You’re doing it wrong: How poor commuication drives customers away
I don’t know if there’s a full moon or some other astrological craziness right now, but in recent conversations with my friends we’ve all been facing crazy (and often, sucky) communication challenges lately. Here are a few tips for avoiding some common pitfalls that can drive your customers (and employees) away.
No Calls Please
Let’s face it, everyone has a unique preference when it comes to communication style and method. 37signals employees use chat rooms to communicate, share information and solve problems. Many sales people would spend that same time face to face with their clients. The folks at Zappos, Dell, and Comcast are crazy about Twitter. Seth Godin is concise and insightful. Chris Brogan is chatty… and insightful.
When you and your customers have similar preferences, communication can flow smoothly, but if you’re a Twitterholic in a snail mail business, watch out! You can’t tweet a return letter (at least not yet, I’m sure there’s an app for that somewhere), but you can guide and encourage your customers to contact you in a way that works for you both.
If you’re a very small business (i.e. just you), think about creating and posting a communications policy on your site. For an uber-geeky personal example, check out Tantek Celik’s preferred Communication Protocol. For a friendlier and less geeky example, check out Havi Brooks’ contact page.
tantek:
http://tantek.pbworks.com/CommunicationProtocols#Preferences
havi:
http://www.fluentself.com/contact/
Another option is to make it very easy for customers to use the channel you want them to use and not so easy to use the ones you don’t. Let me tell you, Microsoft has mastered this technique (in a not-good way!) as I learned when I was trying to cancel a service for my Mom. After being trapped in an endless loop of “To cancel, click here (but not really because we’ll just take you back to the page that you were on).”, I had to find a phone number that would get me to an actual person. Not so easy.
On a more positive note, Get Satisfaction uses their own forum software for “Help with Get Satisfaction.” Yes, you can go to their About page and find corporate information (including an email and mailing address), but most questions will end up right where Get Satisfaction wants them – on the forum.
Get satisfaction forum: http://getsatisfaction.com/getsatisfaction
get satisfaction about: http://getsatisfaction.com/about
What did you say to me?
Email has been a mainstream business tool for close to 20 years and yet I still come across messages that make me cringe. Maybe I should start replying with this gem from TechSoup (emphasis added):
Email is a more casual medium than snail mail, and taking an overly formal tone can make you look like one of those “ousted government officials” who require your assistance on a strictly confidential matter of great importance. But at the same time, sending email is less personal than talking to someone over the phone, and informality has its risks. *You can’t convey changes in tone of voice or facial expressions over email, nor can you get an immediate response.* So just how casual is the medium? With email, it’s harder to get your point across and easier to be misunderstood.
With the wrong tone, your message can be overlooked or purposely ignored by a now confused or unhappy audience. And if Techsoup thought tone was hard to convey in a “casual” email format, what would they have to say about today’s social media?
Let’s look at Twitter auto-responders as an example. Say I’ve been following your blog for a couple of months and I attended an event you were speaking at; I like what you have to say and you seem to be one of my “right people”, so I decide to friend you on Twitter….A few seconds later, I have a spammy, robotic, auto-response in my inbox telling me to buy [insert hot product here]. Um, yeah. Totally blew it – my positive perception, built up by the tone of your blog, your presentation, your conversations, all ruined by a generic and obnoxious sales pitch.
I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today
Take the time to set clear expectations with your customers to reduce friction or resistance in your relationship. If you require my email address to download your whitepaper or request a product demo, tell me what you’re going to do with it. Will I receive a follow up email (probably okay) or a phone call (which I’m not going to answer)? When you follow up, is it with the vanilla “Call me for more details.” or is it a friendly message with helpful information and a description or suggestion of next steps? Which of these do you think will be more effective?
For more info on this topic, check out the “lead nurturing” resources at InTouch and Inbound Marketing University.
In Touch: http://www.startwithalead.com/
Inbound Marketing University: http://www.inboundmarketing.com/university
Be Here Now
Personally,
to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary.
to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others. Further details regarding the concrete meaning of right action can be found in the Precepts.
I don’t know if there’s a full moon or some other astrological craziness right now, but my friends and I seem to all be facing crazy (and often, sucky) communication challenges lately! Here are a couple of tips for avoiding communication that drives your customers (and employees) away.
No Calls Please
Let’s face it, everyone has a unique preference when it comes to communication style and method. 37signals‘ employees use Campfire chat rooms, sales people thrive on face to face time, and the folks at Zappos (twitter.zappos.com), Dell (http://www.dell.com/twitter), and Comcast (@comcastcares) are crazy about Twitter.
When you and your customers have similar preferences, communication can flow smoothly, but if you’re a Twitterholic in a snail mail business, watch out! Those people who are mailing you letters probably don’t want a tweet in return, but before breaking out the stamps and stationery, think about how you can guide and encourage your customers to contact you in a way that works for each of you.
One option would be creating and posting a communications policy on your site. For an uber-geeky personal example, check out Tantek Celik’s preferred Communication Protocol. For a friendlier and less geeky example, check out the contact page for Havi Brooks’ at The Fluent Self.
Small and solo-businesses may have more luck with this approach because once you get to a certain size or volume of customers, they’ll need multiple ways to contact you. What then?
Make it easier for customers to use the channel you want them to use and harder to use the ones you don’t. Let me tell you, Microsoft has mastered this technique (in a not-good way!) as I learned when I was trying to cancel a service for my Mom. After being trapped in an endless loop of “To cancel, click here (but not really because we’ll just take you back to the page that you were on).”, I had to find a phone number that would get me to an actual person. Not so easy. Here’s a kindler and gentler example from Get Satisfaction – they use their own (forum) product for “Help with Get Satisfaction” and if you can’t find your answers there, you can navigate your way over to the About page for their corporate information (including an email and mailing address). I’m guessing most questions will end up right where Get Satisfaction wants them – on the forum.
What did you say to me!?
Email has been a mainstream business tool for close to 20 years and yet I still come across messages that make me cringe. Maybe I should start replying with this gem from TechSoup (emphasis added):
Email is a more casual medium than snail mail…and informality has its risks. You can’t convey changes in tone of voice or facial expressions over email, nor can you get an immediate response. So just how casual is the medium? With email, it’s harder to get your point across and easier to be misunderstood.
If your tone is wrong, your audience will focus on *that* and how it made them feel confused, annoyed, or angry – they may miss your message completely. And if TechSoup thought tone was hard to convey in a “casual” email format, what would they have to say about today’s social media?
Let’s look at Twitter auto-responders as an example. Say I’ve been following your blog for a couple of months and I attended an event you were speaking at; I like what you have to say and you seem to be one of my “right people”, so I decide to friend you on Twitter….A few seconds later, I receive a spammy, robotic, auto-response in my inbox telling me to buy [insert your product here]. Um, yeah. Totally blew it – my positive perception, built up by my series of interactions with you, all ruined by a generic and obnoxious sales pitch.
As you craft your next communication, take some time to think about both the how and the what. Are you using a method that works for you and your customers? Or are you guiding them in that direction? Reread it with fresh eyes, or find some fresh eyes to read it for you. Will your audience expect it? Will it be truthful, friendly and kind? Would you want to receive it?
What do you think? Share your communication tips (and horror stories) in the comments.
