Mind the Gap

Mind the gap? Marketing Week got me thinking – are some organisations focusing on the wrong things?

This article should be a wake-up call to brand owners everywhere who perhaps get too focused on the developing a ‘brand image’ and perhaps neglect the ‘brand experience’ – thus creating this gap.

In these tougher economic times, customers will be considering their purchases much more carefully; they are looking for greater value and are likely to be more critical when they feel short-changed. Consequently, this value gap could result in a lost future sale or more significantly them spreading negative word-of-mouth to friends and family, damaging the long-term health of the brand.

In this article Lucy Handle states (in relation to car brands) “As we come out of recession, consumers have higher expectations and I think that rather than just focusing on the driving experience, consumers are looking at the purchase, the dealership experience and the ethical credentials,” – this supports the fact that it’s not just the product, but the purchase experience that matters. Purchasers need to feel good about the way they are treated when they buy a product. The experience matters. Generally we know what to expect from the products we purchase, but the purchase experience is where there is opportunity for delight or disappointment.

The article does confirm old adage ‘under promise and over deliver’, but the real challenge is actually measuring the perceptions and experiences to know where you are. You need real-time, accurate, reliable data. You need to get a handle on the actual brand experienced delivered if you are to manage it.

And as a final thought – why not differentiate your product on the brand experience? Create a culture that oozes uniqueness and value? It’s much more sustainable than trying to build a better widget. As has been said “culture trumps strategy every time”.

The social media Zoo

As I've been discussing social media just lately, visions of animals keep cropping up!

I've observed 5 levels of corporate engagement when it comes to Social Media and they can be described in ways that are similar to some popular (past and present) animals -

Level 1 - The Dodo - "what is social media?"
Level 2 - The Ostrich - "we've heard of it, but are ignoring it and hoping it will go away"
Level 3 - The Sloth - "we've had a quick look at it, its very confusing and don't know where to start, so we may put something in next years budget....."
Level 4 - The Elephant - "we've had a good look at it and after consideration can see that it might be a problem. We are collecting lots of data and are analysing it to death to ensure that we have everything on record. Customers could bad-mouth us and we need to manage our reputation!"
Level 5 - The Dolphin - "we've really got our heads around this and are planning and initiating some exciting campaigns to leverage the benefits and grow our reputation. This will be major part of our customer engagement strategy"

I supect that many are at levels 1 or 2; some are at 3 and are likely to stay there for months unless they are pushed.

What's really interesting are the ones at Levels 4 & 5 - these different approaches are intriguing. Many established, large organisations seem to be in the level 4 mode of damage-limitation and data gathering; they recognise that stuff is being said about them and are putting in systems and procedures to gather the info and try to avert crisis, but don't seem to have seen the potential benefits that a pro-active approach could deliver.

Organisations at level 5 are potentially the winners, they have seen the opportunities, are moving swiftly, see this as a great new channel and way of enhancing reputation and are already allocating resource to maximise the benefits.

I think the real opportunity comes when SM content can be integrated with other customer feedback and then managed to drive business improvements and also be used as a springboard to launch referral marketing and word-of-mouth campaigns.

Which animal best describes your organisation?

Who manages Social Media for ACME Ltd?

I see a 'land-grab' going on. There is a fight happening on who is best to manage 'social media' for ACME Ltd?

ACME's PR's agency are offering themselves up as the right people (with seemingly good credentials). ACME's ad agency don't seem to get it and are a bit sniffy about this social stuff. Bob in ACME's accounts dept and Hayley in ACME's telesales dept both use social media sites for personal use and seem to "get-it", so they could probably do a good job. The Marketing dept see it as their domain, but they are too busy to keep on top of it and they are only interested in 'controlling' the message. Sales are looking for referrals from existing customers, so they are focused on other reasons. Customer service dept are always in the front-line managing complaints and seem to know whats happening on the street, so they could easily manage some of the issues.......

Mmmmmm......who do we choose?

Well, a good starting point is to say "What are we trying to achieve"? Managing reputation is a worthy objective and maybe PR's are best skilled for this. Talking to customers about specific issues is something that the customer service dept are best equipped to handle. Getting referral sales needs creative strategies. Talking about new products and new initiatives is marketing depts forte. Explaining company procedures and how things are done around here can be managed by many 'back-room' staff.

And that's the point - it shouldn't be the responsibility of one single dept of ACME. Many people can contribute - and should. Create a Code of Conduct and let as many ACME staff as possible (and are willing) interact with the 'market'. It adds authenticity and real character. After all - we gave them all a telephone and an email account, so I guess they are free to "talk" to the outside world if they want!!!!

The phrase horses for courses springs to mind. Decide on your objectives and then who is best to deliver the message.

It might well be 'Bob' from accounts....!!

The Power of WOM

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when my recent research proved that most home-buyers asked their friends and relatives about what they knew about various home-builders before making a decision on which one to choose, for probably the biggest purchase they would ever make. Intuitively it made sense to me, I've asked the same questions of my contacts and recalled what I'd heard during conversations, when in the same position.

Previous research I've also conducted in the sector showed that after making the decision to purchase, it is often many months before they actually get the keys to their new home, and during this period these 'customers' are actively spreading 'word-of-mouth' (WOM) - both positive and negative, telling their friends what is happening regarding the construction of their new home, thus influencing the next wave of potential buyers. What a great untapped resource and opportunity, to get these people to spread positive word-of-mouth and sell to their friends!

If I were critical, I would say that the home-building industry has been pretty one-dimensional regarding how to generate referral sales from satisfied customers - the '£1000 discount voucher if you recommend a friend' is about the limit of most home-builders repartees.

There is so much more that could be done and with the accessibility, scope and power of social media the opportunities are endless ....

Its time to harness the Power of WOM - its not hard, in fact it can and should be be fun. We are all naturally story-tellers, all we need is for someone to provide us the incidents, facts and interesting events and we will tell stories.... And, without knowing it, at the same time we are selling homes to the next wave of customers!

"Heard it on the grapevine"

pHc have just completed a major study into home builders' brands in Scotland. And as you might expect, we have unearthed some interesting findings.
Here are some 'top-line' facts -

• 43 developer brands were spontaneously mentioned - and this was only in the central belt of Scotland! What an enormous range of brands for potential homebuyers to choose from, and more importantly to have some knowledge and opinion of before visiting or considering buying from
• when we delved below the level of awareness into familiarity and brand positioning, we found that potential homebuyers had little or no depth of understanding or ability to differentiate between the various brands
• ....and then consider that buying a home is (for most people) the biggest single purchase they will ever make - how do they reach a decision?

Answer - good old 'word-of-mouth'.

Yes, when we asked how they differentiated between the brands and how they formed opinions of them, the resounding responses were - "their reputation" and "whether they were recommended by friends and colleagues". Interstingly, not by the style of homes they build!

So, forget multi-media advertising campaigns and glossy brochures, forget posters, signs and even state-of-the-art websites, what they heard over a pint or whilst sharing a pizza with their friends determined how good or bad a developer was and whose homes were better than the rest.

So, whats the message? - Ignore 'word-of-mouth' and social media at your peril.

And a tip for developers - there is a 'win-win' here - give your existing customers a great home-buying experience and positive reasons to talk about you and they will spread great news on your behalf.

The full report is available from pHc - www.phconsulting.org.uk

5 Ways to encourage word of mouth referrals

The Internet may be fast becoming the most powerful marketing tool available to organisations, but we shouldn’t underestimate the consistent influence of word of mouth referrals. A company lives and dies by its reputation and word of mouth has become increasingly important as the general public become less trusting of what Business and the Media say, and start listening to their family, friends and colleagues. Here’s five great ways to encourage positive word of mouth referrals:

ONE: Get the Customer Experience Right
Positive and Negative Word of Mouth are most often derived from your customer’s experience. Do you care about your customer’s overall experience? If you don’t, you should because there’s never been more choice for consumers, if they don’t like what they find with you, they can always go elsewhere.

If you want to encourage word of mouth referrals, you need to get the entire customer experience right. For organisations that care about encouraging positive word of mouth (PWOM) and diminishing potential negative word of mouth (NWOM), it’s important to reconsider how you deliver the customer experience. Consistently delivering an unforgettable customer experience is the most effective way of getting people talking about you, your brand, products or services. Your job is to make sure it’s unforgettable for all the right reasons.

TWO: The Follow Up
The customer experience doesn’t end at the point of sale. Following up your sales with a quick courtesy call can really make the difference. A follow up communication gives the customer the chance to mention any problems and helps your organisation to demonstrate that you care and customers like to think that you care about more than just their money.

THREE: Fix What You Find
The Follow Up was a great opportunity to measure the customer’s experience. But once you find something that went wrong in the customer’s experience, you can immediately improve positive word of mouth by fixing the problem fast. Demonstrating your efficiency and customer care positively promotes your business.

FOUR: Customer Referral Scheme
It’s possible that you can generate great positive word of mouth from your existing customers by setting up a customer referral scheme. It’s used by all sorts of organisations, the more customers they refer, the greater the rewards for all concerned. This is the perfect low-cost way of getting your existing customer-base to market for you.

FIVE: Catchy Product/Service Names
Develop catchy, memorable product and service names. Apple have been consistently smart about the use of the prefix ‘i-‘ before the name of many of their products, which helps them to become immediately memorable for existing customers and those seeking to find out more about those products. But who’d spread the word about the new XDP-555-DE2-XL/1?

Creating great word of mouth referrals is a lot more than simply creating hype. It’s about encouraging and managing the way that conversation spreads from person to person. To find out more about how Word of Mouth could help your business to grow, visit www.phconsulting.org.uk.

After Armageddon

After the virtual destruction of the UK new homebuilding industry, there are signs of a cautious recovery. I just wonder what might have happened to many of the important issues that were starting to be addressed by many of the major developers? Will customer satisfaction be relegated again? What damage will have been done to their brands after some desperate discounting? And will CSR and sustainability be seen as a 'nice-to-have' at the expense of profitability?I've been in discussions with many home builders recently and there is a real sense of fear and anxiety at what the 'new world' will hold for them?Any views anyone?