As the social space begins to mature and more attention is paid by marketers on how you can provide some type of measurement on your outreach efforts through social media channels, efforts are being made to define benchmarks for metrics. To that end, Joe Thornley, of Thornley Fallis Communications, has organized a Social Media Measurement Roundtable for May 20th, 2008 in Toronto. There are some very smart and accomplished people coming (yours truly included), and we will be spending the day debating and trying to establish “dashboards” for measurement and assembling the results in a white paper for social distribution. The participants hail from Communications, PR, Marketing, Analytics, and the social media space. Kudos to Joe & team for doing the heavy lifting and organizing this session.

As those who know me, or read my blog, are aware, I’m a wee bit of an oddity in the social media space because while recognizing the power (and necessity) of community, communications and honest engagement, I also come at the space from an integrated marketing standpoint and recognize the need for brands to continue to “brand”, that awareness still matters at a certain point in the interaction/funnel, that there will always be a “next” but history and context still matter, businesses need to sell stuff, and that the digital tools (and creative) used can impact the nature of the interaction… among other things! To that end, a few of the issues I’m very interested in talking about is interaction and engagement from the “time spent engaged”, “long-tail” & “opt-in” aspects. I’d also love to hear from the community on any questions or points you would like raised during the day-long session!

Leave a comment, drop me a line, or tweet @ me with your thoughts or insight… I’ll share results as we go, and plan on attending Third Tuesday Toronto (on yes, wait for it, a Tuesday this time! :)) and will be happy to chat further!

[photo credit: chrisjohnbeckett via flickr]

When I talk to marketers about content creation and value exchange in the social space, I like to make the analogy that in order to shift perspectives it requires taking yourself out of the marketing "storytelling" world, and instead try to envision how all that information you have about your product might actually mean something to someone, or help someone outside of the theatrics of THE BRAND. There is a time and a place for branding and positioning, but to make it matter and stick it has to be reality based.

Open up and give people a reason to talk to you or about you. Facilitate the discussion. Add value to it. Listen and find out what you have that they need. 

In other words… sometimes you talk, and sometimes you listen… because everyone has something to say and conversation is a two way street. Consumers have heard from brands for years; it’s time to stop talking and see if anyone is still listening.

[photo credit: kool_skatkat on Flickr]

It’s the little things you do that can make a big difference. What are you attempting to accomplish? What little thing can you do today that will make you more effective? You are probably only one step away from greatness. ~ Bob Proctor

This week’s version focuses on customer service at two local eateries. One, a national chain, the other a mom & pop shop.As the old adage goes: the devil‚Äôs in the details‚Ķ how much are you paying attention to the details that matter to your customers?

The ‘little things’ that made a difference featuring Timothy’s and House of Cheung:

There is a Timothy’s location in my neighbourhood which is closer than the local Starbucks (my coffee brand of choice) so occasionally, if I’m in a rush or the weather isn’t cooperating, I’ll head over there. I’m by no means one of their loyal customers, but I still am one. Unfortunately the service just seems to get worse and worse each time I stop in. Buying a cup of coffee and a pound of beans should not take 15 mins and require repeating ones self 5 times to each of the two people behind the counter. And yes, I was the only person in line. (That example was only the most egregious one out of many).

The employees at this Timothy’s just don’t care about their jobs and it shows. I’ve never seen a manager or supervisor working the floor; the coffee beans displayed have been expired for a year; the employees don’t appear to know how to work the cash register; and on and on.

That is a training issue and a motivation issue, the product itself is fine. It can be fixed if management is motivated themselves to do so. Until that time my visits to Timothy’s will cease - the walk a few blocks further will do me good. Paying attention to things like how long it takes to complete an order and donating expired product vs. offering it for sale really do make a difference.

This experience is contrasted with House of Cheung a restaurant in Toronto. We found this restaurant when Kevin was looking for solid reviews online for Chinese food delivery (we moved from Chinatown area and the restaurants we used to frequent don’t deliver) and after fruitless searching with all the “review” sites came across a post on a message board [how old skool!] that sealed the deal. We ordered and the food was fantastic. A month went by and we placed an order again. Lo and behold the same gent who delivered the food the last time was the one who answered the phone and remembered Kevin and where we lived exactly. The least painful food order in history.

That kind of attention to detail comes from a deep regard for your customers and the product you are providing. Not all employees will have the same commitment as a restaurant owner, but if they feel empowered, respected and part of a team it will resonate back to the customers they are interacting with.

Needless to say House of Cheung is our Chinese food restaurant of choice from here on out.

{ps - check out the comments from the inaugural post, both Colin and Jonathan have two great posts that fit right into the “little things” meme}

[photo credit: +lyn on Flickr]

As I’ve been not enjoying the hot, humid summer as much as I should as I’ve been slammed with work, pitches and personal life, I’ve been noticing the little things that make an experience a good one vs. one that makes you cringe. Since I’ve had such a hard time getting back into the swing of posting (it isn’t for lack of things to talk about… just too much writing for business and the words just don’t flow as easily as they did a couple of months ago), I thought a good way to get things re-started is a regular feature on the little things that make a difference in the way you experience a brand, company, or product - whatever that may be, good or bad.

As the old adage goes: the devil’s in the details… how much are you paying attention to the details that matter to your customers?

To start things off for this inaugural post I have two interactions to share, one offline and one online. The ‘little things’ that made a difference featuring Chapters Indigo and Lush:

Offline -

• Walking into a Lush location is like a mini holiday. The sights and scents are overwhelming, but in a way that produces glee. A Lush store is like a candy shop for grown ups. Although wildly successful around the world, your experience is distinctly unique. What sets Lush apart in my mind is how their employees are encouraged to use the products, even at work. The woman who rang me up on Friday did so while wearing a fresh face mask. A bit weird, sure, but it’s a damn good endorsement of the product that is literally in my face. Each time I go into the store I find out something new: a new idea for mixing two bath products together, how two products combine to form the ultimate pedicure mixture, to why they had to change the format of my favourite product because of the way the fresh ingredients adhered to each other. They also give away stuff… a lot. I don’t know the last time I walked out of a store without a sample of a product or an actual product because of their on-going promotions. Sampling has always worked in retail and Lush has it down to a science. I can’t possibly use all of the samples I get because I just bought all the products I need. So I pass them on and my circle of influence gets to experience Lush products… and become customers. I also can’t tell you how many times I bought a product just because one of the sales reps handed it to me and told me to smell it based on the other products they saw me looking at. They have the details down.

Online -

• First there was Amazon… I used to shop at Amazon.com when I lived in the States. Moving back to Canada was an unwelcome jolt of reality in terms of e-commerce and our bricks and mortars. Back in the day there were none and paying duty for shipments from the U.S. was not fun. Slowly but surely that tide is shifting and now I can even shop Canadian Tire online (next week’s “little things” post :) )! Now Chapters Indigo does everything for me Amazon used to, with the exception of recommendations, although Amazon’s system is far from perfect. I buy a lot of books. Business books, history, politics, and mystery. I’m an iRewards member and the fee pays for itself each year, no worries. I’ve never had a shipping or ordering issue with them before so the details weren’t on my radar. Until this last order where they got one thing very right and one thing very wrong. I ordered about 15 books a couple of weeks ago and they all shipped out fine and dandy. Except for one. It didn’t ship at all; just sat there all by itself in my order history saying “awaiting shipment” for a couple of weeks even though their system indicated all books would arrive by a date that was now long past. It was in stock when I bought it so what was the issue, and why did I receive not one update from Chapters as to the status? Finally I decided to contact them about it. This is where the customer service details kicked into high gear and what I received back was excellent. They explained the problem and after a brief correspondence with an actual person they placed a replacement order for me and shipped it out without additional charge. They didn’t make me cancel and then order a different copy of the book, they just handled it. Quickly (well, once I contacted them), painlessly, and with a virtual smile.

To me, details mean everything. If you know me in real life you’ll know that I never get lost in the weeds, but I know how many there are in the garden. I can be a real pain about it sometimes because I feel they are so fundamentally important and form the foundation of any business or interaction. To get them nailed you have to put yourself directly in the others shoes and care about the experience. It’s just that significant of a cornerstone in my books.

In our age of instant feedback loops, short attention spans, and CHOICES, sometimes the little details can make an experience extraordinary; or as Godin says - what’s your purple cow? Sometimes it can be as simple as making a routine interaction painless for the end user.

Do you have any exceptional experiences with details to share? I’d love to end up compiling the posts into a list of companies that ‘get it’ after a few months, so please share if you’ve got tales to tell!

[Photo credit: Pisco Bandito on Flickr]

Tags: Lush; Chapters Indigo

Now that the madness of the last month has died down (the AQUOS 1080p D82 Challenge is alive and rockin’ in the green world!), I’ve been able to reflect on my trip to Cancun (yes, I offset my footprint!) and how the simple experience of a week’s vacation morphed into my complete loyalty to Club Med, and how paying attention to your customer’s needs (expressed or not) makes the biggest difference in how someone views your brand… and starts to spread word of mouth.

I’d been to Club Med Cancun two years previously when it was an adults only resort, and after the devastation of hurricane Wilma they recently re-opened as family friendly in November of 2006. Now, I’m not one to enjoy crowded swimming pools with screaming kids and waits for beach chairs or drinks, so I was a bit apprehensive when Kevin and I got on the plane. I really shouldn’t have worried. Kev and I really couldn’t believe our eyes. It felt like there were maybe 50 people at any one place at one time. The kids were off with the G.O.’s doing their own thing and when they walked through the resort they were happy, and oddly well behaved. The parents who we spoke with all said how wonderful it was for them to be on vacation, be able to relax, and not have to worry about their kids. A vacation away from the kids, with the kids. Perfect.

The beauty of a Club Med is that it allows you to choose your own experience and they do whatever it takes to facilitate it. If you want to go all out and do sports all day - the G.O. team is there. If you want to hang out on the beach with a cerveza and zen out to the ocean (Tamera), they leave you alone except to facilitate the cerveza’s. The Chef de Village, Eyal, was exemplary and ensured that the live music each night, circus acts and every thing and every one was running smoothly. It was especially nice for him to welcome and then see off the bus of rowdy Torontonians… it really is the little things that make an experience exceptional.

And what can anyone say about the local staff - the bartenders, cooks, housekeeping, gardening and security - but warm, amazing, diligent. Everyone at Club Med wanted to be there (well, as much as one would want to be at work when it’s 32 C out…) and it emanated down to the guests.

The excursions arranged through the Club are also top notch. Our trip to Coba and Tulum was led by a certified archeological tour leader who’d been in Quinta Roo for 12 years, and was punctuated by lunch at the Club Med archeological villa at Coba with the chance for a light swim. Perfect day.

The same experience with the private catamaran snorkeling trip to Isla Muejheres. The crew was superb and a ton of fun, the sun was shining and Mexico was beautiful. It emanates through every person Club Med engages.

The moral of the story - Kevin and I cannot imagine another vacation elsewhere unless we’re doing our own local adventures. We’re fans and that matters. It may cost a bit more to go to a Club Med, but, this experience is worth the cost.

The product experience lives up to the branding, and the company and employees care… and that is unfortunately exceedingly rare these days.

Air Transat on the other hand, well, I won’t ruin this post with that tale.

Tags: Club Med; Mexico; Cancun; AQUOS 1080p D82 Challenge