When did customer service die?
It wasn’t hard for marketing and branding expert Scott Deming to rouse an early morning crowd during a session that took a lively and succinct look at how companies need to build their image – whether they are selling products or services.
According to Deming, awareness alone cannot build a powerful brand. What is needed is “emotional branding, which can turn a customer into a raving maniac that is devoted to you for life. Just because the customer knows about your company or product does not mean they want you.”
This advice makes sense for companies that manufacture products, but how does this advice apply to distributors? Deming told them that they are not just providing products to the retail customer, but they are selling an experience, a relationship.
“You are selling convenience, profits, solutions. This is not something you don’t already know. However, it’s a concept that you need to remember to focus on,” Deming advised. He pointed to several high profile companies such as Starbucks and AOL that suffered huge losses in sales and profits because they forgot the critical importance of customer service.
Deming encouraged all companies – even distributors – to get involved in social media. “You need to Google search your company name for chatter about your company or product on the Internet, including the social networking sites. Trust me, people are talking about their experiences, and if they are bad ones, their stories can spread like wildfire across the Internet in no time at all,” he said.
He emphasized that loyalty is created by one thing – experiences that form beliefs. Once a belief is formed, it’s hard to move away from that belief. Thus, if it’s a positive belief, you’ve gained a customer for life. If it’s a negative experience, it will hard to get that customer back.
