Marketing Roadmaps

Susan Getgood

More disconnected customer service

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Email Header from Avis Promo

I like Avis well enough. They generally have reasonable prices and decent availability for the places I wish to go. But I am irritated that they have my name wrong in their promotional database — they have my first name, Susan, as my surname and my surname, Getgood, as my first name. Hence, the somewhat rude sounding salutation in the email subject line above (received today).

This would be mostly amusing, except that at one point, it prevented me from renting cars online with Avis because my Wizard number and login didn’t match in the customer database. So I contacted customer service, via email of course because the database errors prevented me from using any online mechanisms. After much back and forth, we managed to get the customer record and online login fixed. I’m pretty sure I can rent cars from Avis online, although I haven’t had the need to do so since; it was a family trip and easier to just use my husband’s account.

Apparently they couldn’t propagate the change to whatever vendor or department handles the mailing list, because sure enough, the next email campaign cheerily advised “Getgood” that I could do something or other with Avis.

So I contacted customer service again, because it just annoys me to be called by my last name, which is when I learned that the two databases were — ta-duh — separate. The customer service rep told me she’d pass the word along but there was nothing she could do personally to fix it.

DISCONNECT.

And still not fixed. Promo emails from Avis continue to be addressed to Getgood.

That makes it more than a disconnect. It’s borderline stupid.

Clearly, someone isn’t trying harder.

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My previous post on the customer service disconnect

The customer service disconnect

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Vintage telephone handset

The customer service disconnect is not an unintended/accidental hang-up. Nor is it the insidious phenomenon that influential bloggers and tweeters seem to jump to the top of the queue while others languish. The “celebrity” effect has always existed, to one degree or another. Funnily enough, with social media, it has extended to a broader circle, beyond the famous to the “niche famous” like digital celebrities and other online influencers. That sort of makes it more democratic 🙂

The customer service disconnect is a far more disturbing side effect of the rise of online & social media marketing.

Specifically, it’s the disconnect between the online marketing, community engagement, shopping bots, live chat consultants and interactive advertising we experience BEFORE we purchase a product, and the lack of similar options AFTER we buy. When the only way to get satisfaction for a customer issue is to call or email the service department, and then wait, on hold or for a reply.

Customers don’t have different pre- and post-sale expectations about the product and their experience with the company. We buy a product and we expect a seamless experience. We also expect our vendors to treat us as well as customers as they did when we were prospects.

Which of course doesn’t always happen. Cell phone companies are notorious for giving better deals to new customers. Software companies often have better deals for new buyers than upgrading customers; sure, they’ll extend the better price if the customer asks for it but you have to know, to ask.

Unfortunately for the companies, it’s a whole lot easier to know all the offers on the table, for whatever sort of product, than it ever was before.

And consumers are increasingly frustrated by having to use old media to rectify problems or complete transactions, when the bulk of the interaction is on new media.

Some examples of the frustration

My son recently signed up for an online site that uses some of his personal information. Under COPA (Child Online Privacy Act), a parent has to extend permission for children under age 13. But the only way to do it was by fax or snail mail. Total disconnect for my son (and my husband and I too). Twenty-four hours later, the permission had still not been processed and my son was pissed that he couldn’t play on the site.

Catalog retailer Lands’ End does a super job all around —  online marketing and customer service. Have a question while shopping? Use live chat to ask your question.  Need to change an order that hasn’t been shipped? No problem. Many post-sale transactions can even be done online. When you do have to call, the telephone reps are courteous, helpful and you never have to wait.

But, good as it is, recently I had a transaction that showed that even the best have room for some simple improvements in the connection between marketing and customer service.

I’m a regular Lands’ End customer. I’m on the mailing & email list and have an account and stored preferences on the site. I’m in their system, full stop. This spring, I placed an order on a Friday evening. The same weekend, on Sunday, when I opened my email, there was a promotional email for Free Shipping, starting that day. I phoned customer service, asked for the free shipping to be applied to my order and it was with absolutely no problem. Great customer service.

Even better though would have been an email that Sunday morning telling me that because my order was placed within 48 hours of the start of the promotion, it was automatically applied and my shipping was now free. Would I like to add some items? That would be superior, unforgettable customer service.

It’s not easy

It’s not easy breaking down the functional barriers between marketing and customer service, no matter how good the company is. The larger the company, the firmer and broader  the barriers between the silos. At a small to mid-sized company, odds are the players all know, or at least know of, each other. The disconnects may occur but it’s easier to sort it out when your desks or departments are side by side.

Scale up and up and up to the multi-national consumer products companies. Many outsource first line phone support and customer service lines to India and other countries with large employee pools and lower wages. But even if the functions aren’t separated by a thousand seas, often they might as well be.

Organizational barriers, language barriers, corporate politics, reorgs, workforce reductions all play a part, but the truth is that customer service and marketing probably don’t speak with each other enough. Once a year, maybe twice a year at an annual meeting that is often more a dog and pony show than an opportunity to solve mutual problems. Each side takes their assigned pieces of the puzzle and regroups internally to figure it out. Report back next year.

I’m being deliberately harsh and stereotypical. I know that many companies already try to punch through this wall in a variety of ways — multi-functional task forces, employees chartered with facilitating cross-functional communications, CRM systems that make information available across the enterprise.

I just don’t think what we’re doing so far is going to be enough in a world where one customer problem aired on a social network like Twitter or Facebook can spark a customer service conflagration. And the fire spreads pretty fast. You don’t have days to respond. If you’re lucky, a few hours. These customer brouhahas also seem to erupt on the weekends — for example, Motrin Moms. Makes sense, right. That’s when most people are catching up on their personal stuff.

Solution?

I don’t have one. Because there isn’t a one-size fits all solution here.

What is clear though is that marketing and customer service cannot waste time arguing about who owns the customer relationship. They have to put their heads together to figure out how to satisfy it in the new reality.

That may mean cross functional teams tasked with cooperating on a daily, not annual, basis. It may mean new Customer departments staffed with experts from all the disciplines. It may mean figuring out how to use the CRM system as more than a sales/marketing database.

There are as many possible solutions as there companies; every one will be different. Even if they make exactly the same products, the people are different. Within the firm and without.

In the end, it’s all about people. And our expectations.

What we don’t expect is a customer service disconnect.

Facebook: the gateway drug to social media, & other thoughts on SOCIAL networks

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Repeat after me: It’s the SOCIAL that matters in social networks, not the network. On or offline, it’s the community that matters, not the structure. Even where there is no structure, community will emerge. Look at Twitter.

The engagement is what matters. Not the form of the network. Blogs, Facebook, communities like Cafe Mom and BlogHer, Twitter, LinkedIn, “Old fashioned” forums and bulletin boards. These are all forms of social media engagement.

The trick is to find the ones that matter. To you. To your business.

When I do my social media 101 workshops for business audiences, the thing I stress them most is that you want to be where your customers are. For individuals, where your friends are. Otherwise, why bother?

This week, Harvard Business Review’s report that only about 10% of Twitter users account for about 90% of the traffic on the network was quasi big news in social media circles. To which I say: what else did you expect? Twitter is most clearly an early adopter space, and early adopters are bound to be more active than users in general. @GuyKawasaki and @Scobleizer probably account for 1% alone. With (Kawasaki) or without (Scoble) ghweeters (ghost tweeters).

As it matures, the Twitter numbers may more closely reflect typical social network activity, where approximately 1% are active and the balance passive consumers of content, but for now, Twitter is the avant garde, the edge of social media. Trying to reach the early adopters? Ignore Twitter at your peril. We’re there. Every day. Using it on our phones and iPhones and Blackberries too.

Mass market? Don’t worry about it. For now.

More interesting were the Nielsen stats that time spent on Facebook had increased 700 percent, and on Twitter, more than 3,700 percent (hat tip Brian Solis).

nielsen

Look carefully at those overall number for Facebook. Nearly 14 million total minutes in April. Nearly three times the nearest competitor MySpace.

This is why Facebook is the gateway drug to social media. And why it should be part of your marketing strategy, no matter what you sell.

Before I delve into why Facebook is so important, let’s review some of the common characteristics of social network sites  like Facebook, LinkedIn, CafeMom, BlogHer etc.

  1. Consistent user interface
  2. Friend lists
  3. In-system messaging
  4. Ability to make and join groups
  5. Opportunity for commercial interaction with members
  6. Links in/out to other social media applications (blogs, other communities etc.)

We also hope to find our friends and/or people of like interests who might become friends. Every online community may not have everything on the list, and the implementation within the networks will likely look different community to community, but by and large, most online social networks have some flavor of these commonalities.

A social network is more fun when there are enough members to generate a reasonable level of activity. The easier the site is to use, the easier it is for members to connect with the other members, the more active members the community is likely to have. The more active, fun and useful a social network is, the more new members it will attract. Lather rinse repeat.

The limiting factor then becomes the core reason for the network in the first place. What brings the people together? The more narrowly defined the community, the fewer members it will have. CafeMom, for moms. BlogHer, women bloggers. And so on. It may still have many many members, but a “vertical” interest community won’t have everybody.

Which brings us to Facebook. Facebook is for everybody. Once you are in Facebook, you can make and join interest groups, but the only limiting factor on Facebook is that you must be willing to identify yourself by your real name. No anonymity.

It’s easier to use than blogs or MySpace, the distant second place finisher in the Nielsen reports, because the user interface (screens and functionality) is consistent user to user, page to page. The company fan pages even look pretty much like the personal profile pages. It’s easy to find what you’re looking for. Most of the time, and provided of course they stop changing the user interface.

Because it is all-inclusive and relatively easy to use, if a person is even marginally active online, it’s almost a no-brainer to join Facebook. Now, when a person joins a new social network, what’s one of the first things she does?

Yup. Recruit her friends to join her. It’s more fun when all your friends are there. Since there’s no limiting interest on Facebook, you can invite everyone you know, and most people do.

And so on and so on and so on.

Net? Just about everyone who engages in social media has a Facebook account, and once you step away from the technology geeks,  early adopters and gamers, Facebook is very likely to be the first adult social network a person joins. Gen Y and Millenials may start with things like Club Penguin or “white space” communities, but those are “childish things.” [My spare copy of The Tipping Point, if you want it, to the first commenter who can source this reference. Alternative prize: if you are going to BlogHer, I’ll buy you a drink.]

Facebook is a mostly grown up place. And it’s where most grown-ups start their descent into the madness that is social media. A dark dark place of addiction.

Oops sorry. I let my gateway drug analogy run away with the post. Seriously, though, Facebook is the point of entry into social networks for many users. Some may move on to mainline social media on the wild wild web, but many will be happy as clams hanging out in Facebook with their friends. Even if the more adventurous do go exploring Twitter and Ning and other cool stuff, they are bound to pop back to Facebook now and again to hang with their friends. Even if they hate it, they won’t be able to totally avoid it. Trust me, I speak from personal experience 🙂

Why? Because Facebook is the community where you are likely to find the largest number of all your friends and acquaintances, regardless of what your commonality with them is – neighbor, classmate, friend, relative, co-worker, colleague, fellow {fill in the blank} fan/critic, etc.  Exception issued to social media geeks who seem to have abandoned Facebook for Twitter, although I bet if we continue to build out our Facebook networks, they’ll include more people we know, or have known, in the real world than Twitter does. By a significant factor.

But normal people? They’re in, and will continue to be in, Facebook. Or if Facebook falters too badly, a successor that shares the same model of inclusion. [Note: this is an unlikely scenario. Merger or new management more likely than total fail.]

Normal folk may join one or two other special interest communities and LinkedIn for professional connections where applicable, but that’s my gut feel for the limit for active engagement. Reading regularly. Commenting, at least once in while. We may join other networks, but it’s hard to be truly active in more than a few.

So, back to my statement that Facebook should be part of your marketing strategy, no matter what you sell.

Rule Number One in my social media strategy book is that you should be where your customers are. If you sell a consumer product, you have customers on Facebook. If you are a non-profit, you have both constituents and donors on Facebook. Even business to business products may find their customer or constituent base on Facebook, especially if they have a business to community component, such as the largest employer in a community or a chamber of  commerce.

Making Facebook part of your strategy doesn’t mean you have to have your own fan page, although it will probably play out that way for most companies. It could be as simple as monitoring the activity on relevant groups and providing information through a designated employee representative.

Most companies though will take the step of setting up a Facebook fan page. This is smart business, but you have to feed the beast. You can’t just set it and forget it. In this respect, it’s no different than if you started a company blog – regular updates, engagement with the customer, responding to comments and questions. The big difference, and why it is attractive as a point of entry into social media for many companies, especially smaller ones, is that Facebook provides the infrastructure. You just pour your content into their framework.

Unlike the user example above, where I posit that many will be fat smart and happy staying in Facebook as one of their primary social networks and never feel the need to venture too far into the social media wilderness, I expect many companies will feel the limitations of the Facebook structure for their branding requirements, and supplement their Facebook presence with content on their own websites or blogs. More than a few will start with their own sites and branch back into Facebook to reach a larger constituency. The more you integrate the experience, on and off Facebook, the tighter the connection with the customer.

Just do me a favor please. Don’t create one of those stupid quizzes. Find another way to engage the customer.

Pretty please. With sugar and a cherry on top.


Client News: GuideMark

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From time to time I share news about clients here. This latest news from my client GuideMark may be more than simply interesting to some readers. It may be relevant to you or your business.

Tough new laws about data breaches go into effect in January in Massachusetts, and they will impact any firm — large or small — that handles client private data of Massachusetts residents. Social security numbers. Bank account numbers. Driver’s License numbers.

Firms that accept credit card payments, whether online or off, have already had to consider the ramifications of breaches due to the many and much publicized hacks of credit card processing systems. But the new Mass law impacts any organization that has client private data of a Massachusetts citizen. That means professional services firms like accountants,  lawyers, investment advisors  and insurance brokers, whether or not you are located in Massachusetts.

GuideMark has developed a set of consulting services to help firms comply with the law, and has partnered with The McLane Law Firm to kick everything off with a free two-hour seminar June 4th in Woburn and a free one-hour webinar on June 11th.

If your firm is potentially affected by the law, worth checking out. And if you are a Massachusetts resident,  worth asking your advisors how they are protecting your data and preparing for the new laws.

Impact of potential new FTC endorsement guidelines on companies

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Yesterday, I gave you my take on how the potential new FTC guidelines for endorsements and testimonials might impact bloggers. Today we are going to look at the potential impact on companies.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

  • The guidelines outline how the FTC intends to enforce the laws governing endorsements and testimonials in commercial speech. They are meant to be used as an aid to compliance. The new bit is that they are clearly extending the definition of commercial speech into certain social media activities.
  • The FTC is still working on these new guidelines, but has said they’ll be out this summer. The new guidelines  could change a little or a lot from what it outlined in the call for comments I reviewed, based on the comments received, lobbying and so on. I’m betting a little, but I could be wrong. Been known to happen.

How might companies change/have to change their blogger relations programs and practices to comply with the guidelines?

First, let’s review the three examples related to blogs. The citations are the direct quotes from the document; headlines and emphasis mine. Please note,  I’ve changed the emphasis from yesterday’s post. It now reflects the impact on the company. Also, be aware that there is a fourth example specifically related to in-person word-of-mouth marketing, “street teams,” such as the work done by firms like BzzAgent. That’s not my area of expertise, so I’ll leave that one to WOMMA.

Number one: Liability for false statements in a sponsored post.

“Example 5: A skin care products advertiser participates in a blog advertising service. The service matches up advertisers with bloggers who will promote the advertiser’s products on their personal blogs. The advertiser requests that a blogger try a new body lotion and write a review of the product on her blog. Although the advertiser does not make any specific claims about the lotion’s ability to cure skin conditions and the blogger does not ask the advertiser whether there is substantiation for the claim, in her review the blogger writes that the lotion cures eczema and recommends the product to her blog readers who suffer from this condition. The advertiser is subject to liability for false or unsubstantiated statements made through the blogger’s endorsement. The blogger also is subject to liability for representations made in the course of her endorsement. The blogger is also liable if she fails to disclose clearly and conspicuously that she is being paid for her services. [See § 255.5.]

In order to limit its potential liability, the advertiser should ensure that the advertising service provides guidance and training to its bloggers concerning the need to ensure that statements they make are truthful and substantiated. The advertiser should also monitor bloggers who are being paid to promote its products and take steps necessary to halt the continued publication of deceptive representations when they are discovered.”

Number two: Disclosure of receipt of free product

“Example 7: A college student who has earned a reputation as a video game expert maintains a personal weblog or “blog” where he posts entries about his gaming experiences. Readers of his blog frequently seek his opinions about video game hardware and software. As it has done in the past, the manufacturer of a newly released video game system sends the student a free copy of the system and asks him to write about it on his blog. He tests the new gaming system and writes a favorable review. The readers of his blog are unlikely to expect that he has received the video game system free of charge in exchange for his review of the product, and given the value of the video game system, this fact would likely materially affect the credibility they attach to his endorsement. Accordingly, the blogger should clearly and  conspicuously disclose that he received the gaming system free of charge.”

Number three: Anti-astroturfing. Requires disclosure of material interest when making an endorsement.

“Example 8: An online message board designated for discussions of new music download technology is frequented by MP3 player enthusiasts. They exchange information about new products, utilities, and the functionality of numerous playback devices. Unbeknownst to the message board community, an employee of a leading playback device manufacturer has been posting messages on the discussion board promoting the manufacturer’s product. Knowledge of this poster’s employment likely would affect the weight or credibility of her endorsement. Therefore, the poster should clearly and conspicuously disclose her relationship to the manufacturer to  members and readers of the message board.”

Sponsored Posts/Blogs

There are a few flavors of sponsorship. The company might pay the the blogger directly for a post or as an advertising sponsor of the blog, it might pay a blog network like BlogHer for access to its members or it might work with a sponsored post company like Izea.

In the first case, when the company works directly with a blogger, for example by sponsoring a specific post or even the blog as an advertising sponsor, the relationship should be governed by an advertising contract that outlines the responsibilities of the parties, and the nature of the relationship clearly disclosed on the blog. This is just smart business for both sides.

If, however, the company is not working directly with the blogger and instead is working through an intermediary, described in the FTC doc as a blog advertising service, the company needs to perform an additional level of due diligence. It needs to be sure that the advertising service is providing guidance and training to its bloggers, and if free product or services are provided, requiring disclosure of the commercial relationship.

Note that there is no requirement that the blogger be receiving a payment. Or even free product. If a company uses a blog network to reach out, is paying the blog network for the access to its members, that seems to be sufficient for liability for false statements.

What kind of policy should you look for in a blog advertising network or sponsored post firm? A good example is BlogHer. It  has done a nice job navigating this minefield. The blog network you use may not have exactly the same policies, which is fine, but you want it to have at least paid as much attention to its own policy. To understand and be sensitive to the impact on both the blogging community and the advertiser.

Is there an issue if you are working with a consultant or agency to reach out to bloggers on your behalf, but who has not promoted a blog network as a product? In this case, the vendor would be building an outreach list based on your criteria and probably its relationships, but it isn’t advertising a blog network service.  I do not think the same liability exists, but usual disclaimer. Not a lawyer, don’t play one on the WWW.

{added 5/21 7:50 am}

After sleeping on it, I realized the above paragraph wasn’t clear. I don’t want to read too much into the examples, so be aware that this next thought is my interpretation, not a direct example from the FTC document.

It is the payment to the blog network combined with the explicit agreement that the bloggers will write that creates commercial speech, ie advertising. When blogger outreach is handled more like public relations, as it would be by a PR agency or an independent consultant like me, there is no agreement that the bloggers will write. Our job is to present a relevant story to a group of bloggers that we expect will be interested. If they write, it is editorial.

If free product is provided to them, the same disclosure provisions would apply. In both cases, whether there is agreement to write or not, best practice is to provide as much information as the blogger needs/requests, but no direction as to post tone, content or timing.

{end insertion}

Free product considerations

Many blogger relations programs include something for free. A product. A trip. Products to giveaway on the blog. While the FTC example doesn’t require you, the company, to do anything, I recommend that you act as though it does, and advise bloggers of the need to disclose.

Should you stop offering review product or developing blogger events? Absolutely not. Even with these new guidelines, honest customer experiences of your products and services are a great way to reach other customers. We all just need to understand that it is a new form of advertising and act accordingly.

A word about contracts. The temptation will be strong, particularly in your legal department, to pass as much liability onto the blogger as you can. My advice is to be reasonable. If the value of the goods received, either for loan or free, is high, you probably need a contract that spells out the responsibilities of the parties. But, if you try to pass on all the responsibility to the bloggers, be prepared for them to walk away. And if you’re just sending the blogger a few DVDs or product samples to try and perhaps give away on her blog, be realistic. A contract?

A form of astroturfing specifically prohibited

The astroturfing example warmed  my cold cynical heart. Far too many companies and agencies have engaged in the  practice of leaving positive comments on blog posts and forums without disclosing their interest in the product or service being discussed. This is an abhorrent, unethical practice. If the example above makes it into the final guidelines, this will be considered deceptive advertising subject to FTC enforcement. AMEN.

Better practice by far is to participate but disclose your interest. In most cases, you’ll be better off communicating with the site or forum owner first, privately, before jumping into a forum, community or ongoing blog discussion, but some will already have threads for vendor discussion. Once you’ve established a relationship with the community, you may even become a resource for it. Isn’t that what we really want? Robust relationships with our customers and influencers.

What’s the bottom line?

The potential new FTC guidelines change the playing field for social media outreach, but only slightly, and really, well within what we should be doing as  ethical practice anyway.

The FTC’s job is to protect consumers from deceptive advertising. One of the ways it does this is to make sure that commercial speech — paid advertising in all its forms — is clearly marked as such. While it may make our jobs as marketers and bloggers a bit more complex, as consumers, we should be glad that we have this watchdog on our side.