How Should You Handle Angry Customers?

Posted on March 31, 2015 by bermanevansretail
All companies treasure and understand the value of happy customers. The extent and loyalty of happy customers is often the difference between success and failure.
But, how should we deal with angry customers? As a general rule, we should not give up on them until we try to turn their feelings around.
Consider these observations from Vision Critical, which provides a cloud-based customer intelligence platform that allows companies to build engaged, secure communities of customers:
“The value of your happiest customers is well understood, but the influence and potential of angry customers should not be underestimated. On average, Americans tell nearly twice as many people about negative experiences as positive ones, and the anger of the social media-empowered customer can easily go viral and inspire a movement. Of the millions of people who post tweets about customer service every week, 80 percent are negative. All it takes is the right hashtag at the right moment to turn one person’s gripe into a social media maelstrom.”
Take a look at this in-depth white paper from Vision Critical.
Vision Critical
Posted in Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Are Your Public Relations Efforts Working?

Posted on March 30, 2015 by bermanevansretail
How effective are your public relations efforts? The answer to this question has become even more complex in this era of online viral marketing and word of mouth. It’s not enough to just count mentions, etc., as we did in the past.
According to Onboardly, a demand marketing agency that helps small and medium-sized companies fast-track visibility, brand awareness, and lead generation by working at the intersection where public relations, content marketing, and social media meet, to deliver marketing that gets results:
“PR is still a mystery to many. Press releases. How some make it onto TechCrunch and others with equally great products or stories remain unknown. Say the words ‘PR Metrics’ and you’ll get an even more quizzical face in response.”
“Some question the value of PR for their business and well. PR metrics are what demonstrate the need and the effectiveness for tactics such as earned media, influencer relations, content marketing, and good old-fashioned press mentions. We’re firm believers in the power of PR to make big things happen – no matter how small the company or the size of the budget.”
“We’ve developed this infographic as a way to explain a bit behind what PR is as well as what it can do.”

 
PR Metrics That Matter
 

Posted in Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Most Ethical Retail Firms According to Ethisphere Institute

Posted on March 29, 2015 by bermanevansretail
There are various reports about the most ethical firms in the world. One of the most comprehensive such reports is compiled by the Ethisphere® Institute.
According to its Web site:
“The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. We have a deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere believes integrity and transparency impact the public trust and the bottom line of any organization. The World’s Most Ethical Companies is a distinction that honors superior achievements in transparency, integrity, ethics and compliance.”
“The World’s Most Ethical Companies® designation recognizes companies that truly go beyond making statements about doing business “ethically” and translate those words into action. Honorees not only promote ethical business standards and practices internally, they exceed legal compliance minimums and shape future industry standards by introducing best practices today. In 2015, 132 honorees were named spanning 21 countries and five continents and representing over 50 industries. In its ninth year, the list includes 15 nine-time honorees and 11 first-time honorees.”
Of the 132 honorees for 2015, these are among the retail or retail-related firms (in alphabetical order):
* Allstate Insurance
* Aramark
* Blue Shield of California
* Dell Inc. 
* Gap Inc. 
* H&M
* Marks & Spencer
* Marriott International
* Northern Trust
* Petco Animal Supplies
* Prudential Financial
* Starbucks
* T-Mobile U.S.
* U.S. Bank
* Visa
* Wyndham Worldwide
Click here to see all of the 2015 honorees.

 

Posted in Part 1: Overview/Planning, Part 2: Ownership, Strategy Mix, Online, Nontraditional, Part 3: Targeting Customers and Gathering Information, Part 5: Managing a Retail Business, Part 7: Communicating with the Customer, Social Media and Retailing | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment