Carey Smith on The Real High Ground
There is a lot of hype surrounding social media.
I read a statement recently that social media is the new high ground for successful business leaders. I would strongly debate that under the basis that social media falls into the non- contact mode. I would agree with the commentators that say that having a social media position is vitally important, but in saying that, I would strongly disagree with any business leader who believes that social media is the new high ground.
There has always been two forms of high ground in business. The first is recognition and the second is reputation. There is an old saying that “charity begins at home”. The high ground in business is with your own people. I have on most occasions been able to keep the high ground in recognition. I am not saying that this is unchartered territory but I would stand by two disciplines that I believe will serve any business leaders or person in sales better than social media presence will ever serve.
The first is a handwritten note. It is rare in business that you receive a handwritten note. I wondered as Christmas went past as to what people really thought when they received an e-card from someone. It is the same deal that there are forms of communication that are necessary, but the high ground is an action that takes a personal approach.
A handwritten note is the first high ground in business, the second is recognition. Most Saturday mornings I will spend phoning salespeople who have achieved their Premier or Elite status within our company. The response is measurable in the delight that people get from being noticed. The second high ground in business is noticing and communicating recognition.
The world is moving at a fast pace with a very big audience. It is important to stay ahead of the pack but you can only really do that by taking the high ground and that is the ground that very few good leaders will ever walk.
I enjoy the broad appeal of social media – but people do business with people – it is still about all about trust.
Carey, this may sound strange coming from someone who teaches Social Media, but I agree that Social Media isn’t the High Ground either.
Providing a great Customer Service experience is the High Ground.
Most of the best customer service experiences require very little effort & go a long way to building a great reputation. Here’s an article I wrote, where a few other people shared their best customer experiences. It’s amazing to see how little somebody has to do to create a raving fan. http://www.genyre.com/2009/10/31/what%E2%80%99s-the-best-customer-service-experience-you%E2%80%99ve-ever-had/
Little things like hand written notes will always count.
But, the biggest issue that I see within our industry is agents ignoring Social Media & not understanding how it can be used to build trust online or alternatively how it could hurt an agent’s reputation if it’s not monitored effectively either.
Carey, Social Media has given consumers a voice & if an agent does a great job then hopefully their clients are sharing their amazing customer service experience throughout their social networks.
Alternatively, if the agent provides poor customer service then they need to be prepared for the consequences of what will be said about them online & at the very least they should monitor what’s being said, plus become part of the Social Media conversation.