Last night, I had the absolute pleasure of being invited to join the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce Corporate Insight dinner, as a guest of one of our amazing Clients. Now, I am usually impressed by a lovely venue, but Stoke Park really topped it off! Absolutely stunning place to hold an event – I have also decided the next time I get married, this place is definitely on the list 🙂
It is a good chance to have a chin wag with the local good and the great in the business arena, but we were all there to hear from Gay, CEO of Formative Content. I was really quite excited and intrigued to hear Gay speak in a more public forum and show off the skill set she has, and she certainly didn’t disappoint.
Gay discussed the digital media space and the relationship you can have with your consumer in this space, the advantages you can gain and the gravitas this space now commands. Some effective case studies were used to illustrate her points, including some scary facts about the weight a number of companies we know and love well, put behind social media platforms. The age of the customer has well and truly arrived!
- Customers no longer compare companies only with competitors – they compare across the board
- Customers are less tolerant – they’ve become faster to complain and harder to satisfy
- Customer-to-customer dialogue has grownand is led by the opinions of ‘friends’ or ‘followers’, corroborated by ‘likes’ and testimonials.
- Customers are less loyal- they want value for money
- Customers no longer accept branding and marketing from organisations – there’s widespread distrust of mainstream information channels
- Customers are more informed- the company does not have the monopoly on product knowledge
- All customers are becoming multichannel users– Customers, not businesses, decide which communication methods will be most used.
The main take-outs of the speech were:
- Get close to your customer
- Be where your customers are
- Build and sustain relationships.
I am sure everyone else in the room was thinking the same thing – what can I personally take from this information I am being given and successfully apply this to my company?
Although she was using some bigger, well known examples, Gay was careful to point out that social media activity is not just for the big and the bold. It is a highly effective tool for small businesses, such as the ones she was addressing in the room. A small level of activity spread evenly and efficiently will have a sizable impact on the relationship you can have with your customer.
You have to be in it to win it though! People will comment on your company whether you like it or not, but better to be able to respond to it immediately through the different networks then to not even know about it. Plus through building advocacy over time, you will have a much stronger network of ‘fans’ to call on to verify your company offerings to new potential customers.
I am now really quite excited and intrigued to see what will happen next – implanted micro-chips I reckon! Will we even need our beloved iPhone handsets any more?
Rebecca x
