As I stated in yesterday’s post, this weekend we did go out a few times.  This included out to dinner on Friday and Saturday night.  Nothing fancy mind you, but that is still exciting because with a 2 year old and a 10 month old it does not happen often.  On Friday night we were driving back from Koziars Christmas Village and we needed to eat something.  As we were driving in the middle of no where, making our way toward civilization, Allentown.  Yes Allentown at that point was reaching civilization!  We were reading billboards of different places to eat.  Many we never heard of.  Then we saw Cracker Barrel, which we have never been to but we joked about.  Well we said a few jokes and then we saw an ad for Perkins.  Okay I could go for some breakfast food so that was perfect.  As we were driving past the exit for Cracker Barrel my wife joked that I was resistant to change.  Of course this is a dare, so I immediately got off the exit and Cracker Barrel was chosen.  Yes I do fall for “I dare you!”

On Saturday we were out again looking at the lights at Peddlers Village, we then decided to do a quick run to WalMart.  Afterward we were hungry and it was a little later so there should not be a wait anywhere.  For the longest time I have wanted to try a new “chain” restaurant in our area called 99.  Every time we tried to go it would have a long line out the door.  I could not really see a difference to TGI Fridays or something like that, but there were crowds.  We actually saw this at 2 locations so we were looking forward to giving it a try.

So let’s review, I had limited or low expectations for Cracker Barrel and rather high expectations for 99.  Here is a quick review of each based on these dinners:

1. Cracker Barrel – We walked into Cracker Barrel in Allentown, and instead of a restaurant it was a cute little general store with many items.  We walked around for a little while and checked it all out.  When we did get seated we reviewed the menu to find home style cooking options.  We were sort of in the mood for breakfast but the choices were good.  They did not have alcoholic beverages, so I decided coffee was good for the moment.  The coffee was not the greatest, but not bad.  We placed our order.  The waitress immediately brought over corn muffins and biscuits.  I ordered a sample platter which included chicken dumplings, meatloaf and ham.  I have to say it was really pretty good.  It was just like home made.  The only negative with my food was it was colder than I would expect, but I ate it anyway.  After dinner instead of having dessert we decided to order a pie to take home.  We picked an Apple pecan crumb or something like that.  I have to say I was impressed and now I am looking to go back and try their breakfast.
2. 99 – We went to the Warrington 99 Restaurant on Saturday.  The place was structure with a bar that was boxed in with walls and window, segregating that space.  There were signs expressing the different reasons for 99.  One cool thing was that they try to tie in with the community, including pictures of older local high school sports team.  The menu reminded me of Fridays or similar place.  They had many beers on draft, so I had a Sam special winter beer.  There seemed to be an emphasis on steak.  My wife had a crab cake sandwich.  It was good, and included 2 crab cakes.  I had another combo.  The only reason I had this was after I ordered the Prime Rib, the waitress came back a while later to say they were out.  So I ordered a combo of steak and salmon on cedar plank.  The salmon was good, but it is something I make at home so it was really not that special.  The steak looked like it was cooked with a weight on the top of it.  It was flat as can be.  Needless to say it really did not taste like anything.  The funniest was the biscuit.  It was hard as a rock.  It would break apart but made a good clink sound when hitting it against anything.  During the meal we asked for another milk which did not come until after the check.  They were kind enough not to charge us for the 2nd milk.  I did ask the waitress if it was normal for the biscuits to be that hard.  She did say no.  The bill was about $50 for 2 adults, 1 kids meal, 1 milk and 2 beers.  Overall I was not very pleased with the experience.  I did not see it much different than other offerings.  Basically if I want an inexpensive steak meal I think I would go to Outback.  If I want burgers (which they seem to also have plenty of), I think I would go to Ruby Tuesdays or Chili’s.  I have no plans to go back because it really did not differentiate itself. 

I have discussed a few aspects of the work of my team and the importance of companies to listen to their Customers through any communication channel.  Those that heard me speak know that I like social media because it is unaltered, not interpreted story of the Customer.  Through all my years in Customer Service, I have always been a proponent of change.  I believe change is important for individuals and companies.  The trouble is I have found companies do not always change based on numbers.  Yes if they lose a lot of Customer or income, maybe but that does not always address Customer pinch points that exist.  What I have always found is companies have the most change when they can relate to what a Customer is going through.  A great place to find this is in social media.  This is in blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and numerous other places.  It is really wherever your Customers are.

Many companies do not know how to listen.  Listening is not hiring a firm to provide all kinds of numbers based on finding in the blogosphere.  I have also heard people say if companies want to know what Customers think to search google for the company name and “sucks.”  Sorry they are both wrong answers.  I applaud companies that understand the important aspects of social media that they are collecting both of these data points.  But these are really just data or numbers.  The better option is to actually read stories or posts.  It is also just as important to review the comments that go with those posts.  I am not recommending companies spend thousands of dollars on fancy gadgets.  What I recommend is so easy, anyone can do it.  Here are just a few ideas:

1. Google Blog Search – Simply follow the link, search your brand, then click on posts for the last day, or last week (this is an option on the left hand side).  This will provide some recent stories of how people use your products, good experiences they have had and some opportunity areas.
2. Twitter Search – This usually provides much more immediate information before blogs.  But again just as simple, type in your brand name and see what people are saying.  If you find an interesting tweet, click on the name to see other tweets from that person.  An even better idea is to open Twitter search in a new tab or window and just search the Twitter name.  This will allow you to view more of the 2 way conversation.  Imagine if you had the ability to review conversations about your product or company?  Well with Twitter you can (at least portions of it – some posts may not be in search because they are from someone keeping information private.
3. Forums – We all know forums that are dedicated to the business we are in.  Drift in and read through some of the posts.

These are great tools that make it really easy.  But after that is where is becomes key.  You can share some of the data that you find, but did you find an interesting story?  If you want to prove my point about stories, than over a few day period share some numbers.  After a week or so, add in a story that you find and watch what happens.  People will ask more questions and they will be more passionate about what you are finding.  The same reaction will happen when sharing data from other sources.  I have worked in Customer Service centers.  Most of the time I shared numbers.  Once in a while I would add Customer stories to the numbers.  This always brought reaction.  You do not even have to share negative stories, because the same happens with positive stories.

When is the last time you shared a story at work?  Did you receive a different reaction compared to data?

Many marketers want to know the best ways to sell in social media spaces.  I have seen these sell attempts made on posts made on blogs, forums or twitter.  As with anyone I applaud them for recognizing the social media spaces as being important to their business.  I agree it is probably going to be one of the most important areas for companies in the future.

I may be a simple service person and not a marketer by trade, but I do think I know a little bit about this space.  To me social media is the same as talking to a Customer during a phone conversation or in person.  It never works when you throw something out there for the Customer to buy.  When I spent more time managing people I always taught them to earn the right to sell.  You do this by providing the best service and resolving any concerns.  Once you do this, it is simple to review and offer something that is appropriate for the Customer.  If nothing is appropriate, then nothing should be offered.  It is letting the Customer guide the approach.

In social media the same is true.  The first step would be to build relationships and earn the respect in the space.  The way you build relationships is first listening.  Doing so, you will understand the audience and the way interactions occur.  It also allows you to learn about your brand and how companies use your products.  The next step would be to engage with your Customers in the space.  This is probably the most rewarding of the steps for company (at least in my personal opinion).  There is nothing more fun than the opportunity to chat with your Customers.  Once you do all this, then, and only then, can you consider selling.  At the same time, just like in a phone call, it is only good to sell what it is appropriate for the needs of the Customer, or in the case of social media, the Customers involved.  The other key (now this goes back to listening) is that it must be relevant.  It must be a solution or fulfill a need.

This may be against the grain of many regarding selling, but I think in this space where the Customer has a high degree of control, it is necessary.  Otherwise people will shut you out and not listen, which is also easy to do in this space.  What are your thoughts?

How effective is your company listening to social media?  Do you have the ability to respond quickly and effectively within the space.  Everyone knows my story on Twitter, so I will not go into that here.  But one thing I have always said is the true ROI for being involved in social media is the cost for not being involved.  Over the past few days a story began to unfold regarding a brand many of us have used (although based on what I have seen, many will not use going forward).  The brand is Motrin.  Lets watch a little of this headache unfold:

It all started with this ad campaign (you can provide your own adjectives). I think Peggy Olson (Mad Men) would have told Donald Draper no on this one! 

That was the beginning of the headache for the maker of Motrin, McNeil Consumer Healthcare (A division of Johnson and Johnson).  As I have stated before, one of the reasons Twitter is a good place for business is news starts in places like that or online forums.  From there it usually spreads to other sources such as blogs, or in this case You Tube.  Eventually the information finds its way to traditional media.  Well this is just one of those stories.  So after the ad campaign began, let the tweets and the headache begin.  Here is an image of the website:

Moms began to tweet about the offensive nature of the ad.  These mom’s made it clear that it is not a pain to hold their child close to them and they love to do it.  So this ad was truly backfiring on them and they did not know it, at least until someone decided to build the video.  Instead of rebuilding all the tweets, check out the You Tube video created:

This started numerous blog posts on the topic.  Check out Google Blogsearch, Twitter Search, or a search of You Tube.  This caused a large hit to the brand that will show in search results for a long time to come.  Now at this time the company has posted an apology on the Motrin website:

There are a number of lessons for brands.

1. Common Sense Marketing - First and foremost use common sense in advertising.  I am not a marketing person, but I could see this one coming the moment I saw the ad.
2. Listening in Social Media – Listen to spaces such as Twitter because it will give you a heads up very early and hopefully respond before there is a video and numerous blog entries such as this one.
3. Engagement – If you had individuals already in spaces like Twitter, reaching out at the time of the initial tweets may have prevented this (although no guarantee).  It at least would have made it so some of the individuals would have known the brand was listening.  I will write a post soon on engagement by companies! 
4. Rapid Response Culture – Create a rapid response culture that would allow this to be escalated to the right people and decisions made immediately.

I would like to thank the Moms on Twitter for sharing the story – I have become friends with many of you and I appreciate all the hard work you do.  I also found the blog posts from David Armano and Pete Blackshaw very helpful (as always)