BRAND ENDEARMENT
I
live on the road, in hotels and airports.
While some people keep suitcases at
the back of their closets, I live out of
mine.
So when I read about the Genius Pack
on USAToday.com I was excited to try it
out! I trusted the site, and the suitcase was
exactly what I’d been looking for. I ordered
one that day.
The case arrived quickly and had all the
compartments and fancy add-ons I had
hoped for (better pockets, phone charger
built in, dirty laundry compartment). I
was a happy customer and decided to tweet
about it.
new suitcase-of-awesomeness, packed it up
for the trip and away we went.
However, by the time I’d reached security
at my first airport, I was already frustrated
with my new suitcase.
It tipped over. Many times.
It tipped over in line. It tipped over when
I let go of it for a moment to take off my
jacket. By the time I had finished my
trip, the front pocket zipper had broken
(It wasn’t over-packed by far). I couldn’t
wait to throw the thing out and use my
old suitcase again. The case had been
expensive and instead of making my travel
more comfortable, it was more difficult.
Because I hadn’t built a connection to the
company, I had no problem voicing my
issue publicly.
A bunch of my followers jumped in and
replied, some of who were also looking for
suitcases. Travel, and anything to make
it more comfortable, is a popular topic
on Twitter, and the tweet lead to a great
conversation.
You know who didn’t join in though?
Genius Pack. The company remained
quiet.
When would-be or happy current
customers mention your product or
service, they are putting up their hands
for a high five. It’s not to say when we
compliment a brand we must get a reply,
but when we make an effort to include the
Twitter name, it shows we are including
you in the conversation. (I still remember
my first reply from the brand, Cirque du
Soleil. Love them.) This is an opportunity
for engagement that is all too often
ignored. As businesses we are quick to
reply to angry customers, but often leave
happy ones hanging.
Genius Pack wasn’t listening. Or, if they
were, they weren’t interested in talking
with me, or the other would-be customers
putting up their hands.
At the time, I didn’t think too much
about them not replying. I gave them an
opportunity, and shared my excitement
about their product, but I wasn’t sitting
around waiting for a response. I took my
People replied that they were also looking
at this particular suitcase and were glad
I saved them the hassle after seeing my
original tweet.
When we are endeared to a brand we
seek out private and personal channels to
manage resolution. With a brand I know,
like and trust, I will email or contact them
privately first, rather than publicly, when
I’m unhappy. Since @GeniusPack hasn’t
followed me, I couldn’t send them a private
message even if I wanted to.
Unlike the non-reaction to my first tweet,
Genius Pack did reply to my second very
quickly.
We went on to email and their CEO was
apologetic and very efficient at processing
the refund for my purchase – but not
before the issue was shared publicly online.
I was very impressed with how great they
were after the problem, which confused
me as to why they had no response before
the problem. There weren’t hundreds of
mentions of the product, actually none
other than mine that day.
If you only pay attention to your customers
when they are angry, you are only going to
have angry customers publicly. You will
miss the chance to engage with the happy
ones and create brand evangelists.
Here are the four steps to create Brand
Endearment.
LISTEN. You need to be paying attention
to what people are saying about your brand
and industry online. There are some great
tools out there to help you keep up. It can
be as simple as setting up a Google Alert
or using keyword search on Twitter. Use
a listening tool such as Expion, Radian6,
Vocus or Trackur. Paying attention is the
first step.
OWN THE GOOD YOU DO. Value the
positive voice. It’s too easy only to focus
on the negative. You need to make time to
thank customers who love what you do. Be
proud and say thank you. (and by “thank-
you I don’t mean only RT’ing positive
compliments about yourself. Avoid the
humble brag). I try to do this with people
who tweet compliments about my books.
Don’t leave all those high-fives hanging.
Take time away from fighting fires, and
seeking out new customers, to thank
the ones you have. This is the where
the opportunity for brand endearment
begins. Don’t value your customers based
only on purchases already made. A happy
customer is your best marketer. Grow
those relationships.
ENGAGE. Social media is just a fancy
term for talking to other people. When
you listen and value your customers you
can create content and products that
give value back to them. Be a part of the
conversation; find out what they like to
chat about. Care about what they are
looking for. And then be there, to have a
conversation that matters to them.
When you do these three things, your
customers will become endeared to you.
As customers we feel like we know an
engaged brand, because we do. Brands
who connect with their customers online
earn a face, a personality, and a reputation
for listening.
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