The Final Say

"Don't let it end like this.  Tell them I said something."
Pancho Villa, last words 1877 - 1923

Endings are important.  When it comes to customer service, endings are perhaps the most important time in the customer interaction, primarily because it is your last chance to leave the customer with a good impression, the last chance to correct any mistakes or missteps and the last chance to make things exceptional.

I was once eating lunch with a colleague at a restaurant that was part of a national chain.  During the course of lunch, a cockroach crawled across our table.  Neither of us at the table were happy about that, but neither of us freaked out either.  It did put a certain pallor on our lunch, which ended sooner than we had expected because of the unexpected visitor.  When I mentioned what had happened to our server, she expressed appropriate dismay and asked us to wait to talk with the manager.

My first response was that this was good.  They were taking our experience seriously and wanted restaurant management to know and have a chance to apologize.  But as my colleague and I waited for more than 15 minutes to talk with the manager (we kept being told he would be right there) our anger at the situation grew.
By making us wait for so long (this was a business day and we both had to get back to work), the manager took what would have been a minor situation and escalated it.  Instead of giving us the impression that they took the cleanliness of the restaurant and the quality of our experience seriously, the absent manager highlighted the fact that we just weren't that important.

We had more than 15 minutes to think about the little creature that crawled across our table and what that probably meant about how many of his siblings were crawling around other parts of the restaurant.  As we had more than 15 minutes to wait, we thought about the meals that we didn't finish due to this incident, the time this was costing us waiting for the manager and the poor attitude of the staff (actually only the manager, but anger has a way of painting with a broad brush.)

When the manager finally decided to attend to us, he immediately went into a rather lengthy and detailed description of all the pest control measures that the restaurant engaged in, which is now and forevermore the first thing I think of when I think of this chain.  I am sure their advertising agency will be pleased to know that.  It also seemed as if the manager was saying that we couldn't possibly have seen a cockroach because they invest a small fortune on chemicals and exterminators to keep them at bay.  In the end, the manager spent another 10 or 15 minutes blathering on about restaurant pest management as if he were preparing for the test on that chapter of the manager's manual.

When I finally interrupted him and told him that we needed to be going he asked us to wait just a minute more and scurried off (somewhat like a cockroach I was thinking at this point.)  When he returned he proudly handed us each certificates for a free dessert, next time we returned and purchased a meal.  He then charged us for the full meal we were unable to finish.  We shook our heads, paid our bill and left.  It took me and my family more than 10 years to go back to any store in that chain.

The manager missed an opportunity by a mile.  By ignoring us and our situation, he ended the situation poorly.  A little sympathy would have made us go away satisfied and we probably would have forgotten it after a few retellings around the office.  A discount of our bill or waiving the bill altogether would have made a bold statement and probably would have had us leaving the restaurant feeling pretty good about the place.  A bold action like that would have said to us that they cared about our experience and since our experience wasn't great, they wanted to do something about it.  I suspect it also would have helped us feel that it didn't happen very often because they couldn't afford to waive everyone's lunch receipt.

YOU have the final say on what type of experience your customers have.  YOU have control over the last impression you and your organization makes before your customer walks out or logs off.  Especially when a customer has a poor or less than excellent experience, YOU have the chance to turn it around into something positive.

YOU have the final say!  Make it count!

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Everything is Marketing will not be published this Friday as I will be out of state attending a memorial service for my father-in-law.  Please take the time you would normally spend reading my blog to call or write to a loved one and tell them what they mean to you.  See you again on Monday.
Bill

24/7 Drama Machine

There is no doubt that the advent of all news cable channels has changed the way television news is reported.  There is no doubt that the advent of social media has changed the way we interact with world events.  Notice I said changed.  Not improved.

We have had far too many examples recently on how the 24/7 news machine deals with major tragedies.  Make that fails to deal with major tragedies.

Just like many others, when there is a significant event happening, I want to be kept up to speed on developments.  I like to know what facts have been confirmed and even some historical and social context of the event.

CNN Anchor/Reporter Wolf Blitzer (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I don't need to see Wolf Blitzer guess what the news is going to be.  I don't need to hear the talking heads speculate what may or may not be the story.  I certainly don't need to hear news announcers pronounce that it is impossible to know anything with certainty in the early hours of a situation, then turn around and blather on with hours of speculation.

Personnally, I would find the all news channels immensely more watchable during a crisis if they would report on the FACTS, and then go back to the rest of the news.  I think it would be healthy and helpful if these stations reminded us that the world goes on despite a bombing in a mall or a storm that destroys a town.

I think part of the problem is that the all news channels have a lot of hours of broadcast to fill.  And running reruns doesn't work as well on CNN as it does on TVLand.

But I think the greater probelm is that they are still in the old newspaper mindset of being the first to report breaking news.  They rush to announce that this may have happened or that may have happened because they see a value in having their newsboys on the corner first.

I've got news for the news channels.  You are never going to be first out of the gate.  Twitter will always beat you.  Facebook will usually be having a conversation about the issue well underway before you get the cameras pointed at a befuddled anchor.

One of the reasons The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, a comedy news show, is cited by young adults as their primary source of news, is that Jon and his staff provide some intelligent analysis and evaluation of the news.  They are also only trying to fill half an hour each night.

If all of the "real" news networks could accept that they will not be first, and could embrace the role of providing value-added commentary or analysis, I think they will find audiences still turning into them.  The difference is they would enjoy it.

Related articles

• Boston & The News Media
• The Perfect Tweet

Planning for Crisis Communications

There is an old saying that there are two times to plant a tree: twenty years ago and today.

Preparing for crisis communications is not much different.  There are two times to start preparing for crisis communications: a year ago and today.

Jim Dunn has written a very comprehensive article for this month's National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) newsletter that you can read here.  While I plan to write more about this in future posts, I wanted to summarize his four tips to remember.  In a crisis situation:

• Deliver a simple message with a single, clear voice
• When talking with reporters, use CPR: Calm Prepared Relaxed
• Practice the crisis plan BEFORE the crisis
• Develop a professional network that can provide you with support you during a crisis

I think it is important to note that half of these things can be accomplished AFTER a crisis occurs.  And the other half (the first two points) are a lot easier if they are prepared for ahead of time!

5 reasons to write a (nearly) daily blog

I recently participated in an online discussion on how frequently a blogger should post to their blog.  There were a lot of very intelligent and insightful answers as to the optimal timing of posting blogs.  Some people in the discussion has theories as to which days of the week and what time of day a blogger should post in order to optimize readership, rankings, etc.

It got me thinking about whether I was right to try to post to my blog so often.  I realized that I had a whole different framework for why I post to my blog as frequently as I do.  Here are 5 reasons I try to post to my blog daily.

1. It focuses the mind.  Trying to come up with something to write that is relevant to the topic of your blog on a frequent basis focuses your thinking on that topic.  After a short while, you will be surprised where you get the inspiration for post ideas!  I have gotten inspiration for blog posts from conversations, newspaper articles, books, other blogs and a tea bag.
2. It is great writing practice.  Writing every day is a great way to improve your writing.  Writing every day with the knowledge that someone might actually be reading what you post is a great way to improve your editing.
3. It forces you to read on your blog topic.  I found that one of the greatest challenges in trying to write a somewhat intelligent blog about marketing is that I wanted, from time to time, to be able to cite some authoritative sources.  I also needed to come up with daily topics.  This has me becoming a more diligent reader of marketing articles, books and blogs.  It also has me reading non-marketing materials and finding the marketing perspective.  
4. You discover new ideas.  Partially because you are reading (or scanning) more, you are exposed to more opinions and thoughts.  Sometimes those new opinions and thoughts are your own. 
5. It gets easier the more you do it.  Really.  It doesn't get easy, but it does get easier.  Like any sort of exercise, after a while, you find your stride. You find your writing voice.

None of my reasons for doing this blog frequently have anything to do with search engine optimization or maximizing "likes."  I am writing this blog because I enjoy it.  I work hard at writing something that is enjoyable to read and occasionally insightful or inspiring.  

If you want to stretch your wings in an area of interest, I would recommend writing a daily blog.  Do it for reasons that are important to you.  If you do, you find many benefits.  And if you stick with it you will find your audience too.  

The Missteps of Komen

There has been a lot written about the Susan G. Komen for the Cure decision to discontinue funding of programs with Planned Parenthood. If you somehow missed this story, here is an article from Reuters that seems as good a summary as any.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/02/us-usa-healthcare-komen-idUSTRE8111WA20120202

This story generated a lot of opinions.  Most of the marketing/PR based opinions I have read about this incident seem to feel that Komen did something wrong, but they vary widely in their analysis of the facts, or even what they feel the facts are.  One perspective that I haven't seen discussed much is the lack of openness and honesty that Komen used when they first unveiled their decision to no longer work with Planned Parenthood.

When Komen spokespeople announced the decision to no longer fund Planned Parenthood, they said it was because they "had a new strategy that barred money from going to groups that were under investigation by US authorities."  They said their decision "reflected a new strategy aimed at using donation money more effectively by eliminating duplicate grants and tightening eligibility rules."  Regardless of if this was a genuine reason or a canard designed to deflect criticism, the justification rang hollow.  That was in part because Planned Parenthood was the only organization that was impacted by their new criteria.

It is clear that the Komen organization spent a great deal of time discussing their decision to change their funding process.  There were reports of heated internal debates and at least one person quitting in protest.  I suspect that since this was a controversial decision internally, they were trying to avoid additional controversy when they went public.

One of the basic goals in crisis communications is to try to keep the story in as few news cycles as possible. The best way that you can accomplish this is to be honest and forthright with information.  Don't leave anything for a reporter to "discover."  Rather, tell the whole story, especially if it is a story that does not reflect well on your organization.  It is better to have one day of really bad news but with your organization being open and upfront than to have the story drag out over days or weeks, making headline after headline, as new facts emerge.  That  is what happened to Komen.

To make matters worse, as the issue became more and more controversial, the explanations kept changing at Komen.  This led to mistrust of their message, their messengers and their veracity.  It also kept them in the headlines for weeks.

I can't help but wonder if things would have gone smoother if Komen, an organization that had an excellent reputation and thousands and thousands of deeply dedicated supporters and volunteers, had simply told the truth.  If they had come out and said:

• "We share a mission of women's health with the Planned Parenthood organization.  Nevertheless, Susan G. Komen and Planned Parenthood each approach women's health issues from different directions.  Recently, given the media and political attention that certain aspects of Planned Parenthood's operation have been getting, we are uncomfortable continuing our relationship.  Fortunately, in most areas, there are other options for mammograms and other services we support.  We will be switching our funding to some of those other options."

or

•  "We are a women's health organization, not a political one.   Increasingly, an organizations we fund has become increasingly political.  While we don't fund anything related to abortions or family planning, Planned Parenthood does get involved in these things.  We have become increasingly uncomfortable with that and have decided to find other ways and venues through which we will continue to support women's health issues."  

What do you think?  Regardless of what you think about their decision, or the politics of this issue, do you think that Komen could have mitigated some of the damage they did to their reputation by presenting the decision differently?  Please share your thoughts in the comments.

"No!"

"No!" to any good salesman is the start of a conversation, not the end of it.

If you are a marketer or a communicator, someone saying "No!" should make you salivate a bit.  "No!" followed up with the question "Why?" can often help you better understand the thoughts and motivations of a prospective customer.

A person who says "No!" or who complains to you (vs. the person who never picks up the phone or answers the door) is doing you the favor of providing feedback.

And that should make you say "Yes!"

Thoughts from a weekend conference...

I participated in a panel this weekend on the value of communications professionals to a school district.  Some thoughts and reflections from that experience:

• If your organization is facing a crisis and your communications team is also in crisis, they haven't done their job.  A good communications professional anticipates and plans for crises.  You may not be able to predict what type of crisis you will face, but you should know that eventually you will face one.
• Double or triple redundancy on technolgy all too often isn't redundant but event-saving.
• In conferences with concurrent sessions, you should remember that each member of your audience has made a choice to attend your session.  Treat them with the respect they deserve by choosing to spend time with you.  Give them content that is worthwhile, actionable, and practical.
• Audiences will almost always surprise you with how carefully they are listening.  I have almost never faced a Q&A session where someone will ask you about some detail you mentioned 35 PowerPoint slides ago!
• Communications is something everyone can and should do.  Managing communications is something few can do well.
• The best way to connect with an audience is to know your material and believe in what you are saying.  The second best way is to tell jokes or show cartoons!