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Haven’t You Got Smaller Fish to Fry?

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A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

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If you’re a small business or a consultant, Fortune 500 clients are a rush. Impressive logos can adorn your sidebar, you can impress your grandma with how successful you are, and credibility is yours. However, it’s very important to treat every customer as if they are your “marquee” client.

And here’s a secret:

The small fry customers aren’t used to being treated like a VIP, so they are easier to delight.

Here are a few more reasons why the small fish deserve TLC:

  • Small fry grow up to be big – that lower-tier administrator you’re dealing with may get a promotion or move to another company and suddenly be the decision-maker.
  • The neighbor effect – the woman who runs that small business could refer you to her neighbor, who is VP of Something Important at a Fortune 500.
  • Large quantities of small fry make a steady revenue stream – if you’re reliant on the good graces of a few big companies for your revenue, you’re in a precarious position.
  • Smaller organizations can be easier to deal with – it’s much easier to get access to the decision-maker at a smaller organization.

Never burn bridges – if you try every day to delight everyone who comes in contact with your business, including the “nobodies” with no money to spend, you are building goodwill equity that comes back to you when you least expect it.

If you pay close attention, your individual small fry will build into a net-bursting haul.

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work on the Internet. Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee

FIRST, GIVE UP CONTROL

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A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

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It’s so easy to get caught up in trying to control every detail of your business. But if you’re trying to be real, be human, then control is all an illusion.

Part of being human is being messy, unpredictable, and wrong sometimes. Part of being a human-centered business is accepting messiness, being OK with unpredictability, and admitting when you are wrong.

There’s a scene in the Steve Martin movie Parenthood where the grandma compares life to a rollercoaster—you can either be terrified or thrilled by the ups and downs. And it’s the same way in business. When a deal doesn’t go your way, or a key employee decides to leave, or the power goes out at your data center (yeah that happens), you get to choose how to react. Choose grace and humor, and everybody wins.

Here are three ways to enjoy the rollercoaster:

1. Surround yourself with others who are thrilled.

2. Fasten your seatbelt (be sure you are as prepared as you can be, with options).

3. Remind yourself every day that the only thing you can control is your own attitude.

1.2.3. Go!

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work on the Internet. Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Are Your Customers Embedded?

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A Guest Post by
Rosemary ONeill

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Last week, my husband and I went out to eat at a new restaurant. It was obviously a family-owned affair. While we were waiting for our food, a guy appeared out of the kitchen hoisting aloft a plate of hot wings. He said, “these are for anyone who wants to try them.” Of course, I had to try them, and they were excellent.

I asked the guy what they were called. He said, “I don’t know, they don’t have a name yet, what do you suggest?” I laughingly said, “call them Rosemary’s Wings!” He said, “we just might do that.”

Do you think I might be curious to revisit that restaurant to see whether my wings are on the menu? You bet. And if they are, do you think I’m likely to return again and again? Yessiree.

That restaurant has the same opportunity all business owners have—to literally embed customers in the business. At my company, we’ve had a long-standing tradition of making little gestures that weave customers into our daily work; naming features after them, using their names on documentation, hiding “Easter Eggs” in the code, and thanking them for suggestions that lead to new software features.

Once a customer has been “embedded,” they have a feeling of investment that is very hard to break, as if your business is their personal project.

What are you doing to make it personal? Is there a small crazy gesture you can make that will earn you a customer-for-life?

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work on the Internet. Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Do You Rely on Analytics to Tell the Whole Story?

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A Guest Post by
Rosemary O’Neill

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The Tools Only Get You Halfway There

Many tools offer to help you analyze your customer community, so that you can capture the elusive “ROI.” These tools evaluate a multitude of data points, including number of followers, likes, blog comments, retweets, etc., to come up with the success equation. Small businesses can be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of starting from zero in all of these social categories.

However, I propose that numbers only get you halfway there. The other half is composed of humanity. Information like, “dog’s name,” “has 3 kids,” “is insanely into photography.” The reason that is often left out in the cold is because it’s hard to automate that kind of connection. That type of information is only really gleaned from a steady stream of interactions over a long period of time. And many of us don’t invest the time to build up that data.

There’s an old-school sales trick that says when you walk into someone’s office, you look around and take note of the family pictures, fishing trophies, or other personal items on the desk. Those can be used to start conversations and begin building a connection…”hey, I went to UVa too!” If you want to build up your humanity data, you need to do the digital version of that; i.e., take note of the human information that is available online.

I’m not suggesting cyberstalking in a creepy way, but if your customer is sharing his/her interests publicly, it’s fairly easy to build on that. Here are some concrete ideas:

  • Build a web of connections, via Twitter, LinkedIn, or other networks
  • Promote your customers’ projects and content
  • Work on expanding the ways you connect—if it’s all digital, try the phone. If you’ve always emailed, try finding them elsewhere.
  • When you respond, try to read-up first. If your customer is reaching out to you on your FB page, why not show them you know them. Same with Twitter followbacks.
  • Find ways to allow your customers to be “whole people” in your community, include an area for off-topic socializing. And allow your reps to be human too.

The bonus is that, by including human data, you also build in “delight,” as people recognize that they’re being noticed. And that’s priceless.

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Author’s Bio: Rosemary O’Neill is an insightful spirit who works for social strata — a top ten company to work on the Internet. Check out their blog. You can find her on Twitter as @rhogroupee

Thank you, Rosemary! People like you are easy to remember and fun to do business with! 🙂

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!