Let me think about it and get back to you
When I was a young manager, I was taught to be a decisive leader. That’s fine as long as you’re not doing it just for show or overreacting to less data than you need to make a well-informed decision. In other words, listen to your gut, not your ego.
Leadership and accountability … what do you expect of me?
What can I do for you? It’s not just a customer service attitude. It also helps you steer clear of making incorrect assumptions and goes a long way toward clarifying goals, objectives and all sorts of things to keep you on the right path. When in doubt, ask.
Accountability and responsibility in management.
Do the right thing
When leaders use those four simple words to guide their decisions and encourage others to do the same, it helps create a culture that questions the status quo and encourages smart risk-taking that won’t eventually land everyone in hot water.
Leadership and accountability … I accept full responsibility
Most say it; few actually do it. Some even say it and still manage to blame everything and everybody but themselves. Leaders who make excuses are poor excuses for leaders.
Sorry, I was wrong
Apple CEO Tim Cook apologized to customers over the iPhone 5 maps debacle, and rumor has it that former mobile software chief had a real problem with that. That’s one of the reasons he’s a “former” Apple executive.
Making sound decisions to take action the right way is difficult, to say the least. It takes courage, patience, and perseverance. Most of us know that because we’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way. Just pay close attention and stay well-grounded in these simple thoughts.
A characteristic of leadership – seeing a costly mistake or a learning investment?
Tom Watson Jr., CEO of IBM between 1956 and 1971, was a key figure in the information revolution. Watson repeatedly demonstrated his abilities as a leader, never more so than in our first short story.
A young executive had made some bad decisions that cost the company several million dollars. He was summoned to Watson’s office, fully expecting to be dismissed. As he entered the office, the young executive said, “I suppose after that set of mistakes you will want to fire me.” Watson was said to have replied,
“Not at all, young man, we have just spent a couple of million dollars educating you.”
(Source: Edgar Schein in his book Organisational Culture and Leadership)
This story provides a strong message of support and a reminder that some of the most powerful lessons we can learn are from our so-called failures or difficult times.
Remember Edison’s famous saying: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Edison also demonstrated a great response to adversity which compliments Watson Jr’s actions.
When his factory was burned down, with much of his life’s work inside, Edison said: “There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burned up. Thank God we can start anew.”
A characteristic of leadership is to see things differently. Seeing mistakes as an investment in learning. Seeing that, even in disaster, you can start anew.
The bottom line
The examples of leadership and accountability are all around us. All we have to do is be open-minded in how we look and how we apply the best lessons learned.
Now it’s your turn. What are the leadership and accountability ideas you have seen lately?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Talking to or performing in front of crowds is a real art, isn’t it? Bands do it. Magicians do it. Politicians and inspirational speakers do it. They personalize their performances and their messages for excellent customer engagement.
When politicians enter a crowded auditorium, and as they walk down the aisle they stop to warmly shake hands with a few people on the aisle and shares a few friendly words with each.
The lead singer in a band bounds onto the stage of a packed arena, punching the air with energy. He pauses at the stage edge as if he’s caught someone’s eye in the crowd. He smiles broadly, points and waves at what appears to be a fan he’s spotted. He then calls out to the whole city all the time maintaining a pointed finger to his “friend” in the crowd.
Related: What Little Things Small Businesses Can Do To Build Customer Relationships
So remember this. Once you stop treating the crowd like a crowd and start focusing on individuals, people notice. The more you do it, the more everyone engages.
One by one, the experience and expectation in the crowd is that this isn’t just one of many things. It’s about the performer and me, a unique, unrepeatable, magic moment shared. Even people who don’t get individually called out still start to believe this.
Multi-channel communications need to focus on customer journeys and customer-centric communications. It is all about the imperative of getting into the crowd, waving and smiling and connecting with our customers where they are.
Quite simply, we are moving to a customer-centric marketing approach.
So here are ten building blocks for even better customer engagement and customer-centric marketing:
Make changes
… based on your insights.
Do the right thing.
Do the right thing
… even if it adds costs. Dealing with people means that you will have to take the good with the bad. The patience to deal with all types of customers is vital.
Exercise
… occasional random acts of kindness.
Be social
… offer smiles and friendly words. When dealing with the public, things can go wrong. You have to be flexible enough to roll with the punches and think outside the box sometimes. And be social at all costs.
Demonstrate
… that you listen, hear, and most of all, remember.
Pay attention
… while you listen and observe.
Make it easy
Make it easy.
… for customers to do business with you. Keep in mind that time is the most valuable resource for most customers. Being able to look at a situation through the eyes of a customer is an extremely valuable skill that can enable you to provide the highest degree of service.
Personalize
… your services as much as you can.
Be proactive
… take the initiative for as many actions as possible. It’s never a good idea to wait until a customer is stressed or agitated before offering assistance. Being one step ahead to gauge when someone needs help is the best way to minimize a brewing situation.
Customers don’t want to deal with sales associates who have to force themselves to be pleasant and nice.
A great example
JetBlue recently launched a brilliant new ad campaign called “Air on the Side of Humanity.” Have you seen it? You might want to check it out.
They ingeniously use pigeons as a transposed metaphor for frequent flyers who are challenged by business travel and crowded flights. I can relate. The spot shows crowded skies full of pigeons while an off-camera narrator says “the reality of flying is not very pretty.” It’s a royal headache and a major inconvenience.
They show crowded jostled pigeons on a building ledge lined up single file facing the camera while the narrator says, “They pack you in there, you hardly have any space for yourself. Hey, I’m a big guy, and I need some room to breathe”. As the narrator continues talking about the future situation being bleak the camera focuses on a man’s legs sitting on a park bench throwing crumbs to pigeons on the sidewalk as the narrator says, “They throw you crumbs and act as if it’s a five-course meal.”
Next, they show a lonely pigeon on a busy pedestrian sidewalk as people walk around ignoring a confused bird as the narrator says, “I feel completely ignored.” Then the narrator asks the question, “There’s gotta be a way to fly with a little respect, you know?”
Then they cut to a different voiceover announcer who says, “Enjoy JetBlue’s award-winning service, free unlimited snacks and the most legroom in coach.” An awesome way to engage customers, isn’t it?
What I love about this engagement approach is that it takes a customer experience perspective that no doubt was derived from deep customer insights. As a frequent flyer myself I was able to relate to the spot on multiple levels. I can just imagine what the creative brainstorming session must’ve looked like.
It probably went something like this… Let’s find a metaphor for flying … pigeons. Put them in crowded lines and jostled frustrating situation … crowded skies of birds flapping their wings. Demonstrate the food is not very good … throw some crumbs. And show how nobody cares about the passenger … show bird on a crowded sidewalk alone being ignored.
Then ask the question, there has to be a better way, and the answer from JetBlue is … Air on the side of humanity! Simple and easy. And brilliant.
Do you have a lesson about making your customer engagement better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add to the section below?
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your customer attention and focus. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
More reading on customer engagement from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Whole Foods Customer Engagement Using Social Media
Is Employee Engagement the Backbone of the Publix Culture?
13 Employee Engagement Lessons From Best Employee Brands
Positive Attitude Is Everything for Customer Engagement
Mike Schoultz likes to write about the topics that lead to small business success. He also likes to share his many business experiences. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.
