I’ve just completed a week of New Employee Orientation. Without exaggeration, it was one of the most professional rewarding weeks of my life. I have to give props to all of the presenters (as well as a number of my new peers!). I’ve spent a good deal of time in my career leading training and orientation sessions, and I have to say that the Onboarding Team leading the session was a collection of the most talented communicators that I’ve encountered in my life… no offense to anyone else I may have been privileged to work with, it’s just that the Onboarding Team forces everyone to seriously raise their game.
So what made the experience so rewarding?
What made this past week’s experience so rewarding is my company’s commitment to the social enterprise. It something that I’ve long believed in… especially as a big believer in the cloud..!
A nameless company in my past—one that I would’ve considered a great place to work—had a sales strategy I didn’t agree with. It went something like this.
1. Prove yourself (once) at the application level.
2. Go back and sell at the enterprise level
3. Never talk to this customer again (until their renewal comes up).
I can’t even begin to voice my disgust with this strategy. In the old (pre-cloud!) world, it was incredibly short-sighted (and I’m not going to even touch on the lack of professionalism or respect).
Employees leave companies all of the time… and they take their impression and experiences with them. If you ignored a customer, they were going to remember that experience or slight and carry that with them. It easily could have an impact when that customer moved onto a new opportunity (usually within the same industry). They might have had a good experience with the software and would call again, but if they had a less than satisfactory experience… or were ignored following a major purchase… then it’s not a stretch to realize that this could easily translate into a lost opportunity.
Because my company didn’t have anyone in change of customer satisfaction, I appointed myself to the position. In no time, I was seen as a customer advocate… and my customers realized that even if I wasn’t always in a position to be the one to help them, I was always going to find someone who would.
In the end, a customer that likes you, is also going to forgive you when necessary.
Additionally, when my colleagues needed a fill a room, they’d typically turn to the person with the best customer relationships and contacts. That person was me. I had no problems getting calls returned or audiences when necessary.
In the cloud world, ignoring your customers can have dire consequences for your business. If you don’t believe me, you can look at YouTube and other social media sites and search for stories or videos of companies like United or Comcast. Not only will you find stories of lousy customer service, but you’ll notice these videos have been viewed millions of times.
Ignoring your customer today can simply have tragic outcomes for our business.
Getting back to my current employer, we’re focused on the reality that as companies, we don’t control our brands. Our customers do. And everything comes down to the ability to listen and respond. And we’re leading the way for others who want to build a social enterprise for their businesses.
Still don’t believe me about the need to listen and be responsive? Think about things this way: as you go about your day, there are numerous products that you use, but might not know the name or manufacturer of. The air-conditioner in your house might be an example, and the brakes on your car might be another.
Too frequently, you’re not even thinking about these things, but you certainly know when they’re not working as they should (and you’ll also be sure to pay attention when they’re part of news headlines). In the cloud world, if you’re an unhappy individual, you can voice your unhappiness… and the company has to (as in “NEEDS TO”) listen. Certainly other potential customers are.
Don’t believe me? Did you see what happened at Bank of America (regarding debit card fees) or Netflix? Both these companies had customer revolts on their hands… and they were forced to listen to their customers. My favorite example is the “United Breaks Guitars” on YouTube (individually responsible for bad-public relations that was estimated in the tens of millions of dollars range). A single unhappy customer has more of an impact on your bottom line than you might think.
In the old days, it was estimate that an unhappy customer might tell three dozen other people. Today, a similar story could easily reach millions of others all across the globe.
Getting back to my example of your air-conditioner, if you’re a manufacturer or repairman, the harnessed power of the cloud gives you the ability to respond to a single unhappy customer before they’ve unleashed the next big viral YouTube video. Instead of everyone knowing your company name for the wrong reasons, they can know you as someone who’s responsively provides extraordinary service… ultimately, that might be worth more to your company—in very real dollars—than you can imagine.
Once again… the power of the cloud is simply an awesome thing.