Personal Service: Marketing and Public Relations Secret Weapon
For all the chatter about branding, reaching out, building relationships and making connections, I wonder how much of it really cuts through and matters to the paying customer.
Service and the X Factor
If two businesses are selling the same thing for comparable prices, what’s the difference maker? That little something extra: an unexpected gift or special touch, Lagniappe we from Louisiana call it.
- I don’t do fast food that often, but Chick-Fil-A (and their evil Chicken Minis) has always been one of my favorites. Chick-Fil-A may not have a dollar value menu like other fast food chains; it’s the employees that make an impression. Everyone is polite, well spoken, friendly and professional about doing their jobs.Just because it’s fast food, does not mean they cannot go above and beyond. During their Labor Day promotion last year, the service was fast, and then some: our food was delivered to our table, no waiting.
When Service gets Personal
What will make someone drive an extra five miles out of their way in Atlanta traffic (See also: the 6th circle of Hell) to go to one business vs. another? Quality, service and price certainly play their parts, but it’s the X factor.
I shop two wine stores in the Smyrna Vinings area of Atlanta.
- Smyrna World of Beverage. Large, varied selection with competitive pricing and solid service from owner Jay Wang.
He makes great recommendations for affordable, second-label wines and new varietals. More than that, Jay really likes and knows wine, and makes an effort to remember my face and my tastes when I visit.It’s a great shop just up the street, next to my local Publix and so convenient.
- The Wine Cellars. Limited but impressive niche selection, focusing on quality wines at reasonable prices, and outstanding personal service. Owner Renee Rowe offers free wine tastings some days to give her customers a chance to try before they buy.Going a step further, Renee is developing relationships beyond the store. The other day she emailed me to let me know a couple of my favorite labels were back in stock. A simple example of personal service that will get me in my car, making more trips to see her…and spending more money in her store.
For small businesses in a harsh reality of price squeezes from big chains and competition from the Internet, the little things–the personal touch with a quick, easy and free email–make the biggest difference.
What’s your favorite example of personal service that keeps you going back for more?
A Week in Bad PR: Object Lessons from the Dark Side
Social media and the Interwebs are teaching me a lot about communication, what works and what doesn’t in Public Relations and Marketing. This week offered examples of good, bad and unethical PR practices.
Good. Since several stories of bad Public Relations surfaced this past week, Sarah Evans sent a call out to catch PR folks in the act of doing what’s right. Kudos to that!
Bad. Bad Pitch Blog (and can I just say–I hope to never make this Blog of Shame) shared this role reversal: During a search for a well-salaried position, a journalist makes a bad pitch to a PR firm by belittling the gig. All downhill after that.
Lesson learned: Do Not overestimate my value or worth, especially when seeking gainful employment.
Equal parts Bad and Galactically Stupid. A PR Agency gets caught in SpamGate, blasting everyone the same pitch. The error compounds as the email basics of CC, BCC and Reply All were lost on many.
Making matters worse was the fact that the spam email in question was sent to several PR and Social Media experts, who of course, quickly called out the Agency. This resulted in several posts and tweets, some harsh. Many just commented on the bad practices rather than bad practitioners.
Adding fuel to the fire, the agency was too slow to respond, posting the same apology on many of the blogs that critiqued their failure. On Friday the agency posted this response, but I suspect it’s too little, too late.
Lessons learned: 1) Start with better PR practices than bulk emailing pitches and 2) Have a plan for when things go sideways. Mistakes will happen. It’s what you do next to quickly fix it that’ll make a difference.
Evil. This is the horrific, unfunny version of that scene in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, where Johnny Depp fixes the bullfight by zapping the matador: a PR Agency gets caught getting interns to rig the game by planting fake positive reviews of iPhone apps on behalf of clients.
A couple of stories and tweets and blogs about this, including Rachel Kay’s query about what happens if the interns refused, and if not, “bigger issues.” True that.
Lesson learned: The unethical practice of a PR Agency actively marketing and selling the services of rigging favorable opinions on social media networks and websites on behalf of clients and their products is counter to everything good PR and Social Media practices are all about. Period.