Yesterday morning I awoke to a conversation that the morning crew on the radio was having regarding the Apple iPhone Announcement scheduled for today. They were talking about how many chargers and accessories they would have to replace and what would still work with iPads and iPods and about features the new phone was rumored to have. In 15 or so minutes the Apple press conference will start and those rumors will become facts or fiction, but what was interesting to me is that one of the radio guys REFUSES to buy anything Apple.
Apple isnt usually a brand people have animosity towards, at least anyone I know. Sure the upgrades and new releases keep your credit card busy and it would be nice to keep current for longer stretches of time, but you dont have to upgrade when they do, and in general their advances are solid. So why did this guy HATE Apple? The answer – he had a bad experience in their retail store.
While I have not had a bad experience in an Apple store, I can understand what this guy was talking about because I have dealt with ornery IT people. Computer geeks dont always have the best social skills, but they make up for it in knowledge if you can understand what they are talking about and they have the patience to explain it to you nicely. Apparently in this case the Apple Genius went a bit too far in his attitude and the result was turning a loyal customer into and EX-customer.
So who is the real face of your business?
You may think its the people running it, but in reality it could be the receptionist answering calls or a customer service rep in another city or country.
And then, there’s Social Media.
I had a conversation with an Industry Org recently regarding working together. I was surprised they were entertaining such a notion, and they were surprised that I was surprised. Seems they had a rouge Social Media person who was making “decisions” autonomously, and one of them was that PMC was of no VALUE to this Org, or it’s members. Needless to say after hearing that I was upset, and I pretty much avoided them for over a year.
Can you control everyone and everything?
That would be cool I guess, but not reality. So my suggestion is this: Check in. Set aside some time each day to randomly call your customers / clients / members and find out what is REALLY going on. Even better, call some EXes and find out why they no longer do business with you, or are part of your Organization. Make sure they know you arent trying to woo them back, you just want some honest feedback.
Lastly, follow up. Send a handwritten thank you card for their time. If you implemented any changes because of their comments, let them know you listened, and they matter. Apologize to anyone who was “wronged” by rouge employees and let them know what steps are now in place to monitor communications more closely.
If you arent sure which face is representing your business, or how it’s being represented, make sure it’s YOURS!
