Customer Service

The owners of the old general store got it...do you?

If you’re one of the minority wondering if community is overrated, you’re not getting it. Or rather, you’re not getting the need for community. Because if there’s one thing we shouldn’t be brushing aside, it’s the importance of the power of a collaborative of people, most especially, community.

Old School Examples:

In my old Queens, NY neighborhood, the local funeral home has a problem. They’re losing the support of the now primarily Asian members of the community because there is no one on staff to accommodate their faith or speak their language. This is a family run establishment that has been in the same location across from my old church and Catholic School for at least fifty or sixty years. They didn’t adapt with the community because they felt those who are moving into the neighborhood should somehow convert to the funeral home’s way of thinking, rather than the other way around. Now they are losing business to the Asian funeral homes and may have to shut down. If they hired someone who spoke the language and could help the funeral home to learn to  adapt to traditions and religions, they’d have more business.

Another case in point from the same town:

My former home town is what is considered a melting pot. I went to school with people of all races and nationalities and everyone got along…except for some old schoolers who didn’t want new races and nationalities moving in. There was a hardware store two blocks away from our home that my father went to often, until he learned that the new owner didn’t like Hispanics moving in to the neighborhood. Instead of adapting, the shop owner complained. He didn’t want them in his store and he wasn’t going to accommodate them. My father made the decision to walk ten blocks to the hardware store owner who chose to embrace members of the new community by learning Spanish and discovering how to best accommodate their needs. Now my Dad had new friends to talk to and share with.

Guess which hardware store went out of business?

The funeral home and first hardware store made a big mistake. They didn’t see these new arrivals to the neighborhood as community. They saw them as outsiders. The smart business owners knew that collectively people become a community and community will make or break a business. Outside of a corrupt society, majority always rules. You can say you’re a people person, but unless you understand community dynamics, you’ll have a hard time getting your message across.

This is more than just some public relations practice. Both hardware stores needed their community to survive. It’s the folks in the community who buy the products but they also recommend the business to others. Communities are fiercely loyal and those who don’t get it, the ones who don’t get community or what it stands for, are the ones that don’t last. Oh sure, the store can have a sale or jump on the next big thing, but once that special day is over, life returns to normal and they see where the true loyalty lies. People will come for a sale, the community will give continued business.

Why You Need Community More Than it Needs You

When I was 7 years old I walked to the local pharmacy and asked the pharmacist for my Dad’s prescription. He didn’t have to look at the prescription slip or check the files. He filled the prescription from memory. He knew all his customers and their families. He also knew our doctors. He knew if we had allergies or a low tolerance to certain foods, and he didn’t need a computer database to give him this knowledge. In return for the excellent customer service, we gave his pharmacy our business, and the pharmacist, our friendship. I don’t know that the guy behind the counter at the ginormous CVS inspires the same response.

There’s a reason my generation trusts mom and pop stores more than super centers. We remember what it was like to pull up a pickle barrel, sit down and chat with the neighbors. We know that community isn’t one sided. Instead, it’s everyone working together towards a common goal. That goal can be the betterment of a neighborhood, or to share information, but without community neither would happen.

Guess what happened?

As soon as people realized they had a voice they made sure it was heard. They made it clear they didn’t want to navigate a phone menu to nowhere or talk to a recording. People began realizing they had options and they could leave for a better customer service experience. And they did. They banded together for a common cause. They created a community.

Now the bigger chains also have ways of growing a community using social networking, special promotions for registered members and more. They’re getting it, finally. They offer special services to reward loyalty. Before the Internet it was harder to rally a community around a big business. Complaints were brushed under the rug and it didn’t matter if customers were left on hold for an eternity. Now they understand that it’s the people who hold the power.

I dare you to name any business that can survive without community:

Let’s try:

• Stores: Without community feedback they wouldn’t know what items to stock or what to charge.
• Blogs: Without community you’ll only having the same three people who write for the blog talking back and forth with each other.
• The DMV: Ok. Bad example…
• The Cable Company: If the community is unhappy they’ll write letters, take it to the Internet and create a public relations nightmare.
• Politicians: They won’t reach office unless their community votes for them.
• Public Relations: Simply put, without people to respond to their promotions and press releases they’d be out of a job.

One person is a single voice. A community is a powerful force.

Can you think of any business that doesn’t need people to survive?

It’s All about People

People are the reason behind any success. You might not physically see the people who give feedback or buy products, but without them nothing would exist. Would Thomas Edison invent light bulbs if people didn’t have a need for them? Would we have trains if people didn’t want to travel across country without being scalped? People are the driving force behind everything. Make no mistake, where there are people, there’s community.

You can write off community as overrated, but unless a group of people agree with you, your point won’t be successful.

See how that works?

Community.

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Tagged as: Community, general store, mom and pop store, neighborhoods, people, power of people

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Many businesses hire community managers because they hear one might be necessary, but once hired have no clue what to do with him. Is he a customer service person? Does he hang out with the marketing team or is he on board to help close sales?

What should you do with your community manager?

Customer Service: The obvious place for a CM is with customer service. Many business use the CM to talk with users via blogs and online networks. Therefore it’s a customer service experience, right? For sure the community manager should work with service or support so they know what the people who use their products or services are saying about them. They should know the areas in which they’re doing the best, and also the areas that need a little work. The community manager is an integral part of the customer service team..but that’s not all.

Marketing: The community manager should be part of the marketing team as well. Who else to better plan promotional strategies than the person who speaks to the people taking part? The community manger has his finger on the pulse of the people and will help plan the programs that best fit the community. Every good community manager also knows other community managers and could offer ideas and suggestions for cross promotions that would enable communities to mingle.

Public Relations & Editorial: See marketing. Also the community manager could assist with announcements and letters to the community as well as the company blog and newsletter. Most community managers moonlight as bloggers anyway.

Sales: Community managers aren’t there to close sales, but with their heavy social media presence they might be able to suggest potential advertising and business clients.

Social Media: A no brainer. Many community managers are  social media savvy and are the best people in the company to handle social media campaigns. No doubt they’re majorly into blogging and have a heavy online presence. Take advantage of this, trust me.

All of the Above: The most successful community managers aren’t departmentalized. They answer to the community, first and foremost, and also play parts in the success of several different departments.

If you’re not sure where to put your community manager, ask him. The answers may surprise – and enlighten you.

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• Re-Visiting Kommein

Tagged as: community building, Community Management, community manager

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Successful community managers know cultivating a community is more than just creating a Facebook group or spamming Twitter with some links. It’s about building relationships and touching on users’ wants and needs. The community manager truly is the voice of the community. This means she needs to be knowledgeable about all aspects of the business. Leaving a community manager in the dark, is leaving a community in the dark.

Here’s how to set up a community manager for failure. For your CM to be a success, do not do any of these things:

Don’t train your community manager or let her in on the workings of the various departments

Your community manager likes nothing more than to be clueless. Her favorite thing in the world is for her community to get frustrated with her for not knowing the answers.  Nothing gives a community manager more pleasure than to always have to ask other people for answers, rather than saving time by responding to questions on her own. Give yourself bonuses points if, when your CM looks to others for answers, they don’t answer for days – or not at all.

Don’t invite your community manager to departmental meetings or conference calls

To further ensure your community manager’s lack of success, make sure she’s never privy to any of the discussions pertaining to her community, especially customer service. The less she knows about anything having to do with the community the better.

Don’t keep your community manager apprised of new product and service launches

You know the best way to have your community manager look like a fool? Don’t tell her about any product or service launches. Don’t get her opinion on new applications or web designs. Don’t tell her anything until after the launch. She’ll love that, I promise.

Don’t let your community manager answer for herself

Canned, approved  by management responses only. Who needs a personal touch?

Have a community manager for appearances only

Just because it’s all about community nowadays, doesn’t mean it has to be about community. Go ahead and hire a community manager but don’t actually allow her to do anything resembling community management. Instead have her act as a glorified assistant handling paperwork, spreadsheets or web research.

Don’t ask your community manger for her opinion

What the heck does she know anyway?

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I’ve been a part of this social media thing for several years now. I’ve been blogging and working online for about a decade. I’ve been building up online communities in some form or another for at least ten years. While I won’t claim to be an expert, I think it’s safe to say I know a little of what I’m talking about.  I’ve come to two conclusions about community management. The first is that everyone has a different idea about what a community manager’s job entails. The second is that most people think a community manager is nothing more than a glorified forum moderator who only needs to worry about the social networks.

That’s not it at all.

Community management  is more than just Twitter. It’s more than FaceBook or Ning or MySpace. I’m even going to go as far as to say it doesn’t have much to do with those things at all, and anyone who thinks it’s about how many friends you have on Facebook or followers on Twitter, is clearly missing the mark. Community management is about creating a positive user experience. Yes, that does mean one should monitor the social networks to see what one’s community is saying about them, but that’s not what it’s about at all.

What I like to do is pretend there’s no Twitter or Facebook. How would I reach out to my community then? How can I find out what they think of our service? When I think about it, why would I want to create separate “groups” on the different social networks when the ultimate goal is to get them to socialize at their community’s home base. That just makes cliques, not communities.

Community management isn’t just Twitter. It’s being a voice for the people. It’s being a hands on customer service person. It’s finding out  what the people in your community are talking about and taking that information and putting it to good use. Community management is about creating a positive user experience. It’s about building up relationships with people and gaining their trust. When you think about it, that has nothing to do with Twitter at all.

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Tagged as: Community Management, social networking, Twitter

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It’s terrific so many businesses are starting to realize there are real people out there using their products and services. And while “community” and “social media” are this year’s buzzwords, some folks still aren’t quite getting it. Even though it’s all about “community” nowadays, doesn’t mean a business should treat folks as a collective or demograhic.

Most customer service or marketing teams treat users or consumers as a whole and solve problems based on averages and groups. It’s frustrating to know the people who we’re trusting for support are reading from a script or have a canned response. Though we’re building communities, each member of that community is an individual and should be treated as such. Toss the the script out and go with your gut, people will trust you more.

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I have a confession to make. I’m technically challenged. When it comes to blogging I can handle the writing end and maybe even a little widget and plugin installation, but when it comes to the nitty gritty, I haven’t a clue. I generally hire people to design my blogs and to handle the issues I can’t.

In November,  I was thrilled to be able to announce I was revamping my popular Freelance Writing Jobs blog from a single blog into a network of six blogs. Imagine how it feels watching a small blog grow into the number one online community for freelance writers? This was a thrilling and scary time for me. At the recommendation of my trusted tech guys, I moved over to a more reliable hosting company. It was a company that came highly recommended, received good reviews and they patiently answered all my questions when I called.

A tale of two servers

A couple of weeks after the move and upgrade, I received a notice from the host. My site is too busy, processes are running and it’s affecting the other websites on the server. Could we look into it? Indeed we could. My tech guys looked into it and fixed the problem. Or so we thought.  In mid- December the host sent another notice.  My blog network is too busy for the chosen plan, I had to move to a dedicated server. This must be done within 24 hours or my service would be yanked. Feeling I had no choice, I paid hundreds of dollars (that I couldn’t spare during the holidays) to get this done. Some of that money, by the way, had been earmarked so I could give my bloggers an end of the year bonus. Sorry, guys. [click to continue…]

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Every day I do a Twitter search to see who is talking about the business I work for. It allows me to say what folks are saying about us, and also if there are any users or potential users having trouble with the service. If I see someone using our service for the first time or asking questions about how it works, I reach out to them to see if there’s any way I can help. I also find the users who are having a bad experience and see what I can do to difuse the situation. Most folks seem to appreciate the Twitter presence, but I heard from someone today who thought it was a little too “Big Brother” for him.

Now,  regulars to Kommein know I believe businesses should have a heavy web presence. However, the gentleman who was put off by my Twitter trollage had a good point. It is a bit off-putting to know businesses are reading and digesting our comments. Comments we don’t expect them to see.

Here’s the thing, though. The guy threw out the information on Twitter. He has several thousand followers. So if he wanted the information to be kept private, he wouldn’t have told the world, right? And really, wouldn’t you rather know a business had a person on staff monitoring the social network to fix potential issues – it’s better than not getting a response at all, right?

So I’ll ask you. Is it crossing a line for a business to have someone on staff who monitors the social networks…or is it just good customer service?

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So I was having a conversation on Twitter today with @iFroggy (don’t you love using @’s instead of names?) about perhaps planning a Community Manger meetup in Austin during SXSWi, which is going on from March 13 – 17th. I’m trying to gauge interest, and if we have some takers I’ll see what I can do about finding a venue. I don’t know Austin at all, so I’ll have to enlist the aid of others there.

Will you be at SXSWI in March? If so, are you interested in meeting and talking with other community managers?

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I have a friend who’s a big muckety muck at a major phone/Internet provider. I haven’t seen him in a few months, but I keep remembering a conversation we had over the summer. I won’t bore you with all the minor details, but the bottom line is he (and many of his counterparts) don’t care for bloggers or social networking outlets because it’s harder for complaints to be swept under the rug  or handled quietly. They’d rather not have their flaws made public. I get it. Who wants that kind of negativity? I don’t agree though.  I feel having an online presence is good for business instead of the other way around.

Our conversation began when I mentioned how another blogger complained on her blog about a defective product and poor customer service. The day she posted, a representative from that same company commented saying he would take care of her problem, and he did – immediately.

Soon after that I learned my cable company was being switched to a well-known brand. I asked on Twitter of others’ experiences with this company and lo and behold….a representative of that company reached out to answer my questions. I dug the vibe.

So my friend, the big muckety muck at the phone network ,hates the idea of bloggers talking about their services or folks complaining to The Consumerist or other blogs. Again, I get it. Who wants to look bad?

But…

Consumers are frustrated by a lack of customer service, what other choice to they have?  What happens when you navigate a phone menu to nowhere, or get put through to fake supervisors who don’t help at all? Shouldn’t the folks paying for a service get the best service possible? That’s why I have more confidence in a company with a heavy online presence than with one that chooses to sweep all the bad stuff under the rug.

Should businesses monitor social networks?

Absolutely! It’s important to not only understand what folks are saying and why, but to reach out and offer assurance. In fact, I’d much rather pay extra for a company that rocked the customer care than support anyone who doesn’t put their clientele first and foremost at the top of the priority list. Moreover, if I see someone else having issues with a certain company and see said company reaching out to make amends, it will give me more confidence and maybe even encourage me to do business with them.

Just because a business doesn’t have an online presence doesn’t mean folks aren’t going to talk. Isn’t it better to monitor what they’re saying and reach out to fix the issue than to pretend it doesn’t exist?

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Tagged as: Customer Service, social networking, Twitter

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