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Harry And David Customer Service Thank You

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fruitIn the midst of the holiday season with gift baskets flying across the U.S., took time to read this blog, see a negative net promoter score, find a contact form, and write an email to fix what they thought was a remark against its brand that needed attention.

I mentioned Harry and David, the online fruit and foods retailer, in a recent post, In that post, I suggested my experience with the fruit of the month club was disappointing while others had a lovely experience with the company.

The company’s social media team was listening. Over the weekend of Dec. 15, 2012, I received a contact form comment from Harry and David. They offered to send me a gift because of my previously poor experience with the company.

My  response to Maria of Harry and David was to thank her with a polite refusal saying the company’s attention and response was gift enough.

She continued to insist; I acquiesced and within a very short time, I received a gorgeous holiday gift tower complete with pears (the company’s fruit is top quality), candies, nuts, salmon, cheese, and other goodies.

I applaud Harry and David for having a social media team at the frontlines listening, monitoring, tracking and responding in a very personal way.

I’m so impressed the company was proactive and also gracious enough to showcase tremendous customer service during an extremely busy time.

Thanks, Harry and David, I’ll always be a promoter of your brand and excellent products.

 

 

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How To Nurture A Social Media Community

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Credit: Pioneer Outfitters, Alaska

When you nurture social media community, there’s a lot to think about. Communities and moderators collide on social media channels, it’s one person’s style against the other with no hard or fast rules. Nurturing social media community takes gentle enforcement with just enough engagement to attract the lurkers and a welcoming gesture every now and again to keep those a bit shy engaging.

Google+ Communities spawned a fire storm last week when everyone flocked (yes we did, albeit there were a handful of naysayers and bah-humbuggers) to either launch or join a community. (This is your own very special invite to join my Bloggers Unite! Google+ Community.) [Read more…]

Fixing The Social Media Plateau

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Pinterest featue in Metro - 27th February 2012

Pinterest featue in Metro - 27th February 2012 (Photo credit: Great British Chefs)

There’s a social cultural shift on the ‘sphere and the ‘webz; have you felt it? More’s the question…are you experiencing a social media sea change plateau yourself?

Many in my community have been on this social engagement and blogging journey for an average of 18 months. For me, it’s almost four years.

When you look at that timeframe doing almost the same thing day in and day out, it’s time to grow or die.

The signs below may be an indication it’s time to step up your game, take it to the next level, and grow or remain complacent. See if these strike a chord and whether you might add a few of your own:

10 Indications You’ve Hit a Social Media Plateau

1. Learning new things becomes more rare; another 20 ways to use Pinterest blog post isn’t providing new insight over what you know now.

2. Your favorite bloggers seem to be echoing the chamber more frequently, and there’s a reason you’re spotting that — you’re ready to grow because you know.

3. Posting wit and banter on the channels is more of a chore and you find yourself sharing posts without reading to keep your Klout score up.

4. Facebook’s continued alterations and altercations have you yawning as you realize other channels may be a better fit.

5. You read some of the posts and shake your head at the nonsense.

6. When you find a new blogger with some awesome content and you write a comment saying so and get crickets in response.

7. When you see a favorite blogger MIA or changing it up so drastically you can’t follow whose writing you’re reading.

8. When whining becomes more the rant and a feeling of morose amplifies emotions in posts.

9. When the Triberr stream is populated with content that boils down to limited scope, repetition and topics you’ve seen already a dozen times.

10. When the road ahead is a question mark.

How To Fix The Social Media Plateau

Not saying you need to feel all of these or any, but when you begin to question your purpose and experience a few of those listed above, consider these possible solutions to fix The  Social Media Plateau:

1. Take a hiatus and refocus on your core business. You’ll buy back tons of time; yet, your social brand will suffer.

2. Reduce the time spent on the channels that don’t return much to you. That way, you’re not spread as thin.

3. Guest post on national blogs or other more high-traffic blogs (only after you engage and make a connection with the bloggers’ community, of course).

4. Tackle a whole new area, which can be any or all of the following — web design, analytics/big data, content marketing and lead gen, podcasting, webinars, passive income, affiliate marketing, speaking, e-books/books, and, and, and…

OMYGOSH…look at #4 — there’s my laundry list to push the envelope and avoid a social media plateau! What about you? Did any of that tickle the pink?

 

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Get Ready For The Chief Everything Officer

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credit: chiefmartec.com

The chief marketing officer manages public relations, marketing, advertising, and social media. It’s no secret that analytics and big data have pushed the CMO into the realm of tech, encroaching on the IT department.

Silos in organizations have IT squarely functioning on its own, reporting to the chief technology officer. When do marketing and technology collaborate? Probably in the conference room and perhaps at a few meetings.

A recent issue of Advertising Age on the future of marketing has raised this very issue – marketing and technology are converging at a fast pace but the squabbling is still alive and well in many firms and large organizations.

Other reports suggest the role of the chief marketing officer is fraught with little tenure – the average length of time in this position is about 18 months. Why is that?

I reckon a solid guess that social media and the outside-in communication style of consumers has pushed marketers into a frenzy to dissect and measure. As the IT department stood alongside watching the festivities, marketing took on big data and added it to its mix. Did it make it any easier for marketers to have all these stats flying around every day? No…social media ROI remains elusive.

The other thought is that CMOs are fighting for influence.  A recent study by Appinions, an opinion-based influence marketing platform, studied the level of influence by marketers in a highly popular paper with results published by Forbes. I imagine the chief marketer wants more influence over all of it, right? After all, the CIO or CTO has been relegated to a silo for so many years…but I feel a sea change brewing!

So, what’s going to happen in the corner office?

Is there anyone highly qualified to catch the curve balls in this new normal? Does anyone have the competency to manage all these departments converging in the C-suite? Methinks anyone in the CMO position today is working their arse off to stay smart and be ahead of the game.

Instead of all these chief whatever officers, I’m imagining the Chief Everything Officer…it sounds so much more, well, inclusive, doesn’t it?

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In Safety Of Groups, Do You Attack Or Connect?

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This is a "thought bubble". It is an...

This is a "thought bubble". It is an illustration depicting thought. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I failed recently, at a presentation. And once I had a chance to think about it, I was thrilled! Because I learned an important leadership lesson about connecting with others.

Last year I was a part of a leadership development program in which I completed a group project. This year, I was asked to visit the new class and present on my project as an example of success, and to guide them through thinking about their own projects.

That is not what happened.

Instead, the group – 90% of whom I had never met – went on the attack. Rather than listening and questioning me with the goal of learning, they autopsied my project, finding fault with me for things they thought I should have done. They challenged some of the assumptions of the project and criticized me for not doing certain things, not understanding that we had tried those options and given up on them because they didn’t work. I stayed calm and responded to their challenges in an even way but I will admit that on the inside I was irritated and confused about why I was being attacked.

Afterward, I was praised for how I maintained my poise in the face of critique and that my lack of defensiveness was masterful! The meeting leader also said I was the best example of “centered leadership” she had seen live in some time. I disagreed until she pointed this out:

  • If we can’t honor and appreciate a chance to connect with others who think like us, how can we possibly be effective in connecting with others who don’t think like us?

And, with her perspective, I saw that I had in fact imparted a valuable lesson, just not the one I had intended.

I got to thinking about a blog post I wrote for Spin Sucks last year when I found myself in a similar situation. I had wanted to talk about how those of us in the nonprofit world measure our social media results. But because the title inadvertently ended up including a reference to “ROI,” the audience went on the attack. I was told I didn’t know what I was talking about – and that was just for starters.

And, again, privately, I was complimented on how I had “handled” the negative feedback.

Now I’m looking at that debacle through my new lens about honoring a chance to connect. My challengers weren’t interested in connecting with me; they were interested in setting me straight, and not in the nicest way possible.

Naturally I examined myself as well. Where had I sacrificed an opportunity to connect for the sake of being “right”? How about this. The most beautiful words someone can say to me are, “You were right!” That should give you a sense of my thinking.

Does it really make sense for us to make enemies of strangers, especially if we’re on the same side? I’d say that’s not smart networking. While my attackers walked away thinking I was a dope, had they stopped to consider what I might think of them for talking to me that way? Had I done the reverse?

My questions for you are:

  • Do you connect….or do you attack? What makes you choose one or the other?
  • What are the consequences of each approach?
  • Do you think some people aren’t important enough to connect with?
  • Should I make a video of me demonstrating this poise while people throw tomatoes at me? J/K I am not going to make the video.

So, please do share how you act in the safety of groups — do you feel compelled to go on the attack with supporters all around, or do you take another road and attempt to connect with the presenter knowing you could be in those same shoes? Not expecting any answers to that question, but it’s worth a thought or two about your own behavior in the safety of numbers. 

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