Thanks to Rohit, I've started to look at the world through the lens of "personality." It is obviously a differentiator in dealing with individuals and now, with companies.

I mentioned it before here re: Xobni, and today, I was changing my preferences on SocialMedian and saw this drop down box.

A familiar experience made unique and it conveys the personality of the company.

And yesterday, got the email from Moo Cards for my new business cards. (I ordered 100 of them and will see if recipients view them as "remarkable." If yes, order more, if not, order new ones. Perpetual beta, baby!)

Anyhow, here was the note:

Hooray!
The following items from your order are in the mail:
1 x MiniCards (100)

Please note, as your order will be shipped via First Class/Airmail, it
should be with you in around 5-7 working days, but that it won't have a
tracking number.

Remember, I'm just a bit of software. So, if you have any questions
regarding your order please first read our Frequently Asked Questions
at:

http://www.moo.com/help/
and if you're still not sure, contact customer services (who are real
people) at:

http://www.moo.com/service/

Thanks,
Little MOO, Print Robot
MOO "We love to print"

It's a cinch.

When we talk about revolutionizing the process for interacting with customers (creating a culture of listening, pro-active gestures, and collaborating to create remarkable products), it's important to remember (and be transparent) about the fact that you are in 'perpetual beta.'

You don't need to 'stop the presses' and do everything at once.

It's ok to take one small step.

Try listening.

Try a social gesture'

Just tell your customers:

"hey, we're trying this new approach. We know it'll be rough, but we think it'll serve all of us better in the long run. Help us out here and we'll all be better off."

Don't worry about "getting it right," because there is no right.

By now, you know how I look at the world through the lens of customer experience. Two weeks ago, a friend and blogreader who works at Choice Hotels reached out to me.

He thought I may be able to help with some upcoming initiatives.

Obviously a great opportunity for me, and my trip to NJ last week gave me a chance to get into the "mind of the customer."

I stayed at the Quality Inn-Ledgewood and brought a bit of a critical eye to it, which was fun.

The question for me: how do I look at it from the perspective of a customer (identify problems) and a potential consultant (offer solutions, or at least the questions around them).

The good news, I was generally pleased. Personally, I look for only three things in my hotel stay.

1. is the room clean?
2. is high-speed internet available and free? (I hate nickel and diming)
3. Is there a fitness room?

Yes, on all counts, and good value for the money (data point of one).

A few things that I would change.

1. the sign outside was not lit up. I actually drove past the hotel because I didn't see it during the twilight hours. Make it EASY to find you.
2. It'd be great to have coffee cup lids in the room. There is a coffee maker and cups. I wanted to take the cup with me in the car, but no lid, so no dice. Make it more business-traveler (if you want)
3. The smoking in the hotel. My room was fine, but, man, were there a LOT of rooms where people were smoking (both legal and illegal stuff-Yes, I know what it smells like). Would love to do a better job of having those rooms bifurcated. Right now, that's  a factor in my decision to return...or not. (This is an experience killer)

Obviously I'm a data point of one, but I think there's an opportunity for them to develop a culture of listening towards a specific demographic (say business travelers) and then share that info out with their franchise owners.

I'll start: what are your basic needs (i.e. minimum requirements) for a hotel stay?

In marketing it's just as important to know who your customer isn't as who is your customer.

With thanks to a good friend, I've come up with a filter for both in building out my new practice.

A few people may feel put off, but if I didn't rub a few people the wrong way, then I wouldn't be doing my job. Of course, can't irritate everybody! That would be counterproductive.

Some background. In my heavily oversimplified view of the world, there are three types of people.

1. Butter-fine people, but just not intellectually rigorous or apathetic about ideas. You throw an idea at them and it goes right through them, like a hot knife through...They have many other strengths, but discussing concepts just isn't one of them. (And mind you, this is not a function of socio-economic class or academic pedigree.)
   
2. Pillows- also perfectly good people who greatly appreciate mental curiosity and an inquisitive mind, but just not something they feel passionate about. Don't have a need to Would prefer not to spend time discussing ideas. They "get" the idea, absorb it like something being caught by a pillow, but nothing really comes back.
   
3. Anvils-these are the folks who just won't let go of ideas when they hear them. They can't "let it go". They hear an idea and have to investigate it from every angle, leaving no stone unturned, and understand that ideas and feelings sometimes come into conflict with each other. You will often hear them say "let's be honest here...".
   Why Anvils? Well, you throw an idea at them, like a hammer against an anvil and sparks fly, there's noise and commotion, but when it's over, the idea is sharper and more refined.

 

Now, for the other axis.

Pretty simple.

1. Folks who fundamentally believe that the world of marketing has shifted dramatically
2. Those who know something is afoot, but not sure what.
3. In denial or disagreement that anything really is different.

Well, look at the X's in the chart. That's where I play.

At least not in the traditional sense of marketing.

Years ago, in the era of 3 TV network and expensive communications, if you had a product you wanted to sell to everyone, you had to go out and tell them about it yourself.

Didn't matter if most of them weren't going to buy right then, you just needed to reach "mass" so that you could achieve the highest volume of sales possible.

Obviously, things have changed.

If you are reading this, you join about 300 others on a daily basis who (thank you) trust me to be a channel of information for you. So, while you don't take my word as the gospel, if I say a book is lousy, you may be less inclined to buy it and vice versa.

So, a publisher looking to sell a book about marketing/technology and all of the stuff I blog about would be wise to get me to read it and review it (how they do that is a topic for another post).

Isn't it cheaper to talk with 1 person than 301?

Let's look at a different, more specific example.

My friend, Jeff, works at a law firm that sits in the intersection of law, pharmaceutical companies, and the FDA.

Not too many of you reading this blog care about that (aside from wanting the result: safe drugs, of course), but day to day, just not so relevant.

I'll probably take more credit than I deserve (ego stroke here), but I'll say that Jeff was a loyal blog reader of mine for about a year when it dawned on him...

"I don't need to reach everyone, I just need to reach the right people who want to buy my services."

So he and associate are the driving forces behind the FDA Law Blog.

He's got about 1000 readers per month and he doesn't really care all that much if it's more. Sure, he'd like it, but what he knows is that he's got the 1000 people who care most about the intersection where he sits.

He's quoted in industry articles, recognized as a thought leader, and it's a great, great marketing tool.

Along with Jeff, those 1000 people are at the epicenter of the law/pharma/FDA world, so if anyone else has a question, it is likely that one of those 1001 people will get "looped in" to the conversation at some point.

And you know who the go-to digital resource is for those guys?

Yep, Jeff.

So, whether you are marketing soda, shoes, services, or sex (well maybe not that), find the folks who are ALREADY interested in and focus on it every, single day.

Then, when everyone else says, "hmmm....I need a new pair of shoes for my wide feet," they will search out that individual or community of experts. And you will be there waiting for them...

A paradigm shift indeed.

From what I can see of the publishing industry, the approach to marketing to consumers is like most other industries. The dichotomy is of an us/them.

We speak TO you.

The most vivid example of this is how most book signings are done.

The author goes into a bookstore, sits behind a table full of his books, talks AT the crowd for a few minutes and then, has a few minutes of interaction with each person (usually as he signs the book for the patron).

When Dan Pink and I sat down to discuss his strategy, we recognized a few things.

1. If "broadcast" is Marketing 1.0, then "dialogue" is Marketing 2.0. We had to find a way to engage his readers/fans more effectively.
2. Dan, himself, is a "social object," a common point around which people can congregate. (BTW, you don't need to be famous to be a social object. It can be any point of common reference)

Putting that together, I offered up in the strategy document, the following suggestion:

Facilitate in-person meet-ups whenever possible.

• You will publish your travel schedule on your blog
• You will use tools like www.dopplr.com to share your schedule
• You will ask for the location of your email contacts and pro-actively reach out to them when you visit their cities.
• You will suggest that these people “friend” you on Facebook and then you will use the “Map My Friends” application to identify locals with whom you can share the Bunko story.
• You will NOT set up one-off meetings, you will set a time/place for a 1:few networking sessions and simply “hold court.”

What this has morphed into is the Bunko Breakfast Series. Dan sets a time and a place and buys coffee for whoever shows up (as well as giving them a souvenir pair of Bunko chopsticks).

What he's noticed is this...

It's not just the interaction he has with each of the attendees that is of value, it's the interaction they have with each other.

What happens is that like-minded folks get together around Dan (our Social Object) and they feel inspired and invigorated by their common viewpoints. This happened to me at the Pulver breakfasts in DC and is happening for Dan. Seth Godin, as usual, put it beautifully when he said "connect like-minded people."

So, what happens then?

The folks who attend (who are already big fans) walk away as EVEN bigger fans, ready to go out and spread the Pink/Bunko gospel (online and offline).

Remember, marketing today is gasoline, not matches.

And what I told all of my partners back in my Microsoft days about their events...people come to events to meet other people, not to get bored by 2 hours of death by PowerPoint (don't get me started on how poorly most people use PowerPoint, IMHO).

Create an environment (aka a platform) where folks can learn from each other and your position as Social Object is strengthened, which is exactly what you want.

A few weeks ago, someone named Diana "friended" me on Facebook. I always give people the benefit of the doubt.

Soon enough, I was inundated by group invites and the like (no more Apps or Zombies or whatever). My patience was wearing thin.

She was interrupting me w/useless crap.

So, I shut her down. I "removed" her as a Facebook Friend. Too much noise. Not enough signal.

I did the same thing on Twitter with some folks I had thought might be interesting.

IMHO, there's a balance on stuff that shows your personality and stuff that adds value to my life (the reason I presumably started to follow you in the first place.) I skew to the 80% "value add" and 20% personal.

But there's also a quantity limit.

A few tweets per day is fine. More than about 5, for me, and well, that's more than I want. It's overload.

So I remove you.

In both cases, you are shut off from me. You don't have my attention and you no longer have my permission. So you can't get your story out.

Now, take that same experience and apply it to your business.

"We'll just call the customer again."

"We've touched them 4 times in this campaign."

I may not be able to "un-follow" or "remove" you....but I may as well have.

It's getting easier and easier to block ALL communications. And I'll tell you what, Diana can ask again to be my "friend," but odds are I'll say "thanks, but no thanks."

My time (and attention) are too valuable. So is yours. thanks for reading.

What have we said over and over again on this blog?

Deliver a remarkable customer experience that creates positive WOM (Word-of-mouth) and then enable the story to spread through social media.

Well let me tell you this: T-MOBILE FREAKIN' ROCKS!! 

Can you imagine a scenario where a cell phone customer service rep tells you they would be willing to look at your usage in a date 3 weeks from now and then back-date the beginning of a new plan so that you don't get nailed by overage charges?

Before this morning, I couldn't.

Well, that happened to me this morning and it shows you the power of empowered customer service folks.

Now, I've been a T-mobile customer for almost 10 years now.

With my recent change of careers to "Marketing Navigator for the Attention Economy" [beta 1 of the story, feedback welcome], I'm on the road much more.

I realized that my current plan wasn't going to work, so I called customer service.

Got a voice recognition system.

Like you, I thought "uh-oh," but you know what? It actually worked...really well. I learned a lot, quickly.

Then, when I said "operator," I was connected to Euretha S. and you know what she did?

First, she listened. Then, she asked questions about my lifestyle, my wife's usage, etc.

I explained that I wanted to avoid getting locked-in, wanted a new phone, and asked about the All-You-Can Eat option that AT&T offers.

She told me that T-mobile has an All-You-Can Eat option as well, but she suggested a different plan than the one I was considering (not the all you can eat) because it offered me MORE minutes for the same amount of money.

Next, she did a 3 month usage analysis of my calling patterns (minutes) and offered me 200 minutes just because I am a "loyal T-mobile customer."

Next, she worked with me to figure out the optimal day to start my new plan, May 30th.

Not only that, but she said she would come in on that day and see if, in the interval, I had exceeded my current plan's minutes...in which case she would back-date the start of my new plan so I wouldn't get hit by overage penalties.

What's more, she comped me some additional minutes to give me a buffer, so I wouldn't have to stress about it.

By this point, I didn't care, I was ready to commit to a year's worth of service!

I'd also arrived at my morning meeting and time was running out..."what about the free phone?"

"You know what," she said. "Normally, the loyalty department takes care of this. I will call them, explain what a great customer you are and make sure they get you the free phone, without a 2nd year of commitment required. Then, I will have them call you when it is done."

I was flabbergasted. She'd do this and I wouldn't have to stay on the line. I could go on with the other, more important things in my day.

I asked to talk to her supervisor, LaTasha B., because, for me, "Euretha is in the customer service Hall of Fame."

Then, I said to LaTasha:

"I'm a blogger. I want to write this up and post it. I'd like to email it to you so you can see it. Actually, you probably won't give it to me, but can I email the CEO?"

"Sure," she replied, "his name is Robert Dotson and his email is rdotson AT t-mobile.com" (no link since I don't want him to get spammed.)

"Are you kidding me?!"

Even if his assistant responds back, that's good enough. Even if I don't email him, the fact that I could and it's not a customerservice@t-mobile.com generic address with no personality....whoa!

So, here's the lessons (even for those of you who think you are in 'commodity' businesses.)

1. Listen and understand when your customers contact you.
2. Delight your customers with service that is personal, compassionate, and solves a problem.
3. Be thrilled if a customer wants to tell the story about you and open up an authentic dialogue. Embrace it.

T-mobile may have "only" gained $30/month in additional revenue from me this morning, but by empowering Euretha to engage with me and not feel like she needed to "process" me, they have earned free advertising that is probably worth more than the cost of Euretha's 20 minutes of time.

And talk about personality, Euretha and I bonded. I know where she lives (city, that is), she's got great-grand kids and we even got to the point where she was making fun of me. I know that wouldn't work for everyone, but I also know that Euretha wasn't working off a script.

Now that is understanding how marketing is done today.

Kudos to you, T-mobile.

In the telecom industry, the "last mile" is the cost challenge associated with connecting the customer's house with the central station.

When it comes to "social networking," the "last mile" is the actual in-person meeting.

Despite our heavily digital lives, the relationships need to be consummated/cemented with that human touch.

Something like 93% of communication is non-verbal, so it's probably even less in a digital sense (remember we are taking out body language, tone, etc.), so while we all have "friends" and "connections" on the various social networks, you can only differentiate yourself by actually sitting down with the person.

There are two "last mile" scenarios.

1. where you meet the person and then connect online: the last mile is the 2nd time you see that person
2. where you meet the person online and then meet in-person

In the first scenario, you have received permission (here's how to ask) from someone to begin a "dialogue" via a social network. That's great. But, it's a responsibility.

You have a responsibility to keep the other person's attention by not being boring, by having a high "signal/noise" ratio. If you don't prove yourself worthy of attention over time, the associate (while not having the courage necessarily to 'de-friend you' may have already written you off.

Not good.

Even if you meet up the 2nd time, the opinion has been formed.

On the flip side, you have the chance to use the social networking tools as a 'relationship accelerator' and, if done properly (kept attention by delivering value), your 'last mile' will be easy to cover when you do meet. And then, you are steps above others in terms of the value of your network.

Now, let's take the second scenario.

You have the same challenge as above, except you are at an even greater disadvantage...because the other person hasn't had the full impression of you. I have no empirical data, but my bet is the withdrawal of attention and permission (in other words, the benefit of the doubt) is even shorter.

Bottom Line: In sales, there's an acronym known as WIIFM (What's In IT For Me?) The same applies to your social network. (Remember Johnny Bunko's rule # 3: It's Not About You)

Dan Pink is regarded as one of America's foremost business thinkers and writers. Each of his books has come to define a new era in how the workplace is changing.

His first book was Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself, which Publishers Weekly says “has become a cornerstone of employee-management relations.”

He next wrote A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future, a long-running New York Times and BusinessWeek bestseller that has been translated into 16 languages.

Dan's work has influenced my own thinking about business in numerous and profound ways (e.g. here, here, here, and here) , which is why...

I am proud and thrilled to announce that Dan has asked me to serve as his Word-of-Mouth marketing and Social Media consultant to help spread the word about his newest book The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: The Last Career Guide You'll Ever Need

It is the first business book for a western audience in the Japanese comic format known as manga. (And the Johnny Bunko site may be the first website to use "WTF" as a navigation tab! -call out to Ryan Moede for this unique insight).

You may also enjoy ridiculously entertaining video trailer for the book.

You can follow Johnny's adventures by subscribing to the RSS feed, joining the Bunko group on Facebook, or see a page of the book posted every few days directly on the site.

Johnny Bunko trailer from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.