by Kirby Hasseman
Let’s address a “hypothetical situation” that happens all of the time.
You have taken the time to create a social media presence. Your Facebook page is solid and you post valuable content regularly. You are providing good information and engaging with the growing audience. You are killing it with your social media marketing.
Then one day, you get a negative comment. A customer came to your location and had a bad experience. They might have had an actual bad experience…or maybe they are just a difficult person. Their coffee was cold. Or their server was slow. Or their customer service representative was rude. Whatever the reason, they have decided to let the entire world know via social media!
What do you do now?
If this does not sound familiar yet, it will. The reality is, with the internet, everyone has a voice. And when people feel they have been wronged, they want to share that experience. The thing is, this is not a new thing. People have always shared their negative opinions. Now, everyone just has a larger audience. So what do you, as an organization, do when you get one of these negative comments online?
There are a couple steps to take (and they are outlined in detail in the GREAT book by Jay Baer “Hug Your Haters.“) But before we get to the simple steps, let’s reframe the discussion. We need to look a bit differently about the feedback. As I mentioned above, these conversations have always happened. But now you get to be a part of them! You get to address (the sometimes) very real issues with your service so that future customers don’t have the same experience. This is incredible intel to make your organization better! You need to start by looking at it that way. Don’t get defensive…get pro-active to fix the issue.
Now onto the simple steps.
When you receive a negative comment about your company, product or service, I recommend you respond to the comment by doing three things. Apologize. Empathize. Take it offline.
Apologize
Regardless of the issue, you don’t want your customer or prospects to have a bad experience, right? So apologize for it. “I am so sorry you had this experience.”
Empathize
This is when many of us feel the need to “give a reason” why this happened. This “reason” often comes off as an “excuse.” No one wants an excuse. They want to know they are valued.
Take if offline
I recommend you give them a number (to a real person) to call to discuss their issue. First, this shows you really want to handle it. Second, it keeps you from getting into an argument online…NEVER a good idea. This can be an incredibly effective technique. Often, you won’t ever get the call from the person. They just wanted to vent. But by responding, you not only responded to that customer, but everyone who knows them SEES that you responded. It shows you care enough to try and fix the issue.
And as customers, we know that caring can go a long way.
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by Kirby Hasseman
At the beginning of this year, I made a commitment to do more video. The goal was to provide value through content in new ways. It might be to entertain, educate or inspire. And though we have been super active with this blog (and I want to continue to be), I felt like video is another way to reach out. So I wanted to share a few videos that you might not have seen so far this year. Oh…and if you want to make sure don’t miss, you can subscribe to my Youtube channel here. My goal is to increase my number of subscribers…so you can help! Delivering Marketing Joy: As you may or may not know, I have been doing a web show called Delivering Marketing Joy for several years now. Every Wednesday, I interview a new marketer, entrepreneur, author or leader…and I have done that for over 220 episodes! Today I talk to Jason Lucash from Origaudio, and you can watch that here. Motivational: I have also tried to make a commitment to inspire more this year through video. This recent video for the New Year is an example of that. Watch this and let me know what you think! Remember, if you want to have a better year (or week or month) you need to take action! Day in the Life: In addition, I started a vlog series that I call a “day in the life” that follows me around in different areas of business. This is from a recent trip to Vegas for the PPAI Expo. The goal is to entertain and inform…and there will be plenty more to come. Community Support: Finally, I want to help support things in the community that inspire me. That’s why I created this video about Kids America and this short video about helping the homeless. Either way, my hope is I will be creating some video that you enjoy. As I said, if you are interested, feel free to subscribe to my Youtube channel here. And of course if you want to make sure you never miss any content, you can sign up to be a VIP here.
by Kirby Hasseman
We all have “that voice.” I have talked about it before. We all have that voice that spends time telling us that we are not good enough, or smart enough, or not ready. We hear that voice the loudest when we are about ready to try something new or challenging. That voice is fear. That voice is insecurity. It’s a voice we all have. But what do we DO with it? Seth Godin, in his great book “What to do when it’s your turn (and it’s always your turn)” talks about this when he asks “where do you put the tired?” He points out that when people run a marathon, there will be a time when you get tired. There are no books on how to run a marathon WITHOUT getting tired. When you run 26.2 miles, you will get tired. So what do you do with the tired? The same point is true for fear and insecurity. There is no way to create or challenge yourself or try something new without hearing that voice. So what do you do with it? From what I can tell, people do one of a few things when confronted with “that voice.” Run Away: When faced with something that scares people, sometimes they just completely avoid anything to do with it. They feel if they don’t know about or see it, that opportunity will not exist. The problem with this group is they will never achieve what they could in life. By avoiding their fears, they avoid their potential too. Curl Up: Sometimes the fear just stops them. They don’t leave the area. They just watch others do what they want to do and wish. The challenge here is this leads to a life of jealousy. They will constantly be watching people doing the things they would love to do…but won’t. When you see people who are mean-spirited and judgmental online, I always consider this group. Fake It Till You Make It: You see this group full of bravado. They feel like if they are brash and confident enough on the outside, we won’t know they hear the voice. This has been me many times in my life. Though this is preferred to the first two, because at least they are leaning in, it is hard to sustain. I think the goal for this group is to start here, and then grow to a place where you don’t have to fake it anymore. Ignore the Voice: These people still hear that voice, but they choose to push forward anyway. They know it might not work. They know there is a chance of failure. But they find a place to “put the fear.” This is, generally, the group that creates long term value and content and success. Which one are you? If you are like most of us, you have been all of these in different areas of your life. But now that you recognize it…what will you be today…and tomorrow? Where will you put “that voice?” Make sure you never miss an update! Each week we send out one email with all of the content of the week! It’s our VIP list and you can sign up here.
by Kirby Hasseman
If you are like a lot of people, the New Year means there is a special feeling in the air. It’s not just the feeling of being tired and hung over. I mean, it’s that too. But in addition, there is a feeling of hope. It’s a new page, a new year, a new day full of new possibilities. I talked a bit about why this matters here. But for some of us, it can be overwhelming too. Sure, we can start over and have a great new year. But where do I start? How do I get the ball rolling? What can I do to get 2019 started off better than 2018? That challenge is real. When I feel a bit overwhelmed, I like to try and fill my brain with good and inspirational stuff. It often helps get me in the right mindset, so I can take action toward whatever goal I am working on. With that in mind, I wanted to share a few pieces of content that I enjoy that might help you! Dr. Mark Powell on Delivering Marketing Joy: I really enjoy doing Delivering Marketing Joy. I get to talk to some amazing and smart folks. So each episode is fun for me. But this one is perfect for this time of year. Dr. Powell has a new book called “Clutch” and he spends some time talking about that with me here. I love the idea of creating “rituals” in your life to create a happier and more productive you. My YouTube Channel: One of my goals for 2019 is to increase the amount of value I deliver through video…and I want to increase my subscribers! You can help me with that by clicking here and subscribing. Oh, and here is a recent video that went sideways when we “misplaced” our drone. Watch that here. Akimbo Podcast: If you know me at all, you know that I really enjoy the work of Seth Godin. He is smart and thoughtful and he brings that to his podcast. For me, this is “must listen” content. So that’s a short list to get you started today. And of course if you have some great content that I should check out, let me know! Happy New Year everyone! Let’s make it a great one! Make sure you never miss an update! Sign up for our VIP newsletter here.
by Kirby Hasseman
It’s hard to believe it’s been 7 months. On May 30th I decided to start writing this blog every day. And since that day, come hell or high water, I have put something up. Sometimes it has been good. Sometimes…not so much. But the hits kept on coming each and every day. But why though? What is the point of the exercise? As I said in the beginning, it’s because I think we are a media company...and we need to start acting like it. I still believe that…and I wanted to revisit the idea. Since I have started this exercise, I have gotten a lot of questions. I wanted to address them here. Why are you doing this? What do you hope to gain? This is a question I get a lot. The simple answer is, attention and website traffic. Our website traffic, as you would hope, has gone up a lot. We have increased the number of people on our newsletter and we have increased the amount of opens on that newsletter. So not only do we have more people on it, but they want the information. That’s good stuff. We have also increased our sales over that time. It’s a funny thing about content marketing. It’s tough to point to one post and say “oh…that’s the one that caused our increase in sales.” For us, it has been “drip, drip, drip,” over time. During that same time…sales are up. BUT there is no way I can read it every day!I hear this a lot too. Totally cool by the way. And I guess, from my perspective, I don’t expect you to. I never had the idea that people would be sitting by their computer just waiting for the “ping” to come though to let them know I had published more amazing nuggets of knowledge. That would be great…but not my expectation. The idea is I can reach you when you want to be reached. For me to make sure I was there when you needed…I posted every day. In addition, I never knew what idea was going to resonate. I talk about that a bit here. Where Else Can I Find Your Content?As I mentioned above, I want to reach people where they want to be reached. So if you are not a reader, then this might not be for you. So here are some other pieces of content you can find. Delivering Marketing Joy: Hosted at PromoCorner, this is a video interview series that I am incredibly proud of. I have been doing this for 4 years now (so hard to believe). If you want to check that out…it comes out every Wednesday. Here is the latest episode. The unScripted Podcast: Another product of PromoCorner, my buddy Bill Petrie and I talk about the world of marketing and branding every week. We are a bit silly at times and certainly unedited in our opinions. I am proud of this award-winning podcast…and you can listen to the latest one here. Day In The Life: This is my vlog and I have been pleasantly surprised about how many people watch this (here is the latest). It’s about some daily adventures…and it’s usually fun. You can find it on my Youtube channel as above, or you can follow my Facebook page here. What Is Next?This is a question I am asking myself right now. Though I did not have specific measures of success when I started this, I have been incredibly pleased with the results. But do I want to keep this up every day? Is blogging the best way to do it? I am not completely sure what I want to continue to do in 2019. (Opinions welcome here if you want to weigh in). Here are some things I do know. Content is fun for me…and it works. I want to continue to create…and I want to get better. I am excited about 2019. How about you? Thanks so much for reading, listening and watching this year. Make sure you never miss an update! Sign up for our VIP list. As I mentioned above this list is growing. We send one email per week with all of the content! Sign up here.
