Scott Stratten, author of “UnMarketing” asks, “Have you replaced traditional ”˜Push and Pray”™ marketing methods with a powerful new ”˜Pull and Stay”™ approach based on building and enhancing long-term relationships with your customers?”
Technology can help Hudson Valley organizations build and maintain good relationships. When the need arises, customers buy first from people they know, trust and like. With the right use of technology you can:
Ӣ Compete globally, regardless of size.
Ӣ Create the image of and be known as an expert in your field.
Ӣ Deepen relationships and build lasting trust by using social media.
Realizing the potential of the Internet is one thing. Creating a service that gives companies a competitive advantage is quite another. Could you follow the lead of Ernst & Young, now Cap Gemini Ernst & Young who more than a decade ago, became “the expert” by creating the Digital Age”™s answer to information overload.
Ernst & Young offered an online service called Ernie, a fictional character who helped clients make decisions for a relatively low fee. Clients emailed Ernie with their queries. Employees then answered the questions and sent them back to the “Ernie desk,” where a staff of 10 people replied in Ernie”™s voice.
By interacting with company employees, customers deepen the relationship and build loyalty. People on the Internet don”™t care about brands; a better deal is only a click away. They do care about other people, so allow your customers to communicate with employees.
Another idea is to study what Marriott did to achieve the primary aim of every business: Give customers what they want, when they want it, in the way they want it. Their idea was, once you have the relationship, customers will tell you everything they want before your competition even thinks of it.
Marriott pioneered and encouraged customers to pay for a room online, believed that they could easily extend that relationship and started building a technology system called MARSHA. Today MARSHA is fully integrated with their revenue management, eCommerce, customer loyalty and property management systems.
MARSHA is responsible for generating a low-cost per transaction, high contributions to occupancy, and high revenues per employee interaction. In 2009, Marriott”™s reservation system:
Ӣ Generated more than 75 million new reservations;
Ӣ Produced more than $23 billion in revenue;
Ӣ Processed reservations for more than 176 million room nights; and
Ӣ Grossed revenues of more than $100 million per day, an average of $3,500 per second.
If you choose to use social media, remember that it isn”™t media at all in the traditional sense of pushing your message out through radio, newspapers, television or online. Social media isn”™t Twitter or Facebook, a new website or blog. It”™s the ability to build trust by having online dialog with others.
“People won’t care about your business,” Stratten reminds us, “until they know you care about them. Look what gets shared on Facebook or retweeted on Twitter. It”™s not ads or pitches. It”™s knowledge that makes people tell others about it. To engage people through social media you must be there, create momentum and keep the conversation going.”
The higher the trust, the more likely it is that someone will do business with you. Become the go-to expert and give customers what they want, when they want it, in the way they want it. Use technology to satisfy customers and keep them loyal.
Questions for discussion:
Are we suited to engage in and use social media? Are we willing to commit the time and energy needed to engage people and keep the conversation going?
Can we, like Marriott, use technology to give customers what they want, when they want it, in the way they want it? Could it increase efficiency and reduce transaction cost?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, www.TheDreamSpeaker.com or call (800) 239-0058.
