Most conference meetings can be compared to my 8:00 A.M. classes…boring, uneventful and an opportune time for a little cat nap. But that’s not the case anymore! Many small businesses are encouraging interaction during these meetings in order to get more bang for their buck.
Heather Logrippo, owner and publisher of “Distinctive Homes,” a monthly magazine in Boston, handed out construction paper and crayons to her employees and told them to draw their ideas for an incentive program with those resources. I’ve noticed through my Resident Assistant job that adults love to revert back to childhood activities, so this was brilliant! Dixon Schwabl Advertising Inc., in Rochester, N.Y. had a similar strategy, but instead of crayons and paper, he used the always fun, watergun. Every employee was required to bring theirs to the meetings and use without repercussion on anyone who uttered a negative comment. Needless to say, a positive atmosphere was the outcome.
Hitting a little closer to home was an idea from Angela Bagby, director of marketing and client relations for Russell Construction Co. in Davenport, IA. Bagby introduced a new device that calculated just how much money the company was spending by the employees attending the meeting. Their initial 90-minute meeting cost the company $5,000! This new appreciation for time well spent definitely made employees interact more and keep their focus.
For more ideas on how to spice up your conference meetings, visit The Wall Street Journal online.
Okay, your ready to roll and the page is set up, now ‘how the heck do I tweet?’ You can go to your profile and provide a picture if you would like or in the info section under setting you can put in a small, concise statement about you or the company. Then, in the “What are you doing?” section you can say something like (i.e.), “just setting out our fabulous product and getting ready for a great Monday.” Right after that statement provide a link to click on that will drive to your company’s website.
and will get the ball rolling for your company, no matter what stage it is in.
Social Media Band-Aids: Helping Unhappy Customers
But if when it comes to handling these situations, we have the reputable and handy Air Force Blog Assessment flowchart. Using this well-designed strategy guide, we can handle these situations as they arrive with strategies that will both solve the problems and make your business shine in the ways of public relations.
Let’s take a look at the flowchart first (Click the picture to enlarge it):
We start first with the post. Whether it’s a blog post or a comment on your company’s Facebook page, the first step is to assess the public posting before deciding how to respond. Is the post negative or positive? If it’s something negative posted as comment on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, or whatever, don’t always just ignore it!
Deleting negative comments is a poor strategy for dealing with negative feedback. That’s because when you’re deleting a comment regarding bad service you’re “covering up” your bad service rather than making an apology and fixing whatever is wrong. Instead, we’re going to show you how to turn negative feedback into strength for your company.
Check out the flowchart for the steps to take when dealing with a negative comment. By following these steps, you avoid ignoring your customers and make an impact on your internet audience by showing good public relations skills and a genuine care for your customers.
The bottom of our Air Force flowchart details things to consider when creating a response to any kind of post (good or bad).
Let’s review: what the flowchart boils down to is that if you are responding to a customer, be sure to do everything in your power to help them have a great experience. That’s rule number one for customer service, even on the internet.
Happy surfing!
Kaitlin Tow
Social Media Intern
→ Leave a comment
Posted in Chamber Members, General info, Marketing Monday
Tagged building social media policy, business, content, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Service, helping customers, how to, Internet, Iowa, marketing, negative comments, negative feedback, Public Relations, Sioux City Metro, Small Business, social media