1. Spend no more than an hour a day (I suggest 30 minutes 2x daily max.) monitoring the sites most visited by your customers and people who can contribute to your personal growth.
2. Make sure your profiles are professional and up to date. Review them regularly and keep them fresh.
3. Grow your contacts on facebook. Connect with as many colleagues, advertisers and friends as you can. Think about past positions you have held, past Managers, past coworkers, your clients and connect with them.
4. Don’t be shy about asking for referrals. If your customers are happy they will be proud to refer you.
5. Monitor conversations and participate whenever appropriate. Join groups that fit your industry and start discussions on LinkedIn. There are MANY of them connected to the Broadcast and Marketing industries. Use free tools such as hootsuite to monitor twitter conversations. Find suitable pages on facebook and “Like” them. Monitor those pages and participate.
6. Before calling on a client, search them on twitter and facebook to see how they are using social media. Follow them on twitter and monitor their tweets. “Like” their page on facebook.
7. And, last but not least, don’t forget to pick up the phone and connect with them for real! There’s still nothing like real face time to solidify relationships!

The four questions are:

What am I trying to accomplish?

Every client contact should have a well thought out goal. Learn more about their business? Get an appointment? Solve a problem? Each of your advertiser’s campaigns should have a goal. Multiple goals are not uncommon. What are their goals? What does success look like?

How can I be relevant (to my customers)?

Are you bringing relevant ideas to your customers? Data about your ratings is only relevant if it directly pertains to the client. They don’t care if you’re #1 in Prime if they can’t afford Prime! They do care if you have data that says you are #1 at delivering their BEST customer. Uncover what is relevant to your customer and deliver it.

How will I integrate my event (my media, my campaign, my promotion) with other marketing plans?

Do you know your customers’ overall marketing objectives? It’s not just to sell widgets necessarily. Is your recommendation for them easily integrated into their overall plan? Better yet, were you helpful in assembling their overall plan?

How will I measure success?

This is where broadcast sellers and clients typically fall flat! Are you asking your advertisers how they measure success? Go back to the first question – what are you trying to accomplish? Do your research up front to determine current conditions – average ticket, # of ups weekly, etc. Establish a baseline for whatever it is you are trying to accomplish and set realistic goals.

Any other questions we should be asking ourselves and our clients as we Focus on Customer Success?

Change is hard for most of us. Ever tried to change banks or financial planners? Yikes – I’ve never seen so many forms! You have to be really miserable to make some changes.

So why do many advertisers stay and many advertisers leave? Sure, it’s a tough economy and there’s some natural fallout due to economic factors. But when was the last time you truly and honestly analyzed your churn?

Think about your favorite restaurant? Is it your favorite because the food is so terrific? Be honest – you can get great food in a variety of restaurants. I suspect it’s because they recognize you when you walk through the door, the service is consistent, you feel comfortable when you are there and feel somewhat important, you know the server and she/he knows you, there’s fun conversation, they say thank you and ask if everything met your expectations, they show interest in making sure what you order is prepared the way you want it. Some combination of these factors, yes?

You get the picture? You feel recognized, appreciated, comfortable, important, listened to, and cared about. Oh, and the food is good too. AND, if you had a bad meal after many good ones you’d forgive them! Happy customers don’t change – they may experiment but they don’t change unless they find another restaurant that does it better.

Want happy clients? Apply those same loyalty factors and do it better than your competitors.

From her book, here are just a few questions you may want to ask yourself about your business, your TV station, your advertiser list, your industry:

1. How am I monitoring changing expectations?
2. What easy and great service experiences have I had recently? Are there elements of that experience I can apply to my business and/or my clients?
3. Have I stood in my customers’ shoes when it comes to dealing with me and my TV station? How can I improve each touch point?
4. How can I save my customers time (which is THE currency of today)?
5. What devices and/or systems do I need to change or eliminate to work for me rather than against me?
6. Am I demonstrating sincerity?

There are many more questions but answering these will get you started on “wooing” your customers. All of them ask you to FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SUCCESS.

1. Business is a little better and “panic mode” is slowly dissipating
2. Broadcasters are taking the time to analyze structure, employee strengths/weaknesses and needs

However, what I’m seeing are broadcasters analyzing their sales talent from their point of view – this AE is great at increasing share, this AE can sell snowballs to Eskimos, this AE not only “gets the TV business” but also “gets the TV business done,”etc. 

What I am not seeing much of is looking at their talent from the customer’s point of view. The customer wants desperately to say, “This AE satisfies MY challenges.”  Those challenges could be meeting a cpp or bringing packages and promotions that make their life easy, or digging deep into their business to develop specific solutions for specific problems. The customer may be looking for highly creative AEs to help them develop strategic and custom promotional ideas or they may be looking for great executers who can follow their orders with high attention to detail. In every case, the customer wants the AE to “get THEIR business” and “get THEIR business done.”

When was the last time you analyzed your staff using something other than your subjective observations and assumptions coupled with their billing? When was the last time you asked your customers what THEY need, what THEY want? When was the last time you stepped aside and secured objective data? When was the last time you truly focused on your customers’ success?

None of us can be all things to all people. We say that but are we still asking dogs to climb trees?

Suspects – they know you exist and/or you know they exist. No contact, no interest expressedThey aren’t going to buy from you if they don’t know you and, more importantly, if you don’t know them! Are you targeting the right markets and developing products specifically customized to solve their problems? Do you know what their problems are? Are you chasing prospects for the sake of filling a call sheet to satisfy your LSM or are you strategically targeting prospects? Do you reach out to them talking THEIR language?

Prospects – these businesses have been identified as possible clients. They may have been identified by you or they may have identified you as a possible source. Some type of reaching out has occurred even if it’s just on paper or via email. Do you understand their needs and are you customizing solutions to satisfy them? Do you know some of the challenges their industry are facing and if you really can help them? Have you done your research before contacting them so you know what questions to ask?

Clients –you are doing business with this category. They are buying; you are delivering (spots, impressions, texts, etc.) Are you fulfilling their needs? Have their needs changed? Some clients are more passive and it’s easy to ignore them. Big mistake! Do not be afraid to ask how their campaign is working for them. In fact, as part of the sale set up measurable goals. We broadcast sellers are not accustomed to doing that but in today’s environment we must. You want them to become Advocates!

Advocates – there is a strong affinity and relationship above and beyond that of a client. These are the clients who spread the word about how great you and your station are! They treat you like one of them. They bring their issues to you to solve. They willingly introduce you to colleagues and business associates. They invite you to the trade functions. They rely on you and build your tribe. How many fall into this category? Probably not as many as you’d like! The more clients you “super serve” the more advocates you will have.

Former Advocates and Clients – yes, eventually customers and advocates will fall into this category for a variety of reasons such as management change, strategies change, they get angry (uh-oh!). You will never have a 100% retention rate and that is not always your goal. Some customers cost you money and will never become Advocates but when was the last time you contacted a former customer you wanted to retain? What did you say to them? When they were no longer doing business with you did you ask them why? Did you ask more questions to get to the real reason? Remember, we learn more from our “failures” than from our “successes.”

OK, so now you’ve got them categorized. Each category requires different interactions and triggers to get them to next level. Your goal is to feed the cycle and move businesses through keeping them as customers and advocates as long as possible. FOCUS ON CUSTOMER SUCCESS!

#4  -  Assuming “no” when you really don’t “know

How often have we done that? Stop assuming! If the advertiser doesn’t call you back immediately don’t assume the worst. Trust me, they have lots of other things on their plate and you are not always their top priority. Stop pre-judging your clients until you KNOW (not NO) for sure.

#3  -  Talking too much

Your advertisers are busy. Your advertisers don’t care about you, they care about themselves. The “gift of gab” is great at parties and social affairs. Business meetings are neither of those! In today’s environment the gifts of asking great questions, listening and silence are valued well above the “gift of gab.”

#2  –  Failing to ask for commitment

It’s really pretty simple. If you don’t ask you probably won’t get. If you’ve done your homework, asked the right questions up front, understand the client’s business (we assume you understand yours) and find solutions to their problems why do you hesitate to ask? Your television station, website and all the other assets you bring to the table plus your ability to bring promotional ideas are solution providers. Luck is opportunity meeting preparation.  Get lucky often and ask for commitment.

#1  –  Purposely (or mistakenly) using less than adequate skills

I love this quote, “Sales people who think they’re done learning are usually just done.” Think about that. Do you continue learning? And, in today’s environment where everything is a click away it’s so easy but are you doing it? Ask yourself:

• How much time do you put into preparation? That includes preparing for a telephone call as well as a face-to-face call
• Are you asking thought-proving questions?
• Are you bringing forward IDEAS worth paying for?
• Do you thoroughly analyze your successes (why they succeeded) and failures (why they didn’t)?
• How do you use that information for future opportunities?
• What do you do CONSISTENTLY to build stronger relationships?

Creating excuses is easy. Focus on CUSTOMER Success! Becoming better at solving our advertiser’s problems isn’t easy but it’s a lot more fun and rewarding!

To succeed in this world full of distractions and new competition how are you remarkably different?

Here are some simple ways to determine your “Big WOW:”

1. Are you as an individual special? List what makes you truly different
2. Are you as an employee special? List what makes you truly different
3. Are you as an organization special? List what makes you truly different
4. Are you as a provider of information to your customers/viewers special? List what makes you truly different

These are not easy questions – for best results, be brutally honest.

Now, the tough part. Go ask your friends, co-workers, clients, viewers/users the same questions and see what you get. Is there a match?

Remember, perception is reality. If aligned, you are doing great! If not what are you going to do to change? Your friends, co-workers, clients and viewers aren’t going to change to match you! Either really let us know and feel your “big WOW” or find it. As Seth Godin in The Purple Cow said, “Transform your business (and yourself) by being remarkable.”

OK, time to put my words into actions (SCARY!). What do you think is my “big WOW” as an individual, as an organization and provider of information? Please tell me how you think I can become REMARKABLE. Post your comments here.

The big takeaway was aggregating content across all platforms and connectivity to consumers is the new currency. You must marry your audiences with your advertiser. Broadcasters must FOCUS ON CUSTOMER (advertiser, listener, viewer, user, reader, consumer) SUCCESS! They actually said those words!!

Some highlights of interest:

1. Hyper-Local community websites can produce nickels but the nickels roll up to significant revenue. The use of highly trained telemarketers has helped produce significant revenue according to Colleen Brown, President and CEO, Fisher Communications. The sites allow advertisers who cannot afford TV to advertise effectively and efficiently creating a new revenue stream. She has partnered with DataSphere. One Producer oversees 15 sites and they also depend on UGC. Here’s a link to their community sites in Seattle.
2. Mobile is the big disruptor and there are many aspects to mobile – mobile TV, mobile radio, SMS, MMS, Apps, etc. This is truly one-to-one connectivity with the consumer and possibly the best brand extension device we will see in the near future.
3. It still remains- content is king and meaningful distribution of that content to the consumer is key. Develop alliances to collect great content and Fred Fourcher, president-CEO of Bitcentral, suggests cooperating with fellow broadcasters to accomplish this. Why go it alone or duplicate efforts?

There was more of course. If you have specific questions regarding the conference or how I can help your organization develop and implement a Digital Strategy let me know. A lot to be done but this “crisis” is really an “opportunity.”

Sounds valid but here’s a video you may want to watch and I’ve listed just a few of the statistics of possible interest:

1. Over 50% of the world’s population is under 30-years-old
2. 96% of them have joined a social network
3. Facebook tops Google for weekly traffic in the U.S.
4. Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
5. If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 3rd largest ahead of the United States and only behind China and India
6. The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
7. What happens in Vegas (or on your station) stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook…
8. The #2 largest search engine in the world is YouTube
9. Wikipedia has over 15 million articles…studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica…78% of these articles are non-English
10. Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
11. If you were paid a $1 for every time an article was posted on Wikipedia you would earn $156.23 per hour
12. 25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
13. 34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands. Do you like what they are saying about your brand? You better.
14. People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them
15.  78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
16. Only 14% trust advertisements
17. Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
18. We no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
19. We will no longer search for products and services, they will find us via social media
20. Social Media isn’t a fad, it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate
21. Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like Mad Men Listening first, selling second
22. The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years

 HubSpot CEO, Brian Halligan, thinks that questioning the ROI of Social Media is akin to questioning the ROI of putting on your pants in the morning (you just have to do it).

Broadcasters – you will not change the world. The world has already changed. You used to be able to talk “to” the audience but now you must talk “with” the audience. You have a golden opportunity. Social Media is not a threat. Talk “with” us!